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Why Your Carbon Monoxide Alarm is Beeping

If your carbon monoxide alarm is going off, it will follow the alarm pattern listed by the manufacturer. Typically, this is several loud beeps in a pattern, and it won’t let up for more than a few seconds. There are many different patterns between manufacturers, so you need to find out what your alarm pattern should be from the manufacturer (or the owner’s manual) and compare.

However, you may find that your carbon monoxide alarm is making a completely different sound, small chirps that are infrequent. This is an annoying sound, but clearly not meant to be an alarm. Why is your carbon monoxide alarm beeping like this, and how do you make it stop? Once you’ve verified that this is not the alarm pattern, you can take the following steps to figure it out.

Low Battery Warning

Carbon monoxide detectors need to warn people when their batteries are getting low. Otherwise, you would never know that the battery was dead, and would think you had protection from carbon monoxide when you did not.

Low battery warnings are usually single, high chirps that happen once a day or less. Depending on the specific manufacturer, the low battery warning may sound very different. Consult your owner’s manual or call the manufacturer to find out.

You can always try replacing the batteries with new ones and see if the chirping stops. Remove the carbon monoxide detector from the wall and unscrew the backing. Then, replace the batteries and be sure to put the alarm back in its proper place.

Has your carbon monoxide alarm started beeping? Keep calm and contact our experts at Handy Bros. Home Comfort today to learn more.

replacing battery in carbon monoxide detector

End-of-Life or Tamper Warning

What if you have an alarm that plugs into the wall? It doesn’t have batteries to be chirping about. In that case, your alarm may be signaling that it has been tampered with. This isn’t necessarily malicious. Maybe someone just knocked it slightly out of the plug or hit it so that something is damaged. You may need a professional’s help to discover what has gone wrong with the alarm.

What if that’s not it either? These alarms only last so long. Eventually, a carbon monoxide alarm will begin to beep to signal that it has reached the end of its service life. In this case, there is nothing to do but replace the unit.

Broken Carbon Monoxide Alarm

If you can’t figure out what your carbon monoxide alarm is trying to tell you, you can always check the owner’s manual, which should list its possible noises and the reasons for them. If you can’t figure it out from there, it may be that the alarm is broken. You will need professional help to fix and potentially replace it.

Do you need more help with your carbon monoxide alarm? The team at Handy Bros. Home Comfort can help you assess your alarm, repair it, or help you choose a new one. Reach out today.