We got a call from the neighbor to the Wisconsin house saying the alarm was going off.

The house does have an alarm system, but it was disabled years ago as it kept getting accidentally tripped when the resident forgot it was on and couldn't hear either the keypad chirping or the siren screaming, nor the subsequent phone call to check in from the alarm company. He got fed up with the sheriff coming to check on him, and hadn't had another unwanted visitor in many years, whether he was home or not.

Since the house is empty so much, and because I'm trying to monitor for visitors of the human and rodent varieties, there are a few cameras peeking at a few spots outside and inside. I checked, and sure enough, the smoke detectors were all chirping. There are nine of them, so it was quite loud on every camera, including those outside, except in the garage, oddly.

A small aside, perhaps the "security cameras" could detect audible alarms instead of just barely catching the visual events. Further aside, we use Ring cameras at our house, and for whatever historic reason ended up with Blink at this house. The Ring are far better in many ways. Digression over.

We informed the neighbor that it was indeed the smoke detectors, and that a quick scan of all the cameras didn't reveal any fire. I decided it was worth a drive to check, as there may not be flame or visible smoke, but perhaps there are other detected gasses that set the alarms off.

I threw together a quick bag, since it was late enough in the afternoon that I wasn't sure I'd try to drive back. It's a long and winding road along the river, over hills and into valleys, and it's cold, and dark, and I didn't want to. I made it here after a quick stop at the Menards just about halfway. I grabbed a bunch of 9-volt batteries in case they were complaining they were out of juice (as ours have recently done), and some light bulbs I knew I needed, and a couple snacks for dinner and breakfast if needed.

I made good time, as it was just before rush hour really dug in. Speaking of dug in, the recent deep snows were untouched on the driveway (not criticizing but noticing because the same neighbor has been doing a quick pass in this driveway when he does his, 'cause he finds it fun...but not this time). I was extra glad I got those (largely for looks) deep-treaded tires and poipped the Jeep into 4-wheel drive, making it easily over the plow berm and through the knee deep driveway snow.

The alarms were loud enough to hear in the Jeep, after I turned it off and the radio died. I grabbed my bag of clothes and went inside, where it was crazy loud. We have the same in our house, where nine of the beasts are wired together and all scream in a cacophony of squeals. I dropped my bag and set about trying to silence the audio onslaught.

he first and easiest to reach is right in the middle of the main floor, next to the kitchen, mounted on the wall instead of the ceiling. I tapped and long-pressed the little blinking light button thing, but it didn't do anything. So I gave it a twist and pulled its plug. It gave a small whine and silenced. 

I went down the hall and did the same to the two bedrooms there, but also to no avail. No others are on the main floor, so I climbed upstairs. There I realized the most diffcult will be on the vaulted ceiling, an easy 20 feet off the ground, and unfortunately exactly at the corner of the loft. That one will require a tall ladder, which we have in the garage, and a couple people to reach it safely. I moved on hoping I could silence the rest of them and end this one's squealing at the same time.

I went into the second-floor bedroom and realized that one is also mounted in the room's high vaulted ceiling. I can probably get it standing on the shorter, 6-foot ladder, but that's also inconveniently not handy at the moment. I left it squealing and started wondering if I could find the right circuit breaker in the power box to silence them all.

I skipped down to the lowest level and noticed a more modern alarm with a bigger, brighter button, that was making a different tone, and alternating with a voice claim of "fire." I bonked its button, and all the alarms were silenced for a moment. Then one of the other basement alarms signaled, causing the rest to join in again. I heard it from the back machine room, so I went in directly.

There I found two different smoke detectors next to each other. One was exactly the same as the others, and the other wasn't. The odd one had some obvious connection to the alarm system, so I figured it was probably how they tied into knowing if the house was alarming (had the service been active) and possibly could have remotely silenced the alarm. I disconnected the "same" one, and the others stopped. Then the "different" one chirped again, so I disconnected it, too.

