Community Chat

[songbird]

We have new digital detector.  Our's "chirps" when the battery goes down.  Just a very short repetitive sound.  Similar to our smoke detector.  I'm always on the safe side.  Pulling up the windows even though I know it's the battery.

[Trinity11]

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@Deb1010yetagain wrote:

I am disabled so I called 911 immediately and relayed information to the rest of the family.  Basically get my precious furbabies in their carriers and outside (animals are more susceptible because they are small), get everyone outside, close all windows and doors (so fire dept. could more accurately be able to determine levels).  Since I'm disabled the operator stayed on the phone with me until the fire department got here.  Turned out it was a battery issue - yeah we were lucky but felt stupid. 

I'm posting this to remind everyone to check the batteries in your CO detectors regularly and what to do if the alarm goes off --  be prepared in case of emergency.

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Thanks for the reminder, Deb. Glad to hear that everything is OK.

[RainCityWoman]

My detector just chirps when the battery is low, the same as my smoke detector. When I first tested the unit, the sound it makes when there is deadly monoxide, is a high, loud, ear piercing sound that can't be ignored. 

[nun ya]

We had very high levels in our basement and the upstairs detector never went off. We now have one in the basement by the heater. Thankfully, we found out because the gas company was doing routine inspections of gas lines, he walked past our heater and his reader went off. I think the level was over 200.

[Lilysmom]

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@Lipstickdiva wrote:

This is a good reminder.  Our smoke detectors are hard wired into our alarm system so the batteries in those never need to be changed but I try to be diligent and change CO detector batteries when I change the clocks. 

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@Lipstickdiva, et al, hard wired detectors are not sufficient.  You should have battery operated detectors as well.  If the power goes out, your hard wired detectors are not operable.  Our insurance company strongly recommends this.  LM

[JustJazzmom]

Every article I've ever read about placement of CO detectors says not to place in the same room as the heating system. Our CO detector is in the basement but not in the same area as the gas heater.

Is there a reason why the CO detector is next to the heater?

[Shorty2U]

You did the right thing in calling for help whether it was the batteries or not. I'm glad you're OK. We have smoke detector's and carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of our home. I make sure DH changes batteries all the time (and 1 is a plug in also). I heard way too many stories in the news of people dying who didn't have detectors!