Talon Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 (edited) I had the scare of my life today. I left for work this am at 8:30. My kids were in school and my daughter was at work as well. I have a house alarm which I always set when I leave, and doors all locked. I drove home at 3:15 to quickly change and leave within 15 minutes to go teach my classes at my dance studio, as I pulled into the garage, I heard the alarms going off, I flew into the house, dis-armed the alarm and realized the entire house smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were blaring. My 17 year old son was on the back deck with his friends, he locked himself out, I opened the doors for him and we ran thru the house and searched for the smell of smoke. Nothing.....so I thought OMG! Carbon monoxide........the birds......I ran to all the cages scared to see the worst, but Thank God, all 6 seemed fine. I spent the next few hours trying to figure out what happened. I had to kill the power to the whole house to shut them down. From what I can tell from the way my dogs were behaving when i got home, they were going off all day long..... It got me thinking, now that all of us are gone most of the day, if something happened, it would be too late by the time I got home. I had my alarm system put in after I moved into my house 5 years ago. The smoke and Cm alarms were hard wired before, so my alarm system doesn't connect to them. I called my alarm company tonight, it will cost my $83@ per alarm. I have to use THEIR alarms cause other ones aren't compatible with their system. (ADT) My house has a total of 10 alarms to replace. Obviously, I can't afford that, but in hind site, it is way cheaper than the priceless flock I have. obviously, I must do this. So I have to make a decision on how many alarms I will replace and connect to my alarm monitoring system for the safety of my birds, cats and dogs. Any advice is welcome. But I wanted to share what happened, for others who are gone all day to think about....... I am quite upset at the thoughts of what I could have walked into if it was the carbon monoxide, and how horrible I would have felt, the guilt, ect for the rest of my life. I would never be the same..........I know you guys would understand, but no one else in my life understands the magnitude of the what if......I can't help but feel that this was a huge warning sign and I need to act on this ASAP. I can't risk anything happening while I am gone and not get notified to try and help. Secretly, I wanted to quit my job to stay home just in case........but I know that's a stupid thing to do, I have 3 kids also to keep a roof over as well as my flock. I am very sad and upset over all this. Oh, and I might add, that I am sure they were going off for most of the day, as my birds wanted to go back into their cages and to bed very early instead of staying up with me. They were exhausted, guess they didn't get their afternoon naps. So that tells me they were blaring all daylong... Edited September 21, 2012 by Talon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 That was scary and my heart would have been in my throat as well if I were in your place, of course you have to get the compatible alarms for you can't put a price on your beloveds, think of it as money well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 There are a number of members who have nanny cams that they can watch at work. You'd only be able to see & hear whatever's going on while you're away. But I know how hard it's going to be for you to be away from home for a while & it might help give you some peace of mind. I don't know anything from alarms. But surely w/all the people on the forum, you'll get some good suggestions. I'm really, really glad that nothing more happened today, though. Hope you can come up w/a good solution soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Penny, so sorry. To start the ball rolling, I would suggest the alarms closest to your animals, then move outward........Jay and Maggie, [calm down, candle and wine, remember? Maggie] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarasota Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I am so sorry. I know how terrified you must have been! Webcam. Absolutely. I have it on all day at work. Call me loopy, but it's how I know when one of the birds have escaped a cage, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Oh rapid heartbeat and strong adrenaline rush! So glad it was a false alarm. Web cam and new compatible alarms with ADT sound right to me. You'll figure it all out Penny, you are a very resilient person. Take a deep breath, have a tall glass of wine and just breathe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Oh how frightening. Jayd and Maggie are so right in having the ones nearest where the birds are monitored and then ones near a gas furnace/hot water tank. The ones in kitchens and bedrooms are important but are really most important when your home. I have this neat gizmo from Brookstone. It is a power kill power strip. When I turn my modem on it allows power to other things I have plugged in but when I turn the modem off it cuts the power to everything in the entertainment system. (desktop computers, stereos, tv's and surround sound are power pigs even when turned off) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I would ask the alarm company if that is the best price they can manage and let them know you will be speaking to other companies as well. Competition is the American way after all and it never hurts to ask for a break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I can't even imagine how panicked you must have felt! What a horrible experience. I "third" the nanny cam. As Sara suggested, I turned my laptop (webcam) on Timber and feed it through ustream. At least that gives you a sense of what is going on and you would have heard the alarms going off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. You really got me thinking with these good ideas. I am anxious to get a web cam going, but don't know how it works. Do i need to hook it up to a laptop and leave it in the room? And how do I stream it at qwork? Not very techie here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 I found it! http://www.x10.com/promotions/airsight_wide_angle_ip_camera.html?HP2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I can only imagine the emotions discovering this Penny. You may also wish to consider perhaps switching to a new home alarm provider that would have a package deal including the sensors. The biggest question in my mind is what set them all off? Was there actually a burst of CO2 from some source? Was it a short or opening in the sensors wiring perhaps from a chewing mouse or rat? Either there was actually CO2 present or there was a temporary wiring problem. Webcams etc. are great, but in the case of a poisonous gas, you would not know anything is wrong until you see your birds all laying on the bottom of the cage, verses an alarm with sensors that would notify you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 What a