Since 2015, it has been required by law for every house or place of business with a solid fuel combustion appliance to install a carbon monoxide detector. On October 1, 2022, the obligation was expanded to include all rooms with a fixed combustion appliance, regardless of fuel type.
When fuel burns without air, carbon monoxide (CO) is created. CO has no colour, taste, or smell. There are simple ways to identify a CO leak from your appliances; severe instances include soft yellow flames and smoke in the home. Nevertheless, more subtle warning signals include sooty or discoloured stains on or near gas appliances, increased condensation in rooms containing gas appliances, or slower-than-normal solid fuel fires burning. A CO alarm will beep when it detects carbon monoxide.
The results of a defective appliance may be deadly. Almost 200 patients are hospitalised every year with 40 people in the UK face death from CO poisoning per year.
What to do if your CO alarm starts beeping
1. Immediately turn off any appliances that could emit the CO fumes.
2. Increase the ventilation within the room by opening windows and then leave the room.
3. Check with other members of the household to see if anyone feels nausea, dizziness or experiencing a headache – if yes, call a doctor or call 111. However, if anyone in the household has severe drowsiness or has vomited then call 999.
4. Call a gas safe certified engineer to inspect the appliances and resolve any issues that could have caused the leak.
If you have a CO alarm within your property, we highly suggest that you test the device often to maximise your safety. You can do this by pressing the ‘test’ button, or for a more accurate way of testing the alarm you could even purchase a test kit, the test kit has a small canister of CO.
To book your appliances in for inspection and resolve any issues which could danger you please contact us:
Phone – 01432 880573
Email – sales@neonheating.co.uk