Carbon Monoxide Detectors Work

Let me share a little story about what happened last week.

Well, it was starting to get cold in here so I turned on the heating on Thursday evening expecting the snow and the likes that was forcasted on friday.
My two boys were already in bed and it was about 9:30 Thursday night. My wife and I are downstairs (watching CSI ) and suddenly we hear this weird sounding beeping. It's loud and coming from upstairs. Smoke detector? It didn't quite sound right. Well the kids come running down the stairs as I start heading up.

Come to discover its the Carbon Monoxide detector at the top of the stairs. Hmm, this thing has never gone off and its readind 130. So I take out the battetries and bring it downstairs. I put them back in and it's now reading 159 Well, I'm thinking it's defective. But being a father, what the heck, let's call the local fire station and see what they say.

So I call the station number from the phone book (no way I'd use 999 and get them all excited about this detector) and a pleasant man answers the phone. I asked him if 130 was normal or if it was a bad detector or what. He explains that we are to leave the house immediately and someone will be right over. So we grab the kids, our shoes and out the house we go.

At this time, I'm still thinking this is kinda silly, but being the father figure, I show protection and leadership. Well about 15 minutes later a police car comes and the officer and my wife and I wait outside for the fireman. We put the kids inside the car parked out on the driveway. Soon enough here comes the fireman in one of those fire family cars they use. three officers jump out and ask about the situation and one of them is holding a CO detector himself. I escort him in the house and suddenly this detector he's holding lights red and and chirps and he yells everyone out! We only made it in the house about 5 ft.

Out we go. Two of them get on portable oxygen tanks and masks and head back in. One of them said the levels were too high for them to enter without that equipment. So they search the house and find the gas boiler for the heating is the source of the CO. The CO level had increased from 130ppm upstairs when I called to a high reading of 288ppm about 15 minutes later.

Long story I know, but it's important. Had I not had the detector and my wife and I had gone to bed after CSI, which we usually do. Then the entire family would probably been dead in bed in the morning. CO is orderless, tasteless and lighter then air. The kitchen room and master bedroom had the highest reading they found just under 300 ppm.

If you don't have a CO detector. Get your home tested. I'm thankful we had one, I picked it up in the states about 3 years ago and change the batteries when I change the clocks. Thursday night, it saved me and my family's life.

Gerry

Gerry, That is a very frightening tale. how old was your gas burner? I think I saw those detectors you mentioned in Roches Stores recently. I will certainly get one now. Thank you for telling your story, it will no doubt, help save lives.

Gerry, that's an incredible story and you obviously showed great presence of mind in acting as you did. Can you tell us what was at fault? A leaking flue, gas or a blocked flue? When was the boiler last serviced? I only ask out of genuine interest, it could notify others to the potential risks. As a by the way did the recent ad campaign with Duncan Stewart inform your actions in any?

Hi, The boiler vent is deterioated and fumes were entering into the kitchen, and making thre way around the house. There is a guy coming today to price it. It is about 15-18 yrs old and to be honest I only ever serviced it when it stopped working. It's something I Will now have done annually.
Thanks
Gerry

GerardC said:

If you don't have a CO detector. Get your home tested. I'm thankful we had one, I picked it up in the states about 3 years ago and change the batteries when I change the clocks. Thursday night, it saved me and my family's life.

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Surely this only applies to homes with certain kinds of heating - in particular gas?

Sorry for re-posting, But i Picked it up a few years ago in home depot in the us I was reading the leaflet about the dangers and thought it would be a good investment, turned out to be a wise decision
Gerry

Clubman
Any type of heating system which relies on the combustion of fuel can produce Carbon Monoxide, in particular oil and gas boilers. However most modern boilers are room sealed with balanced flues, reducing the risk greatly. I suppose in theory a wood burning stove or open fireplace could allow carbon monoxide to enter the room, but the flues used with these appliances generally provide a good "draw" so combustion gases are (generally) unlikely to accumulate or disperse into the room.

Another thing to note here is that boiler's that burn internal air are more vunerable than the newer type. New boilers take air from conbustion from the outside, (that's why they are generally located on an external wall) older boilers are often located internally in a cupboard with a louvred door. I think Bord Gais might even provide grants to upgrade boilers if you have the old type in your house.

