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Carbon Monoxide . My boiler was leaking it!

(17 Posts)
gmelon Sun 18-Mar-18 16:13:48

Advice needed on buying new detector for carbon monoxide. Anyone know the ones to avoid? Have you read a Which report?

Was going to get a couple from Tesco or Argos but online it says cheaper models from Argos, Amazon, eBay etc are unsafe?

Boiler condemned yesterday.
New one is on its way.
Brrrrr to the cold house. Ouch to the ridiculous cost.

gmelon Sun 18-Mar-18 16:16:04

Ouch to cost of new boiler .
Not to cost of detector smile

Squiffy Sun 18-Mar-18 16:24:19

Ours is Honeywell and they're not outrageously expensive. Our boiler is serviced every year and the chap also checks the Honeywell.

Bridgeit Sun 18-Mar-18 16:39:06

Get the best you can afford from the most reputable local seller.
Ask for recommendations from your local council or tradesmen.
Some th aren’t worth taking a chance on , I think this is one of them .

SueDonim Sun 18-Mar-18 16:50:37

If it's a gas boiler, ask your gas supplier who they recommend.

annodomini Sun 18-Mar-18 17:02:11

The local authority supplied free CO alarms to older people. Mine is called Fire Angel and I have no idea how good it is or not. That's something you can't tell until it is called upon to detect the gas. Catch 22.

M0nica Sun 18-Mar-18 17:41:39

Check whether there is a 'Which?' Best Buy.

Welshwife Sun 18-Mar-18 17:47:48

They only last a certain number of years as you cannot change the battery. We have just had one die on us.
Make sure you site them lower than your head normally is because the gas is heavier than air. The firemen told us that most people they find dead from the gas are sitting in their armchairs. We have ours on the floor just under a cupboard.

Beau Sun 18-Mar-18 17:52:33

I got mine from the British Gas engineer. It's portable so you can take it away with you. The first one lasted about 4 years before the battery went and I bought the same one again - not expensive.

Cherrytree59 Sun 18-Mar-18 17:59:31

Very scarey
Both my daughter and I have an
Angel carbon monoxide detector.

Top Tip
As it sits on a stand we take it with us on holiday.

We had a distant relative killed in a caravan gas explosion.

Its not been to long ago that children were killed by a gas leak whilst on holiday abroad.
The holiday company as well as hotel owner were prosecuted.

Everybody should have smoke detector (fire service will supply and fit free of charge) and a carbon monoxide detector.

BlueBelle Sun 18-Mar-18 18:01:02

I have fire angel I think although I d need to look to be sure but that sounds familiar gas man said it’s fine mine pips quietly every five minutes or so then you know it’s alive but I didn’t know you should keep them on the floor

Welshwife Sun 18-Mar-18 18:21:25

Just low down but we just pop them on the floor as it is easy and every so often I give it a wipe clean!

M0nica Sun 18-Mar-18 21:40:08

We were told we should have a monitor near every fuel consuming appliance in the house, so we have one in the living room close to the wood-burner as well as one close to each boiler. I think you should also have one near a gas cooker. In our case as the cooker and one of the boilers are both in the same room, one monitor serves both.

In France you are legally required to have a carbon monoxide monitor in any house with fuel burning appliances.

Luckygirl Sun 18-Mar-18 22:15:27

Our local fire service came and checked our fire safety and CO alarms for free. They were very helpful. And supplied free alarms.

gmelon Mon 19-Mar-18 01:09:30

Thank you for your answers. Like the idea of taking along on holidays etc.
I've been shocked, my son and nine year old grandson live here. Two year old grandaughter stays for consecutive nights.
Detector didn't go off.

harrigran Mon 19-Mar-18 09:07:55

Carbon monoxide is not heavier than air so there is no reason to site detectors low down, eye level is fine.

jusnoneed Mon 19-Mar-18 11:06:19

We have a battery operated one, it started beeping a couple months ago (in the middle of the night as usual) and when I looked at it I thought it had a high number reading ....panic .... turned out I was looking at it upside down and when you turned it the other way it read lo bat, just has a strange form of lettering lol. New battery and back in place.
It sits alongside the smoke detector.