Holiday Headaches May Be More Than Stress!
The family is gathering for the Holidays and you've got your plate full with cleaning, shopping, scheduling, decorating, and doing what needs doing. On the big day - it's cold outside but inside the home, it's cozy and warm. It's noisy. The kitchen is humming with activity and everything is going to be perfect... Where's mom? She's laying down with a headache and nausea. She may have a touch of the flu. All that work and she can't enjoy it. This is a common occurrence and it is normally chalked up to stress.
The big questions are: Are you cooking with gas? Are you heating with gas, oil, or wood? Much of the "Holiday Headache" syndrome can be traced to carbon monoxide poisoning.The house is closed up.The fireplace is on.All the burners on the stove or cooking.The oven is roasting...And you are breathing the fumes. CO poisoning in the initial stages looks a lot like the flu. Headache, nausea, achy joints...
What can you do?
1. Make getting the chimney checked as part of your holiday preparations. A restricted or plugged stove, fireplace, or furnace flue may push CO back into the home.Remember - CO has no odor and you won't know if a gas appliance is spilling.If you smell wood smoke you are breathing Carbon Monoxide but at least you have a warning.
2. Have the dryer exhaust checked. The extra workload of towels, sheets, kids’ clothes, and tablecloths means the dryer will work a bit of overtime. Lint catches fire just like creosote and a plugged gas dryer may push CO into the home.
3. Cook with a window cracked and the kitchen exhaust fan on. Have the exhaust termination checked to make sure it's free of debris or snow.
4. Get a CO alarm. The cheap ones - $20 to $30 - will tell you you've already been poisoned because they don't begin to alarm until the amount of exposure is pretty high. Infants, small children, and people with respiratory illness may be significantly affected. Get a low-limit monitor to warn you before you are sick. These may be purchased through CO professionals. Make "Holiday Headaches" a thing of the past with a little preparation.