Carbon Monoxide!?

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Weird. The smoke alarm went off, not incredibly odd when I am using the fireplace, but it wasn't the smoke detector. It was the CO alarm. I was totally surprised. It had never gone off as long as I have had one, over many many years. Yep, after resetting it a few times. It was getting a reading over 200 ppm CO. When I took it downstairs I got a reading near 300 ppm. I started getting light headed at this point. After thinking maybe the furnace heat exchanger failed and puzzling around a bit I figured out what happened. As part of the huge winter storm that recently covered almost half of the US, we lost our electricity. So, being well prepared, I rolled out the generator and started doing what I normally do. The generator (although it was completely outside) was creating CO to get in the house. Using the fireplace draft (and possibly other leaks) the whole house created a vacuum around the seal of the basement garage door. After the CO got into the house the forced air heat...
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One of the things I find interesting in SoCal is the workman waiting outside Home Depot to help you with your projects. They flag you down and wave to you as you leave. I have not seen this behavior any other HD I have been too. And I have been to many in many different states. Illegal immigrants are a significant component to the economy in SoCal. It is expensive here. You have to find desperate people to work at low (affordable) wages. The politicians will pull at heart strings through words like justice, fairness, compassion, but only to get the economic boost for their constituents.


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John McKinney said…
The practice you mention is huge in Washington, DC and northern Va.
12:15 PM
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