The Printable CO and Placement Safety Checklist
Last verified: September 2026
The whole category's safety, gathered into short lists you can print, tape up, and check off — so outdoors, 20-plus feet, exhaust away, and alarms on never get skipped in a hurry. Rather talk it through? My number is (330) 200-8042.
The CO and Placement Safety Checklist, at a Glance
This guide gathers the whole category's safety into short, printable lists you can check off — a master list, plus set-up, before-every-start, during, after, CO-alarm, and seasonal-review lists. The heart of every one is the same: outdoors only, at least 20 feet away, exhaust pointed away, and CO alarms on. Print them, tape them where you'll see them, and let the paper carry the thinking on a dark, hurried night. There's a printable page-by-page version up top.
Common Questions
1 What checklists does this guide include?
A one-page master list, a set-up list for before an outage, a quick before-every-start list, during- and after-the-outage lists, a carbon-monoxide alarm list, and a seasonal review — plus a short if-the-alarm-sounds card. Each is meant to be printed and taped up where you'll actually use it.
2 Which checklist matters most?
The before-every-start list. It takes under a minute and it's the last check between you and a mistake: outdoors, at least 20 feet out, exhaust pointed away, CO alarms on, and nothing plugged in at the moment you start.
3 How far from the house does the generator go?
At least 20 feet, measured to the nearest wall — about three car lengths — with the exhaust pointed away from every window, door, and vent, yours and the neighbor's. When you're unsure, add distance; it's never wrong.
4 Is this a substitute for the other generator guides?
No — it's the summary. It gathers the basics into lists you can check off, and points you to the deeper guides — the 20-foot rule, CO alarms, safe placement and weather, and what to do if the alarm sounds — for the reasoning behind each line.
5 What should I do if I can't check off every box?
Then it isn't ready. A box you can't check is the list doing its job. Fix that item — move it farther out, aim the exhaust away, replace the dead alarm battery — before you start, rather than starting anyway and hoping.
6 Do town and country homes need different lists?
The core is identical everywhere. A compact in-town lot adds lines about the neighbor's windows and any local rules; a rural place on a well adds a longer fuel reserve, stored water, and being able to reach the generator in snow. The guide spells out both.
Would You Rather I Just Help?
Filling in these lists for your own home and taping them where they'll do the most good — so the life-saving basics never get skipped — is exactly the kind of visit I'm glad to make. $99 flat, 30-day come-back-free.
Would you rather I just do this for you?
No shame in it — plenty of folks would rather hand it off, and that's what I'm here for. I'll come to your home, set it up right, and make sure it's working before I leave. Flat $99 per visit — no jargon, no upsell, and every visit is 30-day come-back-free.
Not a hardware job? I can often fix it remotely for $49 — a secure screen-share, up to 2 hours, that you watch the whole time and can end whenever (included free for $39/mo Support Plan members, and it counts toward the $99 if it turns out I need to come out).