Just got off the phone with my 89 year old dad. He had been feeling a little under the weather this winter. Last week the weather warmed up and the furnace turned off, and he also spent a day outside hunting with my nephew. He felt a lot better, and put 2 + 2 together. Had someone come and check for carbon monoxide, and sure enough, his furnace was leaking. His detector was broken, apparently. He has a new furnace, and both he (and his dog, who hadn’t been well, either) feel better. Whew… I am shaking thinking about it, honestly. Check your detectors.
Intparent. wow. nice catch.
Carbon monoxide detectors have a shelf life besides the battery…who knew? They only last 5-7 years.
We probably all need to replace them…
I know. My youngest D’s comment - “Grandpa is impressive”. That he is.
Thanks for reminding about the silent killer. What a scary situation, indeed!
BTW, in case anyone is wondering, CO detectors are not set to self-destruct by the manufacturers, as some conspiracy-type websites claim. It is simply the nature of the sensor that it loses sensitivity as time passes. The annoying chirping sound sends a reminder that the unit is no longer doing its job, not because the manufacturer wants you to throw out a “perfectly functioning unit” - it is not functioning perfectly:
http://www.mouseprint.org/2012/10/29/carbon-monoxide-detectors-guaranteed-to-fail-in-7-years/
It is important to replace them, and the modern ones have warning sounds when they reach the end of the road. Also, get a CO unit that plugs in (with battery backup), the battery units don’t work as well. CO detectors are not that expensive to start with, and they are worth replacing.
One of ours just hit its end-of-life, with a chirping signal and digital error code. I prefer the ones that plug in with battery backup.
This is why you need more than one in the house! You probably need at least one hardwired unit along with battery units in each bedroom. We have one in each bedroom and one on each living level in the open hallway areas. Check your codes for what is required when selling a house. THAT is what you should have in your own house NOW! It’s a good investment because you’ll need to spend the money to upgrade if you ever sell. Your house won’t pass inspection without being up to code. Why not save your own life. 
Ours started chirping last summer, and when D looked up what the # of chirps meant, we found out it had reached the end of its useful life. “X” chirps = running OK, “Y” chirps = CO danger, and “Z” chirps = ‘replace me’. A quite sophisticated product, given its low cost.
You can buy ones that just plug into the wall outlet (and they are set up so you don’t block the second opening for a plug). I had to put some in to get my house ready for inspection (it required more than the one I already had). So about six months ago I put them in everyplace i was supposed to have them for the inspection.
Intparent, you have a smart dad. I don’t know many people who would realize they’d come close to carbon monoxide poisoning. I think most would just shrug it off, which is rather scary.
A few years ago, we learned that our county now requires hard wired CO detectors outside every bedroom and in some other locations. If a permit is pulled, for any reason, the homeowner must have CO detectors installed and inspected. We had the plug-in type but they did not meet local requirements. It was a huge undertaking to get them all installed.
The New York State Building code calls for one on every floor with an item that could produce CO2 (furnace, stove) and in the hall outside your bedrooms. For most people that means one on every floor. Every time someone pulls a permit, I have to make sure their smoke and CO2 detectors are in place. They don’t have to be hard wired unless you are opening walls in the area. It’s a very, very small price for peace of mind.
CO (carbon monoxide). Not Co (cobalt) or CO2 (carbon dioxide). sorry to be nitpicky.
^LOL. Of course!
So because of this thread I decided to check ours. Sure enough, it’s not working. Went out and bought a new one today and now we have a working CO detector. Thanks for the thread, int! I’m glad your dad is OK.
I don’t think we have any such code where I live. We bought a house 3 yrs ago and there are no carbon monoxide detectors.
We got an alarm system that includes smoke/heat and CO2 detectors but we had to get a few extra stand alone smoke detectors because of the local codes.
@choirsandstages, I bought the plug in ones at Home Depot last year. I think they were maybe $20 each? I put two in the hall outside the bedrooms and one in the furnace room.
I’ll bite. Is there a way to test these actually other than the “test” button?
Thanks for the reminder! I will check ours right now. It went off one time - we were warming up the foundation for our addition with a heater in the basement. Since the basement was open to the outside, we thought the heater was vented enough. But it wasn't! So they really are important.
CO scares the daylights out of me. An older couple up the street from us decades ago died after leaving their car running in the garage.
Another set of older friends killed their pet bird after going out for the evening by leaving the car running in the garage when they left (they had to reposition the cars for some reason and left one running in the garage as they left).
I’m in favor of having as many as you think you might need.