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Carbon Monoxide Detector – The Must Have Gadget

If you need to find the PERFECT GIFT… get your loved one a carbon monoxide detector.

You’re kidding, right? That won’t win any points in the awesome department.

Carbon Monoxide Is a Serial Killer
Every year, accidental carbon monoxide poisoning sickens over 20,000 people, and kills over 400 people. It is cruel, silent, odorless and deadly. It shows no favorites- rich and poor alike become its victims.

How Does Carbon Monoxide Kill?
Warning: Sciency-geek stuff ahead: Carbon Monoxide (CO) is just about as small as a molecule can get- just 1 carbon atom and 1 oxygen atom. It is created by the incomplete burning of a fossil fuel (like wood, natural gas or propane). That incomplete burning is caused by a lack of oxygen. So an oxygen-deprived fire produces a byproduct, carbon monoxide, that ironically deprives the human body of oxygen. The body keeps breathing, but it is slowly deprived of oxygen.

How Can Carbon Monoxide Enter My Home?
Carbon monoxide can be a byproduct of your natural gas or propane heater, water heater, stove or portable space heater. It can also be produced by your portable generator (a major cause of CO poisonings every year in power outages). Even if you have no fossil fuel burning appliances in your home- your neighbor might. Carbon monoxide can enter your home by a neighbor’s nearby faulty appliance, or a friend parking in your driveway or garage and leaving their car running. No one is safe from the invisible reach of this deadly molecule. And don’t forget lawn mowers, chain saws and gas powered leaf blowers. All of these can be sources for carbon monoxide.

How Can I Tell If Someone Is Suffering From CO Poisoning?
You can tell if someone is suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning by watching for these symptoms: shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, and a sense of sluggishness. If any of these symptoms are present, especially if combined with a headache- exit the home immediately and get the victim fresh air. If symptoms progress to vomiting, severe confusion or loss of consciousness, the victim is in serious danger. Call 911 immediately.

How Does a Carbon Monoxide Detector Work?
A carbon monoxide detector works by detecting CO as measured in Parts Per Million (PPM). Usually, even a low amount of carbon monoxide, such as 70 ppm, will trigger an alarm. The way it often works is that a small biomimetic gel sensor inside the CO detector will mimic your blood’s hemoglobin, and turn color just like your own blood would. A separate sensor can tell the color change, and triggers the alarm.

Should Everyone Have a Carbon Monoxide Detector?
Yes, and maybe several. Ideally, you should have a CO detector within 15 feet of every entrance to a bedroom in your home. In addition, you should have one on every level of your home. Carbon monoxide detectors are inexpensive, and they are now required by law in many homes in many states.

Check your carbon monoxide detectors today!

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Water Damage Woes – Are They Covered?

Is water damage covered by my homeowner’s insurance policy?
If you are like most Americans you’re not sure if you are covered when:
Your pipes burst, flooding and ruining things everywhere.
Your washing machine floods, ruining all the carpeting and woodwork.
Your sewer backs up, flooding the basement.
Your roof leaks in a heavy rainstorm and destroys furniture in your living room.

What are the chances I will have a water damage claim?
You have a 1 in 55 chance of making a claim for water damage this year, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Does my policy cover burst pipes?
The repair to the pipes is seldom covered, but the damage caused by the burst pipes is… usually. Keep reading to see where it might not be covered.

Burst pipes is one of the most common homeowners claims made. The good news is that this is usually covered. But it’s not always covered. For instance, if you knew that you had a slow and steady leak, but failed to repair it, some insurance companies can fight the claim and say that you had a duty to repair the leak before it burst.

Another duty that you have as a homeowner is to keep heat on in your house, even when you are gone on vacation. Normally, the damage caused by a pipe that bursts due to freezing is covered. But if you neglected to heat your home while away, the insurance carrier can deny a claim due to negligence.

Another (and common) burst pipe scenario is when a washing machine hose bursts, and gushes hundreds of gallons of water all over your home. (Of course, understanding Murphy’s Law, this will happen while you are gone all day visiting your grandkids.) Is this covered? Again, the answer is “usually” but not always. The insurance company has a right to question whether or not it was a pre-existing slow leak that should have been handled.

Is sewer backup covered?
Here’s an easy one. The answer is almost always: NO. But here’s the good news: you can often minimize this risk by asking your insurance agent if there is supplemental coverage for sewer backup. Also, if you live in a designated flood plain, and may be eligible for flood insurance. Of course, both of these types of insurance coverage for flooding and sewer backup will cost an additional premium. But flooding causes billions of dollars in damage in America each year. Check with your agent to see if this type of coverage is available.

