The Leak

My sister and I have been really tired and foggy in the brain, and she's been having a lot of headaches ever since she moved in here nearly two years ago. We thought it maybe had to do with the poor air quality in our new city, or perhaps just stress, but today we found another culprit.

Our hot water heater was "leaking", or pumping CO2 back into the house. Check out this picture:

Omigod. How did I- or anyone not notice this? The hoses are supposed to be hooked up so that the CO2 goes outside, but it's been going inside instead. I don't know how long this has been going on, but it's really scary!

Luckily, my friend came over on Saturday and smelled something. Our oven's pilot light went out the day before and leaked gas all day, so after we returned home and relit it, we had to air out the house. But she insisted she smelled it by our water heater near the back door and begged me to call a gas guy. I didn't smell anything, but I was probably used to it. The gas guy came by today and as soon as he walked to the back part of our house, his CO2 meter started going off, the numbers quickly climbing on his gadget. He quickly shut off the gas valve and told me what to do.

I think the only thing that saved us is that when we're home, we almost always leave all of our doors open (front, side and back), our rooms are on the other side of the house, we're hardly ever home, and our house is incredibly drafty. There's actually a hole in my bedroom wall with a screen over it. That pumps in fresh air. Unless this came undone on its own, it's been this way for years! Yikes. We really dodged a bullet here!

I'm just so relieved that I've found an excuse for my lethargy, because I'm a hard worker. I've never been a lazy person. But I've been so incredibly tired; it's been hard to motivate myself to do anything. I hope that my energy returns soon, now that I'm not inhaling carbon dioxide or monoxide or whatever poison. I looked it up online (nothing you don't probably already know):

Carbon dioxide is a silent killer. Did you realized that you have to take precautions, not just in the winter, but all year round? It is invisible and odorless and is the main cause of poisoning deaths in American. Carbon dioxide poisoning can be caused by faulty gas or water heaters, ranges, ovens. Also noxious gas are released from charcoal grills. Carbon dioxide inhibits the use of oxygen and if inhaled long enough, it will cause brain death and ultimately death. Symptoms of carbon dioxide poisoning are similar to flu symptoms such as headache, fatigue dizziness, nausea and confusion.