Carpenter said:

Clubman
Any type of heating system which relies on the combustion of fuel can produce Carbon Monoxide, in particular oil and gas boilers. However most modern boilers are room sealed with balanced flues, reducing the risk greatly. I suppose in theory a wood burning stove or open fireplace could allow carbon monoxide to enter the room, but the flues used with these appliances generally provide a good "draw" so combustion gases are (generally) unlikely to accumulate or disperse into the room.

Click to expand...

So CO detectors would not be required in a Goldshield/Nightsaver house heated by storage heaters for example? Or a gas/oil fired central heated house where the boiler was in an outside shed?

Scary story - glad the op and family are ok and very glad that my oil burner is housed in it's own case outside the house - on the basis of this story surely , where feasable , all burners should be housed outside.

What do building regulations say about the location of oil/gas burners? I sounds like they really should be housed outside the house (e.g. in a shed) if at all possible.

Readers should note that GerardC has twice recently posted recommendations on AAM for a company whose website happens to advertise Carbon Monoxide testing as a commercial service to householders.

As such the above story should be treated with caution.

ClubMan said:

So CO detectors would not be required in a Goldshield/Nightsaver house heated by storage heaters for example? Or a gas/oil fired central heated house where the boiler was in an outside shed?

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With electric heating there's no combustion so therefore no gases are produced, thus no co detectors required. To the best of my knowledge co detectors are not a compulsory item (unlike smoke detectors) in new build housing. They are delicate instruments, susceptible to flase alarms and damage from many household chemicals (including high VOC) paints if not protected. Detectors are occasionally specified in large apartment complexes, with automatic gas shutoffs proving an extra level of protection. Some newer flueless gas fires are equipped witrh integral detectors which shut down an appliance inn the event of high levels of the gas. CO detectors are not a substitue for regular servicing/ maintenance of fuel burning appliances. The building regulations have full details on the location of burners, open or closed solid fule appliances etc. All gas appliances should be room sealed or contained in a room which has a permanent ventilation opening.

Anyone who is concerned about carbon monoxide should check out www.carbonmonoxide.ie for all you need to know.

Hi, Please Be advised That I am not Affiliated with any companies selling carbon monoxide detectors or carbon monoxide testing,Personally I don't think that carbon monoxide testing would be very helpful. Would there need to be a problem at the time of the test in order for it to be accurate? Nor am I associated with any company except the one I work for which is superquinn a supermarket chain. And we do not sell carbon monoxide detectors, And if we did I would not benefit from it as I work in Pc Support. I am very insulted by the earlier comment.
We could have died last week, I am posting it here to let people know the danger that is present. Hopefully some people wiil learn something from it.

Gerry

GerardC

You should not be insulted. Unfortunately, Askaboutmoney is prone to people making false recommendations. When we detect them, we delete them.

You have enthusiastically recommended a company and coincidentally you experience another problem which they would be helpful in dealing with it.

A lot of people trust recommendations made on Askaboutmoney. We don't want to ban new users from making recommendations, but we do want people to be aware that they should check recommendations before acting on them.

Brendan

That is very frightening and traumatic. I actually saw a CO detector in Dunnes last week and commented to friends about it. I have an Oil Cooker in my kitchen and am paranoid now. I think I'll be heading straight to Dunnes after work to make my purchase.

"I have an Oil Cooker in my kitchen and am paranoid now."

If your oil cooker backs onto an outside wall, (or possibly even if it doesn't) you could look into having a balanced flue fitted. I think (not an expert - open to correction) that this is much less likely to allow problem gases into the room.

My oil cooker backs on to the sitting room wall and shares the same chimney as the sitting room fire. I had it serviced in September but didn't think to ask about CO omissions.

I don't think there is any need to get paranoid or hystrical about this issue. The original post related to an (very) old appliance. If you run a relatively new (by which I mean modern) appliance, which is maintained appropriately and serviced annually then you should not worry.

Unfortunately my cooker is 17 years old so I think it is something I should be wary of. I asked the guy servicing it what kind of nick it was in and he said I could get another 10 years out of it but that there is a crack beginning to form on something or other which I would need to keep an eye on. I think I'll buy the detector all the same for peace of mind.