Does my policy cover damage from a leaky roof?
Here we enter the area of – you’d better check with your agent ahead of time! Depending upon the type of policy you have, the cause of the leak, and the special deductibles you may have related to wind and hail damage, you could be unpleasantly surprised at claim time.

If you have a standard HO3 policy (or its equivalent) and your neighbor’s tree falls on your roof during a storm, and rain pours into your home… you are probably fine. (OK, we know you aren’t really “fine” and it would be an awful thing to happen!)

But if you have had an aging roof, and shingles are loosened in a storm, and a slow leak develops that you don’t notice for weeks, ruining drywall inside closets… it may not be so simple. As a homeowner, you have an obligation to repair your aging roof. And a claim needs to be related to a covered event.

How can I be safe from surprises?
Do the following:
Find your homeowners policy and turn to the exclusions page.
Read what’s not covered. This is not fun, but it will often tell you more than reading the “what’s covered” part. (Here’s an example.)
Don’t be “penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
Saving money on premiums now can often result in losing thousands of dollars later. You have a 1 in 15 chance of making a homeowners insurance claim this year. Don’t cut corners on your coverage.
Check on potential water damage hazards.
Then fix them. How long has it been since you replaced your washing machine hoses? Have you checked all the pipes under the sinks in your house? How old is your roof- do you really want to put off replacing it one more year?
Call Your Agent.
Call your insurance agent before that washing machine hose bursts, or before your neighbor’s tree falls on your home. Ask them, “Hey Insurance-Person, how can I make my homeowners coverage better?”
Remember: You should never rely solely on advice in a blog post (even ours) to know what is covered or not. Specific policy provisions always apply, along with written exclusions.

We are your “Insurance-Person”
You have a “person” for just about everything nowadays. Let us be your “Insurance-Person.” Call Whiteside Insurance at (877) 693-8882.

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Bare Facts, Bald Tires and George Washington

Bald tires are bad news.
Old worn out shoes with little tread can be comfortable friends. But old worn out tires can be deadly. What’s the difference?

Shoes keep your body upright and moving forward, just like tires keep your car upright and moving forward. But when it comes time to stop, your shoes have to stop roughly 100 to 200 pounds moving at 3 miles per hour. On the other hand, your tires need to stop approximately 3,000 pounds of sheet metal moving at speeds often in excess of 55 miles per hour. That’s no easy task.

If you need new shoes, you can wait. If you need new tires, you can’t.

Bare Facts
Fact #1
There were over 1.3 million car motor vehicle crashes related to weather conditions between 2002 and 2012. Most of these were on wet, rainy, snow and sleet covered roads. In almost half of these accidents, passengers and drivers were injured. Worse, over 6,000 people died.

Fact #2
Tires with not enough tread take longer to stop on wet or slushy roads. That means that bald tires keep on going- even when you tell them to stop. That contributes to the injury and death of people who didn’t know when they got up in the morning that bald tires might kill them that day.

Fact #3
Nearly half of all vehicles on the road today have at least one tire with half-worn tread, and 10 percent have at least one bald tire, according to a recent NHTSA study. That means that nearly half of all vehicles on the road take longer to stop when they slam on the brakes than they should. And it means that 1 out of 10 cars on the road have bald tires.

Bald Tires
What is a bald tire?
A tire is considered “bald” when it has less than 2/32 (1/16) of an inch tread depth. Most states have laws that require at least 1/16 of an inch of tread, and you can be subject to a ticket and fine if you have a bald tire. You should do a Google search to find your state requirement.

Then more than 1/6th of an inch means I’m safe?
Not always. If you are driving on wet roads, your tires should have at least 2/16 of an inch of tire tread remaining. And if you live in areas where there is snow and slush, you should have at least 3/16 of an inch of tread to bite into the snow. A new tire typically has about 5/16 of tread depth.

Does it really make a difference?
Yes! Balding tires are one of the biggest safety threats on the road today. As the tread on your tires shrinks, you will experience more hydroplaning and potential for spinning out on wet or slushy roads. Spin-outs and loss of control can result in death and injury.

And spin-outs are not the only threat. Even with Automatic Braking Systems (ABS), your stopping distance is dramatically affected by the tread on your tires.

According to a Good Morning America study, there is a frightening difference between “enough tread” and “not enough tread” in how long it takes to stop your car. Watch this short video to see the demonstration.

In the video, Good Morning America tested 3 identical cars, all travelling the same speed on a wet road. The only difference was the depth of the tread on the tires. The vehicle with new tires (10/32 tread) stopped in 195 feet. When the difference was a “still legal but beginning to bald” tread depth of 2/16 (4/32) of an inch, the distance to stop was 290 feet. And when the tires were bald (1/16th of an inch of tread), the stopping distance was 379 feet!

