Do You Need a Carbon Monoxide Detector for Your Airbnb?

Short answer: usually, yes. If your rental has a gas furnace or boiler, a gas stove or water heater, a fireplace or wood stove, or an attached garage, you should have working carbon monoxide (CO) alarms — and in most US states and parts of the UK, it's the law. This guide explains the Airbnb CO detector requirements you're likely to face, where to put alarms, and how to keep them working.

Why carbon monoxide is a particular risk in rentals

CO is invisible and odourless. Early symptoms — headache, dizziness, nausea, tiredness, confusion — feel like flu or a long travel day, and CO is most dangerous while people are asleep. Guests don't know your boiler's history or that the fireplace flue sticks. A faulty appliance, a blocked flue, a generator used during a power cut or a car left running in an attached garage can all fill a home with CO without anyone noticing. An alarm is the only reliable warning.

CO detector laws in the United States

There's no single federal rule for homes. Instead, most states have their own carbon monoxide alarm laws, usually triggered when a dwelling has a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Some well-known examples:

• California — the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010 requires CO devices in dwelling units with a fossil-fuel heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage.
• New York — Amanda's Law requires CO alarms in residential buildings with fuel-burning appliances or attached garages.
• Massachusetts — Nicole's Law requires CO alarms in residences with fossil-fuel-burning equipment or enclosed parking.

On top of state law, many city and county short-term rental ordinances require CO alarms outside every sleeping area and on every level as a permit condition, whether or not the state does.

CO alarm rules in the United Kingdom

• England — the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 require private landlords to fit a CO alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers). Those regulations apply to tenancies; holiday lets are covered by fire safety law instead, but a CO alarm wherever there's a fuel-burning appliance is expected good practice and often an insurer requirement.
• Scotland — every home must have a CO alarm where there's a carbon-fuelled appliance (such as a boiler, fire or heater) or a flue, and this is part of short-term let licensing.
• Wales and Northern Ireland — rules for rented homes have been updated in recent years; check current guidance for your type of letting.

Separately, gas appliances in UK holiday lets must be checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer. See our UK short-term rental safety guide.

What Airbnb asks

Airbnb asks hosts to disclose whether a carbon monoxide alarm is installed, and guests can see it on the listing. Listing a CO alarm you don't have — or one that doesn't work — is worse than not listing one at all.

Choosing CO detectors

• Certification: in the US, look for alarms listed to UL 2034; in the UK, alarms marked to BS EN 50291.
• Power: sealed 10-year battery alarms are tamper-resistant and low-maintenance. Plug-in alarms can be unplugged by guests who need the socket.
• Combination alarms: smoke + CO units reduce the number of devices, but must still be in positions that satisfy both sets of rules.
• Interconnection: interconnected alarms sound throughout the home — valuable in larger or multi-level rentals.

Where to put CO alarms

• Outside each separate sleeping area, in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms
• On every level of the home, including basements
• In rooms with a fuel-burning appliance, positioned as the manufacturer specifies
• Not right next to the appliance, in bathrooms, or near windows, vents and fans

Testing and replacement

Press the test button monthly and before the first guest after any vacancy. Check the “replace by” date on the label every quarter — CO sensors degrade, and most alarms have an end-of-life warning chirp. Replace the whole unit when it expires; don't just change the battery. Photograph the label each quarter so you have a dated record of when it was last in date.

Special situations

• Power cuts and generators: portable generators must never run indoors, in a garage or near windows. If you provide one, put clear instructions with it, and make sure alarms have battery backup.
• Attached garages: a car left running, even briefly, can push CO into the house. Put an alarm near the door between the garage and the home, and ask guests not to warm up vehicles in the garage.
• Fireplaces and wood stoves: blocked chimneys are a common CO source. Sweep and inspect before the heating season and keep an alarm in the room.
• Building work: renovations can disturb flues and ventilation. Re-test alarms and have gas appliances checked after any work that touches them.

What to tell guests

Include what the CO alarm sounds like and what to do if it goes off: get everyone outside, call the emergency number if anyone feels unwell, don't go back in until it's safe, and contact you. Put it in the house manual and on a card next to the alarm.

CO detector checklist for hosts

1. CO detector present in sleeping areas — A carbon monoxide alarm is installed outside each sleeping area and on every level with bedrooms.
2. CO detector tested — Press and hold the test button until the alarm sounds. Photograph the alarm after testing.
3. CO detector within expiry date — Photograph the 'replace by' date on the back or side of each CO alarm.

Want every check recorded automatically? Our Airbnb safety checklist software reminds your cleaner when checks are due and keeps a photo of every test.

Frequently asked questions