Greer, SC – A terrifying 6 a.m. wake-up for a family in Greer leaves them especially thankful this time of year.
They said it was a $40 carbon monoxide detector that saved their lives just one week ago.
The Halkett family said they didn’t realize until after the fact that there were signs of carbon monoxide flooding their home that they should have been paying attention to. They hope what happened to them is a safety warning for everyone.
He said that little box saved y’alls lives. And then it hit home, said Sandy Halkett, who heard the detector’s alarm just before 6 a.m. last Wednesday.
She said she got her kids up and sent them to school before calling in the fire department and gas company. Crews turned off the home’s gas until a new H-VAC system was installed and inspected.
Halkett said she saw cracks in the seams of the heat exchange unit, which was letting carbon monoxide filter into her home, instead of going outside. She thinks it was happening for a while, but now knows that carbon monoxide detectors won’t sound the alarm, until it reaches certain levels.
After much research, Halkett learned that if her carbon monoxide detector reads any number there is carbon monoxide in the house. So when she and her husband saw the detector reading 25 and 35 over the last couple weeks, they should have been concerned.
She said her family suffered flu-like symptoms, such as dizziness, dry mouth and headaches, but didn’t assume it was from anything but the fact that it is now cold and flu season.
It’s serious. You can’t smell it. You can’t taste it. You don’t even know it’s in your house. Unless you have [a detector], Halkett said.
Carbon monoxide detectors do have a set life expectancy, which the Halketts learned when their last one beeped after working for 12 years.
Her family did get a new one, and she urges everyone not to forget if that happens to them, because they learned, it could mean life or death.