PSA: CO Monitors

Thought this was some sort of abbreviation for compliance officer until I started reading the post. Lucky timing on getting those installed and good job not blowing off the alarm and going back to bed.

They had a new furnace put in and it was defective in some way (don't remember the details).  Long story short, the CO alarm went off and alerted them to the fact that the furnace was pumping CO into the house and most likely saved both of their lives.

Most likely you will never need them, but the price for not having them if you do need them is just too high.  Definitely worth the pretty modest investment. 

Oh and be aware that they have something like a 7-year shelf life, so if your detectors are old at all, go get some new ones. 

Glad everyone is safe.

you're not dead.

That's very scary, glad you made the right decision. Hope others follow suit.

yep, I have a co detector in basement and bedroom. they aren't that expensive and worth the cost.

am criminally behind in several facets of basic home ownership responsibilities.

Side Note PSA:

If you are renting, ALWAYS get Renter's Insurance. It's mega-cheap, but covers a ton.

I had a friend and his family almost die due to CO poinsoning in their house.  They had horrible headaches for a day and lucky for them, they were able to figure it out.  I immediately went out and bought detectors for every floor.

and your family are ok!

Several years ago my furnace had a crack in the heat exchanger. We had a digital readout on the CO2 monitor and while the alarm did not sound for long it was reading higher than zero. Called the furnace guy and had a new heat exchanger installed. CO2 can come from lots of places you can't see.

You need to periodically change both smoke detectors and CO2 detectors as they evidently go bad after a few years.

We've got two in the basement. Always a good idea. Had a similar experience with the exhaust on my steam boiler. Dog woke us up at 4am, cuz he could hear the alarm in the basement from the 2nd floor in the house. Love my dog!

Wife & I just got a Nest Smoke/CO detector that works with our smart phones. I hope it's good. Only been up a few days but looks like it can do a lot.

One of my childhood friend's entire family was killed by carbon monoxide.  He had brain damage that none of us noticed except as we aged and matured he couldn't keep up.  You don't notice in 2nd grade that someone isn't a good reader but by 7th it was apparent something was wrong.

I have multiple units in the house and moved our wallmount boiler to the sunporch so it's not in the living area.

I'm glad the OP and family are OK.  I don"t believe in coincedence.

Several things. There should be safeties in place on these pieces of equipment that shut off in case it isn't venting properly. Also, appliances should not be producing CO. CO is indicative of a bad burn. You should have your systems looked at on top of having detectors in place.

I'm glad you are ok. I can relate. It's happened to me twice, in two different homes. The first one almost took us out. My stepdad, who never gets headaches or needs any sleep, was always drowsy and having headaches out of nowhere. Get the CO tested and it was in the lethal range. We were told if we went to bed that night, we would have all more than likely passed. The second one was caught by doing a yearly furnace check (freaked out from first experience). Levels were low, but we had situation fixed right away. So Mgobloggers, get routine inspections and monitors if you don't have them or get inspections. CO is no joke.

My wife's sister and husband and their kids were staying with some friends in a cabin in Tennessee a couple weeks ago. During the night, their friend upstairs got up to use the bathroom and passed out. The noise luckily woke them up downstairs. They called 911 and everyone went to the hospital. They all had CO poisoning from a broken heater. Everyone made it out alive and well, but they were very fortunate to do so.

Glad everyone is safe in your house, op!

Carbon Monoxide: the silent odorless colorless killer. I read this long post not real interested until the very last sentence. Loved it. And my stuff all vents out my roof so if they get buried in snow, I got real big problems.

my sister's family were just saved by a carbon monoxide monitor just 2 weeks ago. they called 911, who told then to get out now. turns out there was a small exhaust leal in the furnace which was accumulating in the basement. saved their lives.

for the great vignettes and advice. Definitely worth acting on in my and my family's case.

I had the furnace tuned up a few weeks ago, and everything is functioning fine. But I've been meaning to get new detectors ever since and will do so immediately. Thank you.