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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006 General Board Posts >> Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your home
        
(Message started by: Sean_C on Feb 9^th, 2006, 11:33pm)

Title: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your home
Post by Sean_C on Feb 9^th, 2006, 11:33pm

Barbara just talked with her sister, they put carbon monoxide detectors in there house 2 weeks ago, and the only reason they did was because the fire dept. was giving them away free :-/ They've lived there for 15 years.

Tonight while they were watching tv, one went off. They thought it was broken so they brought the one from upstairs down to replace it and that one went off too :o

They called the fire dept and they said to open all the windows and they would send someone right over.

The levels of carbon monoxide after they closed the windows were LETHAL and he told them they would of all of passed during the night if they didn't have those detectors to warn them. They shut down the furnace and called the gas company to turn off the gas outside until the furnace is repaired.

PLEASE get at least one if you don't have one already. You can't hear/smell/taste carbon monoxide and it will kill you. Your life and the life of others is worth way more than the 20 bucks folks for real ;)

Thats some freaky shit, I swear there are angels ;;D

Sean...................................

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by alienspacebabe on Feb 9^th, 2006, 11:38pm

Smoke detectors, too! One on every floor, and one in every bedroom.

Two fires in two weeks - thank goodness for smoke detectors!

oh.... fire extinguisher on every floor.

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Rock_Lobster on Feb 10^th, 2006, 12:20am

Yep, lots of them.
One every place we have a gas or wood appliance, then one outside the bedrooms.

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Langa on Feb 10^th, 2006, 8:42am

Thanks for the info Seannie...will give my house a thorough runthrough and make sure I have them and have enough of them.

That family was very lucky!

Langa

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by kissmyglass on Feb 10^th, 2006, 8:51am

And change the batteries ya lazy bastards.... :)

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by marlinsfan on Feb 10^th, 2006, 9:11am

Sorry for the dumb question, but do you need the carbon monoxide detectors if all your stuff is electric (a/c, heater, water heater, washer, drier, stove, fridge, etc.)?

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by sandie99 on Feb 10^th, 2006, 9:43am

That reminds me. I have to check our fire detector...
Thanks, Sean! :)

Sanna

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by jimmers on Feb 10^th, 2006, 9:51am

I would think the answer to marlinsfan question would probably be no. I could be wrong, but that usually doesn't happen ;;D

Seeya,

Jimmers

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by E-Double on Feb 10^th, 2006, 10:22am

on 02/10/06 at 09:11:31, marlinsfan wrote:

Sorry for the dumb question, but do you need the carbon monoxide detectors if all your stuff is electric (a/c, heater, water heater, washer, drier, stove, fridge, etc.)?

Does any of the adjoing houses have gas or are there gaslines that run under or near your house?

If so put one in anyway.

Inexpensive!

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by marlinsfan on Feb 10^th, 2006, 10:28am

Good question, Eric. I know we don't have natural gas lines in our neighboorhood, and the association does not allow gas tanks in our backyards that are any bigger than barbeque grill tanks. I checked cause when we remodeled, my wife wanted a gas kitchen (she's a chef).

My new neighbor behind my backyard likes to smoke the weed, does that count? ;;D

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by minnie on Feb 10^th, 2006, 11:32am

yep one carbon monoxide detecter and and 5 smoke detecters in one trailer.I'm paranoid but gonna be safe.every bedroom ,kitchen and hallway.On a side note for many,many years I've had the same dream/nightmare/ I am in the same room I believe a motel room second floor.I open the door turn right take 3 steps and the dream ALWAYS ends at the same spot but I never know what happens.The strange thing is I somehow know the fire started on the first floor the room to the left which I somehow know is the laundry room.I never get past the same point and theres a railing in front of my door you'd think at least once I'd take a different route.past life?/forwarning of upcoming death?/or just to damn lazy to come up with a new dream? the world may never know [smiley=huh.gif]
Ok done rambling now,
Minnie
What was the question ? [smiley=ohjez.gif]

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by cootie on Feb 10^th, 2006, 1:59pm

