Carbon Monoxide Alarm

kerri_gt

I need to get a Carbon Monoxide alarm as we have a gas fire and I feel it is necessary even with having the fire serviced. There seem to be so many on the market, are any better than others?

I was looking at this one as it's compact and could be popped in a corner / on a shelf without being intrusive

http://www.screwfix.com/p/fireangel-co-9b-co-alarm-led-display/25134

MoneyMate

Great idea , but make sure it's located as per manufacturer's recommendation not just locating out of the way.
This is the best I could find ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AFRV1OC/?!!!!!ho01f-21

tacpot12

One that displays the amount of CO in parts per million would allow you to evaluate whether you really need to leave the property if the alarm goes off, but they are all very sensitive and highly reliable. We have the model you provided the link to.

stator

Some have AA batteries which need replacing
Some have very long life lithium batteries that last as long as the alarm does.

nickcc

My only comment is that some only last a certain length of time. The one I had near my boiler was seven years old and started bleeping, batteries had been changed on a regular basis, leading us to believe that there was a CO leak, turned out that it was the alarm that had reached the end of its life.

Prothet_of_Doom

Ours need the inlet vacuuming every now and then, otherwise false alarm at 3am. How did we know it was false. Wife ripped it off the wall and took it outside and it was still going with batteries in.

I came home from a week away on business, gave it a vacuum, and put it back on the wall.

You only really need a CO alarm if you have a solid fuel fire, but I'm paranoid like the OP, after we had a gas fire that was leaking in a previous house and the source of all our head aches.

Alter_ego

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

You only really need a CO alarm if you have a solid fuel fire.

This is so wrong!!

shaun_from_Africa

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

You only really need a CO alarm if you have a solid fuel fire, but I'm paranoid like the OP, after we had a gas fire that was leaking in a previous house and the source of all our head aches.

I don't understand your post at all.
In the first sentence you state that a CO detector is really only needed with a solid fuel fire but you then immediately give an example where you had been directly affected by a gas fire.

Between 1995 and 2015, more people were killed by CO poisoning from faulty gas appliances than from solid fuel fires.
The worst culprit was gas boilers with gas fires being the second.
http://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Charts-for-presspack-Jan2016.pdf

Ectophile

All of them should meet British Standard requirements, and last between 5 and 7 years.

I've used ones with sealed-for-life batteries. I've also used ones with replaceable AA batteries, but I find that the batteries last longer than the alarm itself, so it makes little difference.

TheCyclingProgrammer

nickcc wrote: »

My only comment is that some only last a certain length of time. The one I had near my boiler was seven years old and started bleeping, batteries had been changed on a regular basis, leading us to believe that there was a CO leak, turned out that it was the alarm that had reached the end of its life.

As far as I'm aware, all CO monitors have a finite lifespan. 5-7 years typically.

Nilrem

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, all CO monitors have a finite lifespan. 5-7 years typically.

Aye, the sensors degrade over time (this applies to many smoke alarms as well), so they have a limited life.
I suspect the manufacturers play on the safe side with the sensor's estimated life but that's to the good.

Mind you at a cost that works out at around £3-4 a year over it's life it's not an issue

IIRC the Kiddie one I've got has a 10 or 2025 replacement date (whichever comes first), and the smoke alarms have similar dates all noted on their labels - as part of the process of putting them up I write the date so it's obvious when I change the battery.