stressful night you've all had. I love that camera package on the link you posted. I was wondering about sound and sure enough, when I read a little further, there was the paragraph describing the audio as well. At least you could check in and know if your sensors are going off before you can upgrade all the alarm systems. I think shopping around for other home security providers is a good option because many offer free equipment and installation with a monitoring contract so you might be able to upgrade at no cost. They might even have the video capability included with new technology available so you wouldn't even have to get the web cam and set it up separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 Yes dan, my concerns are exactly as you stated. I am upset as to why they were set off. I know we have no mice, rodents etc. I do have an oil furnace, and hot water heater, but the furnace only runs for the hot water at this point. They were going off again once I cut the power to the house and turned it on again, but it was the basement that was not going off, only the top 2 floors......don't know who to call to check it out.....I like your advice about a new company. Guess I will look into that for starters. Thank you for the suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted September 21, 2012 Author Share Posted September 21, 2012 What a stressful night you've all had. I love that camera package on the link you posted. I was wondering about sound and sure enough, when I read a little further, there was the paragraph describing the audio as well. At least you could check in and know if your sensors are going off before you can upgrade all the alarm systems. I think shopping around for other home security providers is a good option because many offer free equipment and installation with a monitoring contract so you might be able to upgrade at no cost. They might even have the video capability included with new technology available so you wouldn't even have to get the web cam and set it up separately. After researching and reading reviews, this company got terrible reviews. Guess I will look for something else, cause I can't recommend it based on what I read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I was house sitting for the neighbors & theirs started to go off randomly. It had stopped by the time they came home. But they still had everything checked & they never did figure it out. I don't think anyone really slept well for months. If you don't get a package security deal, I usually get my computer stuff at Newegg. I like them. Usually intelligent customer reviews, good service & prices. I don't know, but I thought the first link looked like it might be comparable & seems to come w/the cable, too. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0WP08H6585 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100010043&IsNodeId=1&Description=security%20cameras%20for%20home&bop=And&Pagesize=100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I don't have a webcam, nor will I ever! n My home, is protected by fire alarms. I provide the best for my family. Fire drills, etc. Firealarms on every floor. What I provide for my family, I provide for my birds. When we actually had a fire, birds, dogs, were evacuated. We had practiced it. Went off without a hitch! everyone was sitting in the front yard! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Thanks Nancy, but I have 12 fire, smoke and CO2 alarms. But they are useless if no one is home to act if they go off. In my case, I want an alert system when we are gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 A cheap stop-gap is to put your laptop webcam on the birds. You get sound (mine is troubled but that's my problem with my laptop) and video. You can stream it through http://www.ustream.tv/ free, and see it from anywhere, even on your phone. Sarasota told me about it, and she could give you more info. It works for me, and at no added cost. I'm looking for a better camera so would like to hear what you decide on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Just wanted to update: I bought the D-Link web cam for my bird room. I can access it on my computer or phone anytime. It serves the purpose. It is supposed to be 2-way, but I can't seem to get it to work, only one way. My birds are very quiet and in active..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Which model did you get? I'm assuming it is wireless? I'm still trying to decide what to get. Timber isn't terribly active either when home alone. He will mess with his forage boxes a bit and eat. Other than that, he does a lot of sitting around. When my husband comes home from work (he gets home first) that changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Talon... how is the reseach going for new alarm system? Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 It is very important to remember, change your batteries for smoke alarm when you change " your clocks!" Any smell of rotten eggs, get out, and get your animals out. A possible gas leak. CO2 monitors, should be placed where family and animals sleep. Practice fire and disaster drills every six months, when you replace your batteries. When we had an electrical fire, Ryan and I were home. I knew immediately to throw off the circuit breaker, as I was in the basement doing wash. I still called 911, reported an electrical fire. Ryan and I snapped into evacuation mode. My assignment, was to remove dogs to cars. Ryan was assigned putting birds in cages. I would join in his job. We did it as we practiced.Not a hitch, outside of the gouge we created in hardwood floors. ( who cares!) By the time the fire department came, everyone was evacuated and safe in the front yard. Just a thought for owners that have birds that won't stepup and get in the cage... Towel your bird. Safety is the only concern.Our birds recognized our panic, even though they didn't understand it. Went in their cages immediately! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Which model did you get? I'm assuming it is wireless? I'm still trying to decide what to get. Timber isn't terribly active either when home alone. He will mess with his forage boxes a bit and eat. Other than that, he does a lot of sitting around. When my husband comes home from work (he gets home first) that changes. I have the DSC-930L. Seems to work well. I'm happy with it. I bought that one because it was wireless, has 2 way audio, an app for my phone as well as computer and I had a Best Buy gift card for $25 and the cost was $90 minus the gift card, so I ot it for $65. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Talon... how is the reseach going for new alarm system? Nancy Nancy, I decided to stay with my alarm company that I already have. All the other companies were just as expensive, and I ave a lot of $$ invested in ths one. Door and window alarms, motion sensors, glass breaking sensors and extra boxes. I have 6 doors, tons of windows, so it's a big expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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