The device isn’t required in most hotels, Airbnb’s, and vacation rentals.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — When you’re going to the beach, the mountains, or overseas, you don’t want to think about what could go wrong, but you do, which is why you buy travel insurance and you bring extra money. I travel with a portable carbon monoxide detector. Why?
In most states, no law requires hotels or vacation rental properties to have carbon monoxide detectors. The Centers for Disease Control says carbon monoxide poisoning kills about 400 Americans a year. It is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas.
Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig and Representative Mike Levin from California introduced new legislation to require carbon monoxide detectors in hotels and other short-term rentals this month.
“You would think the large hotel chains would actually do this preventively. I mean, these are literally people’s lives that are being impacted. People are dying,” said Angie Craig.
“It’s common sense and it’s something that I hope we can get passed and get signed into law and save lives,” said Mike Levin.
A similar bill was introduced in 2020. We will see what happens. In North Carolina, there is a law that requires hotel and lodging spaces to have carbon monoxide detectors, but there are loopholes for a certain number of rooms, and grace periods if there’s a violation. Again, this is why having a portable carbon monoxide detector is easy peace of mind. You can get them on Amazon for $30 or less.
Just one piece of advice, take the battery out of it when it’s in your luggage so there’s no way you could hit any buttons that would start a bunch of beeping.