My carbon monoxide detector went off today immediately after I put down a load of laundry fresh from the dryer under it. I may have bumped it, I’m not sure. Anyways, the reset button had no effect, unplugging it from the wall just switched it to battery power, and opening the windows for a breeze and waving it in the air also didn’t do a thing. Without the ability to reset it (as in have it stop whining so I know it’s testing instead of just being stuck on) I have no way of determining if it’s malfunctioning.
Carbon monoxide (according to wikipedia) is produced by burning stuff when there’s not enough oxygen, and since I haven’t smelled anything burning (carbon monoxide itself is odorless) I’m figuring the only sources of combustion in my apartment are the heater and the hot water heater (my stove and oven are both electric). I’m not counting the grilled cheese sandwich that I charred while distracted by the carbon monoxide detector. I turned off the air conditioner when I opened the windows (though I suppose it has a pilot flame, but I haven’t touched the hot water heater.
Considering the alarm has been going for a few hours now and the only thing that’s wrong with me is a vaguely upset stomach (a combination of being worried that something’s actually wrong and the fact that I ate the burnt sandwich (first I’ve bothered to make in months and the last slice of cheese I had, I wasn’t about to pass it up)) instead of a headache(the first expected symptom) I suspect it’s malfunctioning, but I’ll still sleep with the windows open tonight. I have had the suspicion that I have a headache, but I’m blaming that on constantly wondering if I’m getting one since my head doesn’t actually hurt. More importantly, Talore isn’t behaving oddly though she’s decidedly more playful, probably because I’ve been moving around the apartment instead of sitting at my computer, and since she’s rather smaller than I am I’d expect her to be affected first. On the other hand, she should be fine anyways since carbon monoxide is supposed to be lighter than air and on the floor (where she is) there’s a layer of cooler air from having the windows open. That coolness could also be a reason for her to be more playful and active, she’s responded like that before.
Since I was unable to get the sound to stop and Talore hid under the bed after it had been going for a few minutes I wrapped the detector in blankets to muffle it. The sound doesn’t carry very well (I could hear it from the other room, but it wasn’t obnoxiously loud from there), so two blankets rolled up around it contain it well enough that I have to be close and listening for it to tell if it’s still going. Of course that means there’s no airflow on it which probably isn’t helping it stop, but I don’t think having a loud, high-pitched buzzer going at 11 at night would be appreciated, especially since I have the windows open. I’ll do something about it tomorrow during the day.