I always loved reading Studs Terkel books. Now that he's gone, are their any similar authors that interview people the same way he did? I just finished Working and was very good.
It is a product of combustion of fossil fuels so if you light a gas fire or central heating boiler you will generate it but its normally ventilated outside. If you are worried about it buy an alarm for it they are cheap and about the same size as a smoke detector. These alarms sound off when the gas is detected and last about 7 years before they need replacing./utcfs
I have 8 hard wired detectors in my house. When one goes off they all do. There is a few seconds delay before the others do. They will go off when the backup battery is about dead so we change all of them at the same time. Sounds like yours are working fine except the battery one might need a new battery or it just did not get enough smoke. There should be a reset button, sometimes that is also the test button. Resetting will not work until the cause ( smoke or CO ) has been cleared. If you don't see a reset there should be an on/off switch. Turn it off and air out the room. Don't forget to turn it back on.
Carbon monoxide is produced by burning petrochemicals like gasoline (car exhaust). The easiest solution is to NOT run the car in the garage. The best solution is to insulate the entire garage with spray foam insulation. If the CO is kept from entering the house, your fears will have been allayed.