I just got one this fall and have it in the kitchen around the corner where the furnace is on the opposite wall.....everything here is on the first floor. We don't have a finished basement and is all sandstone foundation and natural springs leak in and water also from bein at the base of several steep hills several feet away on one side and all hills on all other sides. Sump pumps works overtime here.(200 year old house) Anyhow.........our furnace is propane but I guess our furnace motor isn't as powerful as it NEEDS to be to push all the exhaust all the way UP the chimney and all the way OUT. We don't get a good draft down here either (had problems when we had the woodburner also) with steep hills surrounding us so close. So we had some sort of sandy stuff start to fall down the pipe the year we were in Nashville and could not figure out WHAT it was. Leaked thru the joints a bit and found big water splat on the floor next to the furnace with sandy white stuff. Some got into the furnace on the jets so we cleaned it out best we could. Had the furnace dude out. He said the exhaust is goin most of the way out but collects at the top around the edges of the pipe and sticks to the pipe (metal pipe from furnace up thru an old brick chimmney).....then as it builds it lets go and falls back thru !!! Guess Brad found a huge chunk inside that had fallen thru and pipe was almost clogged shut that year we were in Nashville when we got home cuz that's when we noticed the gritty white powery stuff leakin thru the exhaust pipe joints!!!!!!!!!!!! He replaced all the pipeing.....real job gettin up on a tall two story STEEP old metal roof !!!!! If we had our chimney on a outside wall of the house we could install a special fan to help draw all exhaust out better but we don't. So now "I MAKE" Brad check that pipe regular cuz that is just NOT COOL that is going on and the furnace jerk that installed this furnace probly KNEW the furnace we got was not strong enuff for the setup out here and draft situation but didn't give a shit. He installed our wall mounted VENTED propane heater in the rec room also (they are WONDERFUL cuz they don't need electric to run and that is great for power outages and I have all my pets and dog kennel out of the rec room) but you could smell gas ! I called the guy SEVERAL times and he would not come back out to fix it. Last message I left I stated I would write his name in blood if anything ever happen'd cuz of it. The guy got into partyin and hooked up with big hotel jobs and dumped all the regular clients. So ya can't always trust how stuff was put in sumtimes by sumone that SHOULD be doin stuff RITE !!! Anyhow......what I am tryin to say here the LONG way is that there are alot of issues that could cause exhaust problems and a good idea to have yer STUFF checked out and serviced and evaluated esp if ya move somewhere new. And they get several of the carbon monoxide detectors and put em up !!! I plan to get anouther one. Esp when I realized we could of had a serious problem here with our setup and didn't even know it was building. Bee's are bad out here too for cloggin chimmneys and birds also. We get the football sized paper hornets nests. So be alert to all this and be safer. Cleaner air is healthier liveing Pam

PS: A new bigger more powerful furnace is on our list for when we win the lottery !! And sorry for this LONG ass post but stuff really SHOULD be checked for safety cuz of not a very nice persons like our X furnace dude doin BAD jobs.

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Karla on Feb 10^th, 2006, 3:48pm

My sister in law had a similar situation. We have one installed in the furnished basement. Been there since we moved in. We had one installed upon bying our new home. I am so happy that your family is alright!!! My question is how long do they work for? Have my kids unplugged it? Supose I should check into those questions asap.

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Melissa on Feb 10^th, 2006, 9:14pm

Thank you for making this thread Sean. We have a fireplace, gas furnace, stove, hot water heater & dryer, but no carbon monoxide detector. :-[ I mentioned to hubby about getting one, and he said yes, good idea. So we put it on our shopping list!

:)mel

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by _Lee_ on Feb 10^th, 2006, 10:28pm

I had one and the fucking went off@ 3:00 AM every night. Now I have a parakeet with a rope around his neck. If he falls off his perch it sets of a siren, old coal miners trick. :D

Lee

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Opus on Feb 10^th, 2006, 11:09pm

Cootie,
I believe you need a fan for an exaust. Most peaple prefer a chimney but with an fan ( sorry cannot remember the name of it) you can vent the furnace out the side of the house if you wanted too, but since the chimney is fixed might as well use it.

Opus/Paul

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by yikes-another-one on Feb 11^th, 2006, 12:12am

wehad a cheap one, and the neighbor would idle his car for about 20 minutes before he'd get in to go to work during the winter months...
the fire department got tired of running out to our place and told us to buy the $40.00 model, not the $20.oo One as it can give "false alarms" .

If anyone idles a car in their garage and it's
attatched to house...please...get the CM monitor.

TJ

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by llreed on Feb 11^th, 2006, 1:03am

Does it make a difference ( in the garage) if you only start your car after the door is open? I hope this isn't a stupid question..

llreed

:-/

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by MJ on Feb 11^th, 2006, 1:44am

Hope this doesnt sound too smart.

CO = carbon monoxide a lethal gas created by the burning of fossil fuels or wood or any type of flame. It is a gas byproduct of the combustion process.

It can be odorless, can create a burning sensation in your throat and nostrils, can cause headaches, dry eyes, etc.. but in heavy concentrations you will simply die.

