Where I live, the temperatures are dropping. The daytime highs are in the single digits (Celsius) and the nights are even cooler. And it’s not the kind of cool that’s good for sleeping. It’s the kind of cool that means you need to “heat it up.” It’s the dreaded heating season. And it’s a season I associate with the time I almost killed my family.

My Nearly Fatal Mistake

It was ten years ago. My family had grown quickly and we needed more space, so I was in the process of building an addition to our house to accommodate our needs. The addition was at the back and at this stage of construction was independent of the main house.

Every night, after the kids were tucked into bed, I went out to work on the addition. It was early fall and, on this particular night, it was unseasonably cold. My wife asked me to turn on the furnace (even though everyone in the family knows that I don’t turn the furnace on until Halloween). But she was right – the house really needed to be warmed up.

I hadn’t done my seasonal checks for the heating season; I had been too busy building. For a moment, I considered not working on the addition and conducting the checks. But instead, I decided to turn on the furnace and not lose a night’s work. That choice might have cost me my family.

I switched the thermostat from cooling to heating, and set the “on” temperature. By the time I was dressed and ready to go outside to work, I heard the furnace come on. The house would soon be warmed up. My wife had gone upstairs to watch TV in bed. All my family was now on the second floor, tucked in for the night.

I headed out to my daily ritual of second shift, second job – just me, my work and my music. I worked for quite some time before I realized a tool I needed was in my workroom in the basement. I am thankful that particular job needed that tool. For without that, who knows?

I went into the house and heard a high pitch squeal, one I’d not heard before. The house was also incredibly warm. I covered my ears and sought out the source of the squealing. It was the carbon monoxide detector. How long it had been squealing I don’t know. My only thought was of my family. I raced upstairs to find the second floor in complete silence. All were sound asleep. I awoke everyone and we proceeded to evacuate, opening the doors and windows on the way out. We were safe.

What Went Wrong?

Why was it so hot in the house? It turns out that the thermostat had failed to recognize the off limit and continued to run. The furnace had run continuously from the moment it had started that evening. In an R2000 home, the house would have been even warmer, but my house is 150 years old and not exactly energy efficient.

Carbon monoxide (CO), a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, is a byproduct of combustion. The more inefficient the combustion, the higher the amount of CO produced. And my old furnace certainly fit the bill for high CO creation.

Another culprit in this incident was the raccoons. Because I hadn’t conducted my inspection, I didn’t know that during the summer, a family of raccoons had moved into my chimney and built themselves a lovely home. This home had blocked the gases from exhausting up the chimney and instead forced the gases back into the house.

The other contributing factor was that there was only a CO detector on the main floor. The detector had done its job and detected and alarmed. However, all the doors were closed downstairs and the bedroom doors were also closed. Nobody could hear the alarm.

Had I taken the time to conduct my inspection, I probably would have discovered these problems.

How to Avoid CO Poisonings In Your Home

Carbon monoxide can fill a house very rapidly, and when someone inhales a high enough concentration of carbon monoxide, they can die. One of the most important things you can do to prevent CO poisoning in your home is to install a carbon monoxide detector. Here are a few quick pointers:

• Read the manufacturers’ instructions first;
• Install carbon monoxide detectors outside sleeping areas, but not in the bedrooms themselves;
• Install a CO detector near any gas-burning appliance;
• CO detectors work more effectively if installed on the wall or the ceiling;
• Ensure your family members know what to do if they hear the alarm. Remember, once a person’s blood has CO in it, it takes hours to purge, even in a clear atmosphere.

Hazard recognition checklists are also very effective – if you take the time to follow them. They help identify potential hazards and recommend preventive action to eliminate or control the risks.

Conclusion

We often hear about people dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. But with the proper detectors and a good inspection checklist, you can prevent your family members from being victims. And if you ever question whether or not you should take the time to conduct the inspection, consider what you’ve got to lose if you don’t. Your family’s safety is worth the time. Every time.

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