People die when tires wear out.

George Washington
How does George Washington help save lives?
Simple. Pull a quarter out of your pocket, walk over to your car, and place the quarter upside down in the tread. If you can see all of George’s head, your tires are balding. It’s that simple.

The Quarter Test
If all of George Washington’s head is showing, that means the tread depth is less than 4/32, and it’s time to replace your tires.

The Penny Test
Place a penny upside down in the tread, and if all of Lincoln’s head is showing, your tread depth is less than 2/32 of an inch, and your tires need to be replaced immediately.

Of course there are wear bars on all modern tires that visually indicate the need for tire replacement, There are also depth gauges that your tire dealer can use to give an exact reading of the tread depth. But the basic “penny test” and the even better “quarter test” will give you a quick idea of whether or not you should call your automotive specialist.

Check Your Tires. Now.
If you have any concerns, call your local auto repair person.

Thanks for following us here at Whiteside Insurance. We are ready to help you with any auto insurance questions you may have. If you think this article can help a friend or family member, please feel free to forward it to them.

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Your 9-volt battery is a ticking time bomb

We here at Whiteside Insurance share a lot of things with you online. Some are funny or cute. Some are all about insurance coverage. But sometimes we want to share information that could save your life. Of course we want to add a reminder that this could help you from making a homeowners insurance claim.

And we might even bring you this life saving information with a bit of a fun spin. So read on please…

Did you hear the one about the 9-volt battery that walked into a bar and said to the junk drawer, “c’mon baby light my fire?”

Failed attempt at humor 1, blogger 0.

But hey- pay attention
There is a hidden fire danger in that junk drawer where you throw all the stuff that you need to dispose of later.

Let’s see what’s in that drawer. You know the one. (We’ll take a look at my drawer first so you aren’t embarrassed to show us yours.) Let’s see what could turn my “good day” into a “bad day.”

Inventory:
-Cherry cough drop stuck to the wrapper
-Crumpled Kleenex that I’m not sure I’ve used
-8 Keys that probably don’t open any locks I have
-Five business cards from folks I’m never going to call
-Old reading glasses that make me look stupid
-27 sheet rock screws from that project I never finished
-Brochures from the PTA that I’m never going to read
-A used 9-volt battery from the smoke alarm in the kitchen

Do you see the danger? No?

That 9-volt battery has two terminals that you didn’t cover before throwing it in the drawer, lots of metal to complete a circuit (creating a spark), and lots of kindling to turn that spark into a fire.

Let’s look at what could happen in a fictional play:

Act 1
I jerk the junk drawer open in a hurry, looking to see if one of those orphaned keys opens the bicycle lock in the garage.

Act 2
The stuff in the drawer all rattles around and changes places as I slam it shut.

Act 3
I run out to the garage and get lost in all kinds of meaningless and distracting things.

Act 4
Meanwhile, back in the drawer, the 9-volt battery has snuggled up to the remaining keys (in particular, that really good-looking key).

Act 5
The positive and negative terminals (the two posts) on the 9-volt battery are connected by the good-looking key. Sparks fly. The Kleenex are waiting nearby to encourage this romance. Soon, the entire drawer is on fire. But not a good kind of fire. The End.

SIMPLE SAFETY TIP
Cover the posts (terminals) of your 9-volt batteries with duct tape or electrical tape before disposing of them.

Wow. That’s simple. (Did you think it would be hard?)

Be safe. Tape over those old 9-volt batteries.

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Special Words For Best Friends

We’re not gushy romantics here at Whiteside Insurance. But we realize that many of our friends, just like us, are looking for the perfect words to tell our special Valentine how we feel about them. Feel free to share.

Dear Valentine,

You are my best friend.

Every smile and kind word that you share with me is a new Valentines Card each day. You open your heart and I see inside, once again, that you are my Valentine.

What we have is more than passionate romance that we see onscreen when we watch a movie together. We have more. Our friendship is deeper than romance, and will outlive and outlast passion.

You are the one I run to when I’m afraid. You sit with me when I’m lonely and full of doubts. You make me feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. You believe in me.

I want to grow old together with you. I want to get to know you better every day for a million days. I want to “do life” with you and treat each day with you like it’s the best day ever.

You don’t need to get me anything expensive or fancy to be my Valentine. You have already earned that special place in my heart. You are my Valentine, my best friend, and I have you, and that’s enough.

Love,
Your Valentine