Clearly the problem had been in the machine area, as both of those alarms were triggered. Or they are actually connected, and there was just some difference in the timing that kept them triggering each other.

Throughout the house, no smoke, no fire. I didn't detect any odd smells or anything else that would indicate a gas leak or different gas causing problems. I decided to let the house warm up a little, so I tapped the thermostat up a dozen degrees and turned on the gas fireplace. I went outside to do a little snow shoving, just to try to clear a path enough to get the other bits out of the Jeep.

The snow was about shin deep. Kind of crisp and almost fluffy, like a shaved ice might be. It moved easily with the big pusher shovel, but also created bigger piles than I could push pretty quickly. I was able to make a few wide swipes across the driveway apron outside the garage and on the walk to the house. I pushed the snow off the deck, too, at least past the door. I climbed in the Jeep and pulled forward so the doors were over the cleared area and decreed it good enough. I grabbed the rest of my bags and headed back into the house.

I set everything on the counter and remarked to the bugs and mice how much warmer it is inside than outside, telling them they're lucky we let them in (we really don't but they get in anyway).

I checked the thermostat, and the temperature was still 60°F, which is what we leave it at so the pipes don't freeze. It could probably be lower, but why? I also noticed the fireplace had gone out. That was weird. I got on my hands and knees and poked at the fireplace, but couldn't get the pilot to light, nor (clearly) the flames to burst alight again. There's also a woodburning stove that either always was or has been converted to gas, and its usually visible pilot light was also out. I tried relighting that, but also no joy.

I reached out to the wife to let her know the situation. It seemed possible there was some kind of gas leak, and maybe I just can't smell it with the slight cold and congestion I have. I checked by sniffing at the normally kind of pungent hand soap, but I couldn't smell that either. So maybe my sniffer is off.

She did some web searching while we were talking and found that propane leaks can cause CO2 build-ups. There is a CO2 detector, and its light was green, but it's on the main floor, not in the basement. It seemed possible. I ran back and forth between the various things, checking what I could see. No circuit breakers were popped. There's one gauge on some pipes showing 0PSI, but it's both a water pipe and near a valve (like tires have), so maybe it doesn't read anything unless someone pushes air or whatever in that valve. The other gauges were all temperatures, and they all read 70°F, which is close to what I'd set the thermostat. Maybe it was working, but the heat just hadn't made it through the house.

I went back to the kitchen and tried the stove. It lit right up, all four burners, and stayed lit for a while. That is, they stayed lit the whole time I let them burn, turning out only when I turned them out. I tried the fireplace again, hoping maybe there'd been enough time since my last attempt to let its gas settle in the right way. It still wouldn't light.

After about a half hour of poking and testing and web searching and debating, we decided it might not be a great idea to sleep here. It had been a couple hours since I'd silenced the alarms, and they hadn't gone off again, but I did leave most of those I'd disconnected still disconnected. In the poking and such I had discovered each of the 'same" smoke detectors were only smoke detectors, and not combo smoke and CO2, so they wouldn't have triggered just because of the gas buildup, unless it became optically enough to seem like smoke. I also noticed that none of them had batteries in them, nor noted they were rechargeable. And they had markings indicating they'd been installed in 1999, so it's time to replace them anyway.

Although the stove lit and stayed on, we wondered if there was enough propane in the tank to provide the necessary gas to the furnace and appliances. We called the gas company, and they were able to report their monitoring said the tank is about 40% full. He also noted the last time it was filled was in 2023, and that we aren't on the automatic refill plan. He had me trek out there to check the gauge on the tank, which is a hundred feet away in the knee-deep snow, and covered by a couple feet of snowcap. I made my way through the covering and flipped the lid, finding a nice, but empty, mouse nest in there. I knocked that away but couldn't see a gauge. He directed me to a wire and noted that the end of it should go to a gauge. It was there, covered slightly by the snow and turned away, so it would have been easier to read if I was either taller or standing on the other side of the tank. I read it upside down and confirmed it was near 40% enough to say their monitoring wasn't any more off than I was. We talked about symptoms and possible causes, and he was sure that if the line didn't have gas in it, because of a leak or block before the house, that the stove wouldn't light. Like water, he suggested, if there was a leak, there wouldn't be sufficient pressure for very long to keep the stove burning. Since I was outside when the fireplace went out, I couldn't say how long it was lit. There wasn't anything else he could help with, except to recommend we call the next day during business hours and get more LP delivered, and that I get an HVAC out to check out the inside of the house.

