On Sunday night we got to experience the incredibly high volume of our carbon monoxide detector. It’s loud. REALLY LOUD. And this isn’t the first time we’ve heard the lovely sound.
In June we also had an experience with it. What we didn’t know was that it beeps just as loud when the batteries are dying. So when the fire department arrived they were all..”yeah so it just needs new batteries.” But, they were thankful we called them because you should NEVER ignore/disregard an alarm sounding in your home.
The fire department also taught us about the guide on the back of the monitor. There’s a key that tells you what the different lights mean when they flash and what the different beeps mean.
So as we sat, awaiting the start of the Pat’s game in about 4 minutes, the alarm sounded. We thought maybe the batteries were dying in that one too (we have two detectors in the house). Al took it down, read the key on the back, checked the light and the beeps, and told me to call 911. He then ran around the house looking for his shoes. It’s amazing. At any given day there are five thousand pairs of shoes at the door and the one time you actually need them…there are none.
We already knew from the last time it went off that you should never open windows and you should exit the home immediately. If you open the windows and air out your home then they have no way of finding the source of the carbon monoxide.
The fire department showed up quickly and our kind neighbors, who were having an early Thanksgiving dinner with their parents that we crashed, offered for us to come in and have some wine. Yes, please.
The first update that we got was that carbon monoxide had been detected and that they’re investigating a bit more. The good news was that it wasn’t coming from the hot water heater or heating system in the basement. But, they were getting a reading from the stove. So they went about some testing, pulled the stove out and got inside it.
The final outcome was that our stove was reading a carbon monoxide level of 9 which is the highest the reading can be to still be considered a safe amount. If it was 10 or higher they would have had to tag the stove for removal and replaced it. But because it was a 9 they couldn’t. Even when I bribed them with the banana bread I had just made, they wouldn’t tag it.
So, in the end a little frightening, a little frustrating, but glad the detectors are sensitive enough to pick up even the slightest amount of the bad gas that’s in the air. The fire department and the gas company were fabulous in educating us about the problem, what to look for, how to prevent it and that our number one priority is staying safe and their number one priority is keeping us safe.
You should never, ever hesitate to call 911 and you should make it a priority to have multiple carbon monoxide detectors in your home. We also learned that you should never for any reason heat your home with your gas stove/oven. You shouldn’t even leave the oven door open after you finished cooking something to let the extra heat out. Never. Don’t do it. So, so unsafe.
And that wraps the PSA from the Thomason clan for the day. Stay safe friends!
So, so valuable. I forwarded this to multiple family members and friends. Thanks so much!
Safety first! So glad you shared it!
I’m glad you guys are okay! We have a combo fire/carbon & when the fire goes off from the oven getting too hot – and I shut it off, immediately after (even if I bring it outside) the carbon monitor will go off after. It’s crazy. I’m actually thankful it’s a super sensitive fire alarm. Even though we haven’t had to test whether it’s a super sensitive carbon alarm I feel safe since it detects the tiniest bit of anything.