Cootie - I hope you see this.
You have a dangerous situation.
In your case the CO will actually eat through the the mortar in your chimney, as appears to be the case and the white powder you see is the lye from the mortar.
The high CO concentration will eat through metal as well.

Higher CO concentrations are often caused by a lack of oxygen to the flame or combustion process in the furnace..

Since heat naturally rises the combustion gases should be carried all the way up the chimney regardless, not just sit there.

I would suspect that your older furnace does not have a supply of fresh air from outside to feed the flame in the furnace. Probably blocked up while trying to make the house warmer.

Find a way at once to get at least 20 square inches of open free flowing fresh air from outside. (1 sq inch per thousand BTUs on your furnace label) You will get more efficient use of gas and the chimney will be able to draw air as well allowing full flow of gases all the way to outside
House will actually be warmer too as furnace wont be trying to draw air through every crack and crevasse.

I would be willing to Bet you have regular headaches all winter.

Not that I know anything about this.

MJ

Crack a window 1/4 inch where it wont freeze a pipe and you will feel air rushing in when furnace is on for proof.

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Lizzie2 on Feb 11^th, 2006, 1:40pm

I certainly do!!! I know I've shared this story before, but here goes:

My skating coach at Penn State had a 10 year old daughter, Abby. She had never married her daughter's father, Andy, but Dena and Andy had dated on and off again throughout the years. In the fall of 2003, they were dating again.

Dena lost her father to a long battle with cancer on October 30, 2003. Very difficult for her, and especially difficult for Abby. Abby was having a hard time in school and she was very very close to her grandfather. Dena frequently brought Abby to the rink to skate with us. She was a ball of fire - always smiles. She would show us "big kids" how to do moves we thought were hard without any difficulty at all! Her favorite one to show us was the bunny hop, which is a straightforward jump using your toe picks :)

On November 30, 2003, Abby had been staying at her dad's house the night before. Andy was supposed to have dropped Abby back at Dena's that day, but he didn't show up. During the night, Dena had thought something was wrong and the cops were sent to Andy's apartment, but they didn't have any suspicion to go on, so they left without even knocking on the door.

So on November 30 about mid-afternoon, Dena was picked up by the police because Andy and Abby had been found dead in the apartment. Abby died peacefully in her sleep. Andy was found on the bathroom floor with a toothbrush in his hand. They'd died of CO poisoning and had not had a detector.

Abby's funeral was the worst thing I ever went to. It broke my heart into pieces and changed my life forever. The first thing I bought when I moved here was a CO detector and I had my dad hang it on day 1.

On December 11, 2003, I skated my first program up at Penn State...I put a few bunny hops in it. The song was "Miss You Most at Christmas Time" by Mariah Carey. I later told Dena the bunny hops were in memory of Abby because I'll never forget her doing them with all smiles.

Miss that kid....

Always be safe!!!!!!

Carrie :)

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Ree on Feb 11^th, 2006, 3:08pm

Hi Sean... you have definately heard from an angel there.
5 Years ago we had a scare. Now Sean, you have seen how our house is set up its kind of upside down with the bedrooms next to where the basement is though the basement is on ground level on one side its under ground on the other. I made Dave get detectors because I always felt that we would definately die if the burner went flukey...
So Dave comes in one day and the thing is going off. He thought the same thing....OH this must be broken and reset it..... Now in the meanwhile....My headaches are horrendous and Im feeling nauseus (sp?). He never told me that the thing went off..... so I don't know.
That following day I go to my Moms thank God to do her hair. When I came home around 5 oclock I hear a high pitched screammmmmm coming from the basment and went down to investigate. Sure enough it was the detector. I called the fire dept and we had 4,000 ppms coming from a defective gas burner.... those detectors are great... just don't be in denial when they go off.... We were lucky we didnt die the night after Dave reset the thing.
My headaches got better though not cured as you know.
You are a special guy to worry about your friends here and YOUR MOTHER IS LOOKING OUT FOR ALL!!! SHE MUST BE ONE COOL ANGEL.....LOVE REE

Title: Re: Do you have a carbonmonoxide detector in your
Post by Mikey on Feb 11^th, 2006, 10:33pm

Everybody should have a CM detector even if you have no gas or wood burning appliances at all!!

The reason I say this, is becuase I was a Fireman for several years, and if a fire starts in your home, the CM detector will be the first alarm to go off!!

Most often, even with a smoke detector, a person can die of carbon monoxide piosoning before smoke or fire can kill them, simply because of the combustion process.

Mikey......... ;;D