The DH & I have been experiencing headaches, lethargy and occasional nausea lately. He went back to bed at 11 AM yesterday complaining of a "hollow head" headache. Later in the day, I went to the bedroom to read and also developed a headache I would describe as "hollow head."
It came to me in a flash, because my friend The Ho had dear friends who lived in a trailer and suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. One of them died. I ran to my computer and looked up symptoms. Bingo. I immediately suspected the gas heater, so turned it off & we called the gas company first thing this morning.
They showed up promptly & declared the heater safe and efficient, but the ancient gas range in the kitchen was emitting dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide. In a small space like this, the amount of deadly gas could have killed us. Carbon monoxide is colorless & odorless.
The gas company techs found that my range was set for way too high a flame and was consequently blocking the air intake. Thus the danger. They adjusted the settings, but recommended that if I was going to keep the old range that I should either open a window or turn on an exhaust fan every time I use it.
I'm encouraging those of you with gas appliances to get a carbon monoxide detector or to have your gas company check those appliances yearly. What a needless death that would have been. I'm not ready to go yet.
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