Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors

[cajunlady87]

When I first moved into my home I purchased these combo detectors for each room plus one for the attic, one of the best investments for anyone's home and here's why.

When my electric power was out last week, I of course used a generator. It is upstairs and is sitting on my front porch which spans the width of my house, not like my back porch which has a stairwell cut into it. My bedroom is on the opposite corner from where the generator is.

I was downstairs with my nephew who was putting my new meter box together, both the front and back doors were wide open and the generator was running with just my fridge connected to it.

There was a welcomed gentle breeze giving us some comfort while working. Suddenly I hear a beeping sound. My first thought was someone's cellphone, there was at least five of us with one and I'm not familiar with their ringtones. Nope, that wasn't it.

Then it dawned on me, the detector in my bedroom was sounding off. I shrugged it off and told the others the battery was probably weak and needed changing. Okay, back to work.

Came upstairs to get whatever and as I got closer upstairs I was hearing every detector saying "warning, warning, carbon monoxide present". I immedidately ran to the front porch and shut the generator off. The wind had shifted and the fumes were going straight into my house. So yes they do work and are a great investment especially if you're going to run a generator.

[angelhelp]

Glad you're ok and you realized that alarm was happening for a reason! Last October's storm saw our neighbor using a generator. I smelled exhaust fumes (I know that CO has no odor; I refer to the other fumes) and was glad the temperatures were low enough that all our windows had to remain closed.

[cajunlady87]

Jul 21, 2012 20:17:41 GMT -7 angelhelp said:

Glad you're ok and you realized that alarm was happening for a reason! Last October's storm saw our neighbor using a generator. I smelled exhaust fumes (I know that CO has no odor; I refer to the other fumes) and was glad the temperatures were low enough that all our windows had to remain closed.

I was smelling fumes in my house also. My alarms talk and that's what was being spoken to warn me. They do have a bit of age on them but I do press the button to test them on a regular basis. Like I said, a great investment for anyone, even if you don't run a generator and your neighbor does, those fumes can get blown your way by the winds.

If you don't have one I suggest you get one to be on the safe side. Many homes are in close proximity to each other and if in a total power outage of your area, there will be lots of fumes floating through the air if many people have resorted to using their generators. Just food for thought.

[olebama]

I had this happen to me one time. Except that we had power, I was just doing my monthly run of the generator. Windows were opened. Then I heard the beeping. I didn't know what it was at the time either.