Newly sold or leased homes in La. will be required to have carbon monoxide detectors installed

UPDATED:

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A new law will soon make carbon monoxide detectors a requirement in every newly sold or leased home throughout Louisiana.

The rule takes effect on Jan. 1 but there are a few things you may need to know. Any house sold or leased after Jan. 1, 2023, will need to have at least one carbon monoxide alarm in the home. The new law aims to save as many lives as possible.

RELATED STORIES:

• Louisiana carbon monoxide law goes into effect Jan. 1
• La. Fire Marshal issues guidance ahead of new carbon monoxide detector law

ORIGINAL:

Carbon monoxide fumes can turn dangerous, quickly. After Hurricane Ida, four people died from carbon monoxide poisoning and more than a hundred were hospitalized.

One lawmaker is looking to make carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in homes. The deaths and high number of hospitalizations are the real inspiration behind this bill. The author, Republican state Representative Stephanie Hilferty said a personal experience also played a role.

“So, over the last couple of years we’ve unfortunately had some deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning and some illnesses due to carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Justin Hill with the Baton Rouge Fire Department.

Hill said massive power outages like we saw after Hurricane Ida and the floods is exactly why it’s so important for you to have a carbon monoxide detector.

“The issue with carbon monoxide is you can’t see it, you can’t smell it, and the only way to know that it is there is if you have a working detector,” Hill explained.

Rep. Stephanie Hilferty (R) said carbon monoxide poisoning is preventable.

“After Hurricane Ida, I was staying at a family member’s house in the New Orleans area, and they had a whole home generator. Ironically, they did not have a carbon monoxide detector, I had brought one from my house. We were alerted at 4 a.m. that there was a buildup of carbon monoxide in the home,” said Rep Hilferty (R).

That’s what inspired her to write this bill, with the help of the State Fire Marshal.

“What this bill would do is require upon the sale or release of residential property, a carbon monoxide detector is installed. In addition, whenever a whole-home generator is installed on the property, it would also require that carbon monoxide detector be installed at that time,” Rep. Hilferty continued.

A detector is relatively inexpensive, about $20 to $30 at your nearest home improvement store.

“Anywhere that you’d find a smoke detector you’ll be able to find a carbon monoxide detector. They even sell combination detectors where it’s a smoke detector as well as a carbon monoxide detector. If you have gas appliances in your home, you need a CO detector,” said Hill.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.