Carbon Monoxide Alarm Puzzle

how and why has it failed ? 

 is it inaccessible?

are they concerned that they would they have to guarantee it?

more generally if you or anyone else fits one that is intended to be self-fitted, and you follow the makers instructions, then it would be hard for someone to claim against you, even if the worst happened and it did not alarm when it should and someone was injured.

If you install it so badly it falls on someone's head and hurts them then that is another issue and I hope not relevant here.

Mike.

PS The fireangel website has some advice on the legal requirements and locations. No connection except as a customer.

If these are the self contained type of battery operated carbon monoxide detector, then yes just buy and fit a couple.

This seems to be the accepted practice. Purchase a reputable make from a well known supplier, not a fleabay special.

I am not convinced of the need for such alarms in a presumably not inhabited basement, but would be most reluctant to remove or downgrade a safety feature that someone else has considered desirable.

I don't tryst carbon monoxide alarms. I suffered from mild carbon monoxide poisoning and not one out of three working alarms worked to alert me. They are not very sensitive and give a false sense of security. Carbon monoxide can build up slowly and affect a person with no alarm working to tell you. Two of mine were Kidde B.S. kite marked devices.

Z.

Thanks Mike.

I found that the existing one had failed when on running my fingers over it, my fingers were wet due leaking batteries. So rather than mess around cleaning contacts etc, thought the best option was replacement. Then H&S and liability came to mind and that's what prompted my post.

The existing one is mounted on a wooden plinth on which is also mounted a Munsen Ring to support the 35 mm copper gas pipe. It is about 4 foot up the cellar wall, so an easy job to replace with a decent make with long life sealed in batteries.

I just needed some reassurance that simply doing the common sense thing would not have me locked in the cellar by the authorities!

(For some reason I thought that there was a reference in the sea shanty to locking the drunken sailor in the chain locker, but I was mistaken…)

edit to add that in the Fire Angel notes, that BS EN 50292 recommends that an alarm is NOT fitted in an enclosed space.  Seems strange, especially in the proposed location. I see no harm in installing one in the cellar.

Clive

The BSI limits on concentration and activation time for domestic alarms to be sold are reproduced in the carbon monoxide section of  this HSE report It is not clear cut, as the real problem is carboxy-haemoglobin in the blood, and that is not a convenient parameter to be  measured directly, so certain assumptions are made about the rate of build up in the blood over time at different gas concentrations.  Some folk will in reality be more or less susceptible. 

And we do not want false alarms from normal background levels that may be 10ppm or more indoors when everything is working normally, with short bursts of a lot more when cooking and similar, and outdoor background levels in a town may be 4 or  5ppm , approaching twice that near busy roads at some times of day.

Mike

I too have limited faith in these alarms, but would not remove a safety feature. BTW they DO NOT detect leaks of natural gas or other common* fuel gases, though it is widely believed that they do.

Carbon monoxide is produced by the imperfect combustion of most fuels, or by normal combustion of some fuels, any such should be removed from the premises by a flue or chimney.

Natural gas is low risk, but NOT zero risk. 

Coke, anthracite and coal derived patent fuels are high risk and should only be burnt in an appliance with a proper flue.

Charcoal is very high risk and should never be used indoors.

*A carbon monoxide detector WOULD detect leakage of town gas, blue water gas, coke oven gas, and a few others. Coal gas is now extinct and the others not much used.

Buy a better quality Aico CO alarm that you can download information from using a mobile phone, then it will give you a much better indication of if there is an issue. 

Sparkingchip: 
 

Buy a better quality Aico CO alarm that you can download information from using a mobile phone, then it will give you a much better indication of if there is an issue. 

Sounds interesting. Do you know the specific models that offer that?

Many thanks.

Clive

https://www.aico.co.uk/about-us/why-aico/technology/audiolink/