If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.

CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.

What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

On 30 Apr 2015 06:16:08 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.

CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.

What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper

Good for you. Also remember they have a limited life and there is a
date on them. If you have one, check it our to be sure it is still
working properly. I recently replaced mine, as well as the hard wired
smoke detectors.

If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.
CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.
What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper



Good for you. Also remember they have a limited life and there is a
date on them. If you have one, check it our to be sure it is still
working properly. I recently replaced mine, as well as the hard wired
smoke detectors.



Our local fire fighters - many are volunteer squads -
- have created a video - The Wake Up Call -

http://www.fireengineering.com/artic...co-safety.html

John T.


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

On 30/04/2015 12:16 AM, Puckdropper wrote:
If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.

CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.

What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper

They, like smoke detectors, have a limited life and must be replaced
every few years. When you install one, write the replacement date on it
with a magic marker.
Graham

--

On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 6:03:44 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 30 Apr 2015 06:16:08 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.

CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.

What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper

Good for you. Also remember they have a limited life and there is a
date on them. If you have one, check it our to be sure it is still
working properly. I recently replaced mine, as well as the hard wired
smoke detectors.

A few weeks ago one of my Kidde combination Smoke and CO detectors started chirping every 30 seconds. It's a talking unit, but it didn't make any announcement, not even "Low Battery", so I wasn't sure what was going on. I tested the battery and it was good, so I put it back in. Once I did that, the chirping stopped. I then checked the manual and found that the chirping was the signal to let the user know that the CO detector portion had reached its 7 year end-of-life. Sure as heck, the date on the side of the unit showed that it was 7 years old.

Here's the strange (and dangerous) part. The manual reads as follows:

Alarm Replacement
Seven years after initial power-up, this unit will "chirp"
every 30 seconds to indicate that it is time to replace the
alarm. A label has been provided on the side of the alarm
that has "Replace by" printed on it. Write the replace by
date on the label. The date written on the label should be
after seven (7) years of cumulative power.
REPLACE IMMEDIATELY! IT WILL NOT DETECT CO IN
THIS CONDITION.

The issue I see here is that all it takes is an R&R of the battery to silence the EOL alarm. I immediately ordered a new detector, but I rehung the old one so that I still had a smoke detector in the meantime. The unit did not chirp once while I waited for the new detector to arrive, a period of about 4-5 days. This appears to me to be a major flaw. The manual says in big, bold letters that the unit will not detect CO in this condition, yet I was able to silence the EOL alarm just by removing and replacing the battery. Had I not checked the manual, I might have just shrugged my shoulders and assumed it was a glitch.

I called Kidde about this and they were somewhat vague, basically saying "Yes, replacing the battery will silence the EOL alarm, but it *should* start chirping again within a few days". When I asked whether or not it would actually detect CO during that time, she said "If you press the test button and you get the verbal announcement during the test, then yes, it will detect CO." She said that users should test all detectors at least once a month and always immediately after the batteries are replaced.

Since I still have the old detector, I am going to put some batteries in it and test it. Assuming it gives the CO alarm announcement during the test, I'm going to leave the batteries in and see if it starts chirping the EOL alarm "within a few days". If it doesn't, I will be on the phone with Kidde once again.

On 4/30/2015 1:06 PM, graham wrote:


They, like smoke detectors, have a limited life and must be replaced
every few years. When you install one, write the replacement date on it
with a magic marker.
Graham



One day ai realized my smoke detectors have not set off an alarm from
cooking for a long time. They are hard wired so there was no battery,
thus is was easy to ignore them

The new ones are dual powered and yes, at least once every couple of
weeks we set them off while cooking. Good to know they are working even
if it is a PITA at times.

On 30/04/2015 12:05 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 4/30/2015 1:06 PM, graham wrote:


They, like smoke detectors, have a limited life and must be replaced
every few years. When you install one, write the replacement date on it
with a magic marker.
Graham



One day ai realized my smoke detectors have not set off an alarm from
cooking for a long time. They are hard wired so there was no battery,
thus is was easy to ignore them

The new ones are dual powered and yes, at least once every couple of
weeks we set them off while cooking. Good to know they are working even
if it is a PITA at times.

