ALBANY — Oregon has been working to save people from carbon monoxide (CO), and an important date in that drive is coming up.

As of April 1, you can’t sell your house in Oregon if it has a potential carbon monoxide source — like a fuel-burning heater — unless you have installed a special alarm.

Also as of April 1, landlords must provide the alarms in all rental units in buildings containing a possible carbon monoxide source.

The law requiring this was adopted by the 2009 legislature, and most of those affected began installing the alarms early.

Carbon monoxide is an invisible, colorless gas created when fuels are incompletely burned. Sources in homes include heaters, fireplaces, furnaces, appliances and cooking sources that use coal, wood or petroleum. The law covers residences with an attached garage that have an opening to the living space.

“I think builders have been preparing all along. Some are waiting to do it as it takes effect, but we’ve been installing them for the last six months or more,” said Mike Goodrich of Legend Homes in Corvallis and a member of the Oregon Home Builders Association executive committee.

Types of alarms

Alarm types vary. New homes generally wire in the detectors in combined units with smoke alarms. Other carbon monoxide alarms can be battery operated or plug in with a battery backup.

Goodrich said it costs about $100 to install the new home alarms, depending on the home. Multilevel homes require an alarm on each level.

“When you install them cumulatively, the cost adds up and it can have some impact on affordability,” Goodrich said.

Alarms in rentals

Steve Whippo of PM Property Management in Albany has put in about 30 or 40 alarms as new tenants moved into properties he rents. He said costs for the devices — he buys mostly plug-in units — have been dropping.

“When we started putting them in our rentals, they were about $35 each but I can get them for $17 now,” he said.

Landlords were required to begin installing alarms in rental units for new tenants in July 2010. At the April deadline, all rental units, not just those for new tenants, must have the alarms.

“We’re pretty small, so it isn’t a big financial deal for us, but with some of the bigger sites it could have an impact if they are installing them all at once,” said Whippo, who buys the detectors at Home Depot.

Ana Norlander of Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers in Albany is president of the Willamette Realtors Association. She says the law is a good one.

“It’s one more thing we have to be aware of when we sell a home,” she said. “It’s a good law because it protects home owners and buyers.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 450 people die unintentionally from carbon monoxide poisoning each year and 20,000 are hospitalized.

“It seems worth it if it makes things safer,” Whippo said.