I called the number on the sticker on the furnace, but my phone reported it was a self-storage place, so I disconnected before it rang a second time. The furnace was installed in the late 1980s, when the house was built, so it's conceivable the company is no more or that their number changed. The wife checked, and it's an HVAC and self-storage. I decided I'd call back in the morning, as I wasn't going to make anyone rush out tonight. We talked about whether I should stay the night, thinking of the CO2 or other gasses if there's a leak. It's fifty degrees colder outside than inside, so I can't just crack a window.

Then the gas company guy called back. I broke off from the wife to see what he thought of. He wanted to make sure that I wasn't thinking of staying overnight (I'd mentioned that previously), because of the gas and possibilities of CO2, even if I couldn't smell the propane. He said the house wasn't likely filled with propane, since the fireplace and stove didn't cause it to explode, which made me laugh, but since burning propane makes CO2, there's a bad risk. I shared I'd already decided to leave and return with HVAC support.

I called the wife back and shared that tale. She had been looking at nearby hotels to spare me the drive all the way home. There aren't a lot of big chains this far out, and what little places there are tend not to use online reservation systems, and those fewer that do don't offer same-day online reservations. I said I'd just muscle through and drive home. It's just dark and cold, but otherwise clear.

Then the self-storage number called me back, so I interrupted the wife again. He'd seen the number on their caller ID and thought he'd check even though I hadn't left a message. I apologized and explained that I'd planned to call during business time tomorrow. He offered to hear me out. I gave him the spiel, and we agreed that since no one is staying here that it wasn't really emergency enough to wait for him tonight. His next available time is on Friday, which is later than I'd hoped, but also fine. I said I'd return Thursday and spend the night so I could meet him at his near dawn suggested time.

I told the wife and put my things back in the car. The temperature had only risen one degree in the several hours I was in the house. I drove over to the neighbors to thank them and share the tale, but they seemed gone, with their house pretty dark and only one truck in their driveway. I set out for home and had a pretty uneventful drive. Everyone was tucked in by the time I got back.

I checked the cameras, and all was still and quiet at the house. I kicked myself for not bringing a smoke detector with me, to try to find new ones that would just plug in if possible. I can rewire them if needed, but it's nicer to just plug in new ones. Those at our house were the same manufacturer that I'd used each of the few times I've replaced them, so it was just plugging and going, until this last time.

About 10 years ago I got some with 10-year rechargeable batteries, which was great. Exactly 10 years later, though, they all started complaining, so I had to replace them. I got the same brand and slightly updated model, but the same 10-year battery kind. Alas, they'd changed the plug. Conveniently, they also sold an adapter that neatly fit in a space in the detector, making it essentially the same, but for an extra $5 each. Whatever.

Anyway, I plan to bring back seven new detectors, since one was installed new when we had work done last year. I think I'll get one for near the kitchen that talks, and make sure I have one on each level that has a CO2 or other gas detection, too. I'd like to get one that connects to WiFi, so we can be remotely alerted and possibly silence them. I have one of those at our house, too. But neither of the stores I would get that many from have a WiFi version.

I'm home again, making notes so I remember on Thursday or Friday, when I chat with the HVAC to see if the boiler and other things are fine. He also said he'd peek at the A/C and show me filters and stuff, but said he can't test it until it's at least 60F outside. I guess we'll have something to do in the spring, then.