I think it has been compulsory for some time that all new houses in
Alberta have SDs installed on each level. CODs are only recommended AIUI.
I have a 60+year old house and have 3 SDs and 2 CODs (one near the
bedrooms and the other in the basement).
A few weeks ago, a car was left running and nearly killed an entire
family. This sort of thing happens all too often.
Graham

--

On 30 Apr 2015 06:16:08 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.

CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.

What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper


Have 2 CO detectors - one in the basement (gas furnace and water
heater), the other on the main level (gas cook stove and gas logs in
the family room fireplace). The garage is on this level but we live
where it's warm enough to not need to run the vehicles in the garage.

Have 7 smoke detectors on 3 levels - laundry, basement (dual w/CO),
basement workshop, 2 near the master bedroom (one each ionization and
photo), 2 near the upstairs bedrooms (one each ionization and photo).
All installed since we bought the house 10 years ago and most less
than 5 years old.

On Thu, 30 Apr 2015 18:26:17 -0400, wrote:

On 30 Apr 2015 06:16:08 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

If you're burning fuel for heat, you need CO detectors. In the past
decade, I've had 0 smoke alarm activations but 2 CO activations. Like most
people, my utility systems were located in utility rooms and forgotten
about.

CO is odorless, color less, and quite simply you don't realize it's there
until it's too late. As I understand it one of the signs is simply feeling
tired. That's easy to misinterpret as being tired.

What prompted this PSA was a visit to my aunt's house. She's got gas
appliances but didn't have any CO detectors. For not much money and less
than an hour to install we had that issue fixed. It's definately in the
"cheap insurance" category, and almost in the "stupid not to" category.

Puckdropper


Have 2 CO detectors - one in the basement (gas furnace and water
heater), the other on the main level (gas cook stove and gas logs in
the family room fireplace). The garage is on this level but we live
where it's warm enough to not need to run the vehicles in the garage.

There is no place on earth where it is cold enough that you "need to
run the vehicles in the garage".
Working as a mechanic in years gone by, CO was always a risk because
there WERE times it was necessary to run vehicles inside the garage,
and we only had hoses to slip over the tailpipe and stick out through
a hole in the door.
In later years, we had a fan forced evacuation system.

Have 7 smoke detectors on 3 levels - laundry, basement (dual w/CO),
basement workshop, 2 near the master bedroom (one each ionization and
photo), 2 near the upstairs bedrooms (one each ionization and photo).
All installed since we bought the house 10 years ago and most less
than 5 years old.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote

One day ai realized my smoke detectors have not set off an alarm from
cooking for a long time. They are hard wired so there was no battery,
thus is was easy to ignore them

The new ones are dual powered and yes, at least once every couple of
weeks we set them off while cooking. Good to know they are working even
if it is a PITA at times.

Remember the old Ron White joke?

My wife thinks the smoke alarm is a cooking timer device.

On Friday, May 1, 2015 at 9:24:46 AM UTC-4, Lee Michaels wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote

One day ai realized my smoke detectors have not set off an alarm from
cooking for a long time. They are hard wired so there was no battery,
thus is was easy to ignore them

The new ones are dual powered and yes, at least once every couple of
weeks we set them off while cooking. Good to know they are working even
if it is a PITA at times.

Remember the old Ron White joke?

My wife thinks the smoke alarm is a cooking timer device.

One of my favorite Ron White quotes:

"I had the right to remain silent...but I didn't have the ability."

DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Friday, May 1, 2015 at 9:24:46 AM UTC-4, Lee Michaels wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote
One day ai realized my smoke detectors have not set off an alarm from
cooking for a long time. They are hard wired so there was no battery,
thus is was easy to ignore them

The new ones are dual powered and yes, at least once every couple of
weeks we set them off while cooking. Good to know they are working even
if it is a PITA at times.
Remember the old Ron White joke?

My wife thinks the smoke alarm is a cooking timer device.
One of my favorite Ron White quotes:

"I had the right to remain silent...but I didn't have the ability."

"We got you, Tater..."