Our carbon monoxide detector went off and then stopped when we replaced the batteries.
Then it went on again. That wasn't right.
Thankfully we didn't ignore it.
Here's what happened.
One day, many years ago, we were spending a relaxing afternoon at home.
We were cuddled up in our tiny first cottage, enjoying a lazy day with our new baby.
Dinner was cooking on the stove, my mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table chatting and my husband was laying on the living room floor watching tv, with our tiny bundle.
It was a normal, uneventful, quiet Sunday.
And then it wasn't.
Very suddenly and out of the blue, the peace was shattered by a terrible noise. You know that piercing sound, the beeping when your smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector needs a new battery?
Yeah. That noise.
My mom took over baby duty while my husband and I walked around our teeny, tiny cottage looking for the culprit.
Turns out, it was the carbon monoxide detector. It was a plug in, but had a battery back up. We swapped the 9-volt out and all was well.
For about five minutes.
Then the alarm went off again. Really?
We were so tired and we had to keep getting up to deal with that stupid thing. Ugh. Why? Maybe the battery we used wasn't new.
But the next battery didn't fix it either. That was odd to me.
The carbon monoxide detector went off and then stopped when we replaced the new battery, but then it would go on again.
My husband told me it was fine.
Now I know these things malfunction all the time, but I started to worry.
After all, I had a new baby to protect.
He explained to me that the heating system had been recently serviced and the electric stove, the only other thing on in the house, didn't generate carbon monoxide so we were fine.
It was clearly broken.
And I was almost placated by his explanation.
After all, we didn't have old burner, a space heater or an attached garage, you know, the usual culprits...but that thing...it kept making that noise no matter what we did. And it bothered me.
So I took it outside and left it there and it went off. And it stayed off. No noise. Silence.
Then I brought it back into the house and it went off again...beep and beep...and beep.
That's all it took for me, I called the fire department and explained my situation.
They too told me it was probably fine, but they'd come check it out- because I had a new baby in the house.
In the meantime, I took my mom and that new baby and went outside. I wasn't taking any chances.
The fire department showed up, all bells and whistles, and inspected my house.
My husband indulged me, writing my behavior off to being a new mom, until the firemen told us we had elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the house. I think they were as shocked as we were.
Totally terrifying.
Now, my dad (and then my mom) was in the gas heating business and my husband is extremely well versed in all things construction, and I read. A ton.
So we had a very well informed group in the house. We thought we knew every place and way that carbon monoxide could be make its way into our home. But nope.
We never saw this one coming.
Here's How We Had High Levels Of Carbon Monoxide In The House:
Ok, so I was making beef stew on the stove that day. The electric stove. Not a problem, right?
Well, not in and of itself. However, as the pot simmered, the steam began to build and my husband turned the vented fan over the oven on. This went on for hours as the stew cooked.
What we were told, was that since the house was sealed up, very well, and no windows were open, the powerful fan created a backdraft effect, pulling the emissions from the normally well vented heating system into the house.
I honestly never would've considered that a possibility. In fact, our little house was not that well sealed in my opinion.
It was an old, poorly insulated summer cottage from the 1920's. I could smell my neighbor's fireplace smoke in my living room with the windows closed, but they said it was sealed up enough to cause this kind of event. Scary.
We had all been feeling kind of sleepy as the day wore on, but we wrote it off to the Sunday afternoon lazies. I don't know if we were truly feeling the effects, but it's all a little chilling.
In the end, we just needed to air out the house and we were all fine with a good long dose of fresh air ourselves.
Of course, crazy new mama had the baby checked and slept at my sister's house that evening. The levels hadn't been high enough for danger, but who knows if they would've gotten there after a few more hours of cooking.
Every time we turn the fans on now, and this includes bathroom fans, we open a window a crack and we never, ever ignore the detectors when they go off.
We have two now, one on each floor to be safe, and so we have another detector to base our information on.
We take that noise very seriously and we are actually grateful to know they are all in working order.
Even when it happens at 2am, because you know that's when the batteries kick.
To be honest, I hadn't thought about this story in long time. My friend Lisa wrote about a detector she purchased recently and the memories came flooding back in.
We emailed about it and I vaguely thought about writing it up.
Then over Easter weekend we took off for a little beach break and the carbon monoxide detector in the room we were booked in went off the minute we opened the door.
The front desk tried to tell me it was fine, just ignore it, they'll change the battery soon, but I wasn't having it. I made them move us immediately.
That's when I decided to share my tale. I know that a lot of people ignore the carbon monoxide detector when it goes off.
They, like us, write it off to bad batteries or a faulty detector, but that's not always the case. You can't see or smell carbon monoxide and the cause of the problem isn't always clear. It's best to trust the pros.
That's what they're there for and that's what they'll say if you call them.
Better safe than sorry.
Especially on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Do you have a carbon monoxide detector?