Carbon Monoxide detectors mandated by insurance carrier???

[John P.]

My insurance carrier does inspections on my properties which is fine. For one property they sent me a letter with two items to fix within 3 weeks. The one was to cover an open junction box near a heater. That seems like a reasonable request. However, the other is to install a carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet of entry of every bedroom in the house.  I have over 35 doors so if they start mandating that for all my properties that's a lot of money. I can see requiring one for the house. Has anybody heard of such a requirement?  Maybe it's the norm and I am just out of it but I have never heard of such a requirement by an insurance company.  This is a single family home in Memphis fwiw.  Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

[Eric Siebert]

As a professional firefighter in Omaha I can tell you that a chimney is not what dictates the need for a CO monitor. There are many areas of gas fired appliances that can go bad and build up CO in the home. It's cheap piece of mind knowing that you are providing a safer environment for your tenants. New Smoke/CO combination detectors are generally good, including the batteries, for 10 years, as stated on their boxes. Professionally, change them out every 7 years.  Small price to pay for making sure that your tenants don't wake up dead.