Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

[Motherwoman]

I've just fitted some in the holiday cottage so I still have the instructions. It says for disposal that it should be disposed of with electrical items not in household waste. Contact your local council if in doubt. To deactivate the beep insert either the original pointed tabs or a paperclip opened up to provide two ends into the holes on the bottom of the unit (might be different on yours). DO NOT OPEN - DO NOT BURN (their capitals so must be important).

Hope this helps

MW

[Ricard with an H]

I'm not poo-pooing the idea of a carbon monoxide detector but can we-all get back to base on the causes.

Deaths are also caused by free-air inlets being blocked-off to save heat, some free-air inlets are placed in convenient places for the installer and convenient for the cost of the installation without thought given to the consequences so they get covered. At a time when we're encouraged to hermetically seal our homes and zero consideration is given for the necessity of ventilation I wonder where the British Standards for air-change in domestic buildings went-to.

Most of you probably have room-sealed appliances which are unlikely to produce carbon monoxide inside the home even if poorly maintained, if you have any other appliance that has a conventional flue whereby combustion air is taken from the living space it's very important to have the required free-air into the living space and/or other ventilation. If you have multi-fuel or wood burning appliances it's important to make sure the appliance and flue is sound and kept cleaned.

Common death-traps are those dreadful things with a gas bottle inside, are they still being sold ? And just to remind you, people camping have died from carbon monoxide poisoning whilst tent camping and using a portable gas appliance to keep them warm.

Portable gas appliances give off carbon monoxide as would a gas hob in the kitchen.

Lastly, open fires which are a lovely comfort in winter will kill you if you don't keep the flue clean and allow some ventilation into the room.

[peter]

Campers have also died from putting disposable one-use barbeques in their tents for warmth.

[Ricard with an H]

Amazing and sad.

I wouldn't normally have written so much about what is so obvious, unfortunately it isn't obvious to everyone.

I no longer have any professional interest in ventilation but so many houses I go to that belong to pals are suffering for lack of ventilation even though it isn't killing them.

It was 25 years ago that I was still tent camping, we used a calor infra red heater. That heater like any modern heater that gives out it's flue gasses to the surrounding area has a detector fitted which locks out the gas valve when it detects high levels of flue gas but those safe levels may not be safe for an old person and don't do anyones respiratory tackle any good. Camping stoves are probably not required to have these gadgets fitted.

I was just thinking about my motorhome, it has a room sealed water/space heater. If that failed and the occupants resorted to using the gas hob to keep warm they would quickly loose consciousness in the confines of a motorhome.

Carbon monoxide is easily avoided though silent, odourless and deadly if the possibilities are ignored.

Do you have a radiant gas fire, most are conventional flue'd that rely on a clean chimney and a clean burner and are safe but quickly become dangerous if the rules are ignored. Some people have died from having two such appliances in the same room space. (Because walls were knocked down) One appliance can draw the flue gasses down from the second appliance if there isn't any free-air ventilation.

It's stopped raining outside so i'll stop ranting inside.

[Motherwoman]

I was told by the tourist board grading inspector that it will be coming in for holiday cottages to have the detectors, so I have fitted them in the kitchen (gas cooker) and the utility room where the boiler is. I have ventilation in the utility and it's vented up a flue to the outside. The kitchen has draughts! I agree that in the drive to keep heat in, modern buildings have developed all sorts of other problems like mould on walls. Cavity walls are meant to be just that, fill them in at your peril!

[The Mouse]

My mum and dad had problems with their detector (though it might have been the smoke one rather than the carbon monoxide detector - I can't remember now). It went off unexpectedly after they had gone to bed. My dad went through to the lounge, and because it stopped, he went back to bed.
Later in the night it went off again. This time he changed the batteries, and the rest of the night was peaceful.
Next night the same thing happened again. This time he took the batteries out.
You've guessed - it went off again later in the night! He took it down and opened it up, looking for some kind of back-up battery - nothing.
It went off again later.
Only solution left - he smashed it to pieces with a hammer.
When they got woken yet again, my mother followed him through to the lounge, and pointed to the opposite side of the room - "Look", she said, "the one over there is flashing".
Yes, he had been dealing with the wrong one all along!!!

[Ricard with an H]

You've just reminded me to buy new ones and replace the ones that were installed 12 years ago. These are mains connected.

Don't get me on any detail but they do have a finite life, I rescued a neighbour last year with the same units I have and installed at the same time blasting away for no-good-reason. I had to wear ear defenders.

The ones we have are a b-oody nuisance, you can't do a decent stir-fry or toast without opening the windows, no toast during January to May.

[Primrose]

It must be the season for smoke alarms going off. We were disturbed three times last night with the one on our landing going off and it nearly blew us out of our skins/ The battery was only replaced about four months ago. I never know how long these batteries are supposed to last so now try to remember to write the date on them when I replace them.

[peter]

It's worth hoovering them a few times a year.
Use the end of the hose. With an extension tube of needed to reach, place the tube end flat on the casing half overlapping the perforated area that allows the smoke in.
The alarm is likely to go off when doing this.
Move the tube around the edge of the perforated area taking Cate not to fully cover it.

[Beryl]

I test the battery on mine once a month, there is a button on the top of the unit.

Beryl.

[Elaine]

My elderly Dad has Carbon Monoxide and smoke alarms in his bungalow which are wired to the mains. He rang me at midnight one night and all I could hear was this deafening racket. He assured me there was no smoke and I told him to put his coat on and get outside till I got there. The damn things wouldn't stop and I had to remove the fuse from the fuse box to stop them.
I contacted his landlord the next morning who had the installer round there sharpish and it turned out that one of the alarms was faulty and somehow triggered off all of the others. They were left on the floor while he went out to his van and one of them went off! He replaced them all and my Dad has had no further problems, thank goodness.

When I was rudely awoken by the smoke alarm on the landing one summer, I almost expired with fright. There was no smoke anywhere and I discovered thrips in the detector. The local pea fields had been harvested that day and the thrips were everywhere. After that episode, I hoovered the detectors as Peter suggested and didn't have any further incidents.

My son was 10 years old at the time and although the detector was right outside his bedroom, he never batted and eyelid when it went off, or had any knowledge of it! My ears were still ringing with it three days later...

[Primrose]

I have hoovered around the downstairs smoke alarm this morning as suggested. I also vacuumed around the burglar alarm sensor in the lounge as that often has a spider living behind it which has been known in the past to walk across it and trigger the alarm ! (I am not renowned for my immaculate housekeeping skills. When the sun is shining I prefer to be working outside in the garden rather the dusting indoors!)

[JohnN]

I was given a tip which is perhaps worth passing on. We have two Fire Angel alarms, one in the utility room for washing machine/ tumble dryer/freezer, and one in the kitchen for dishwasher and stove. Where do we keep the fire extinguisher? In the bedroom! Don't keep it in the same room as the appliance, you might not be able to reach it in an emergency.

[Shallot Man]

JohnN. Good idea about the fire extinguisher. Just moved mine to the bedroom.

[Geoff]

But you spend ⅔ of your day downstairs (if you are there).