Carbon monoxide nearly killed me - don't let it get you!

[buggi]

you can buy CO2 "spots" small red stickers that turn black when exposed to CO2. you can put them by all your appliances, in a place you can easily see them.

 

[mangaman]

I agree the CO noisy ones are the best.

Cheap and probably at least as useful as smoke alarms if not more so (CO being invisible)

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks for waking me up Colin.

No problem.

Hearing about those two children in Corfu upset me - it's so unnecessary that these things should happen. Good maintenance makes problems unlikely, and good alarms protect against freak things like birds nesting in flues.

 

[ColinJ]

you can buy CO2 "spots" small red stickers that turn black when exposed to CO2. you can put them by all your appliances, in a place you can easily see them.

It's CO we are worried about rather than CO2. CO is much more poisonous than CO2 which tends to kill by suffocating you and you would quickly become aware of that!

That's the insidious thing about CO - you can't detect it with your senses, only by what it is doing to you and the fact that it makes you feel sleepy and slow-witted means that it doesn't really occur to you what is happening.

I would rather not try and save money on CO detection. I want something that screams at me when there is a problem, not something that needs me to be alert like a card with a little circle on it. I didn't even spot a gaping hole in my wall until it nearly killed me! What if the fault occurs when you are asleep?

 

[PaulB]

Craig Johnson's sister suffered a serious disability from CO poisoning and he couldn't carry on playing football after that, he was far too upset and went back home to Australia to care for her. She was on her way to England to visit Craig, who was one of Liverpool's better players at the time, and had an overnight stay somewhere in Africa (I think - but can't remember exactly where) and there was an insidious CO leak which almost killed her. She pulled through but suffered a colossal brain injury which left her severely disabled. Out of the goodness of his heart, Craig packed in football immediately so he could devote himself full time to his poor sister.

 

[nigelb]

I've tried the dots before, but not only do they change colour when exposed to CO, they do the same over time (and look different, depending on light conditions.).

I've got a "proper" one, screams when it detects anything (well I assume it will, screams when I press the test button!) and also shows the average level its detecting on its display.

We also get the fire/boiler checked out each year.

A good op though, and the story about the boat makes merealise that I must fit one in the caravan!!!

Nige

 

[surfgurl]

I think your local fire service will visit and offer advice and fit smoke alarms and CO detectors as well. My elderly neighbours were struggling with their smoke alarms. They were in the wrong place and kept getting set off when they did any cooking. I contacted the local brigade who sent a community officer round who replaced all the smoke detectors to better locations and fitted a CO detector as well.

 

[ColinJ]

I've just taken my CO detector down to change the batteries and clean it.

I chose this one because it has a readout that can give early warning that CO levels are starting to build up before they get to dangerous levels. It has a peak hold function so it remembers if there were any problems when you weren't present.

You don't want an alarm which is so sensitive that it goes off if somebody smokes a cigarette in the same room. Actually, that might be a good thing..!

What I mean is, you don't want false alarms, but you also don't really want to wait until you are being poisoned before the detector gives you an indication that something is happening. My device displays parts per million of CO and the alarm goes off at some threshold level, but it would already be indicating that CO was present before it got to that level.

 

[Proto]

Here's another one:

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4355031.Alert_doctor_saved_Ringwood_family_from_fumes/

(my mother is married to Dr Williams's dad. Almost brothers!)

 

[ColinJ]

Here's another one:

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4355031.Alert_doctor_saved_Ringwood_family_from_fumes/

(my mother is married to Dr Williams's dad. Almost brothers!)

Good detective work by the doctor!

In my case, I had been feeling fairly rough for some time before things got serious so I'm fairly sure that fumes were leaking out through cracks in the chimney breast before the gaping hole appeared. I think I would have noticed the hole when I switched the fire on so I reckon that the bricks and plaster had collapsed after that.

One other thing I forgot to suggest was taking your CO detector with you when travelling. If not, you are putting your faith in the hotel, holiday company (whatever) and look what happened in the tragic case of the 2 kids in Corfu.

 

[Brains]

Just an aside, if someone gets ill/dies in your house, or a property you own (holiday flat etc) from O2 poising then YOU are liable for the death, including potentially be charged with manslaughter if you were shown to have willfully ignored a known problem

 

[postman]

I have just done a freebie decorating job ,for a couple at church .Part of it was to underline a chimney wall then emulsion same wall .Well the gas fire has no surround (yet).
And the gas installer has put grey tape over the back panel.The bloke asked me to paint it the same colour as the wall .I refused .

The paint over time i thought might make it brittle and crack.Thus allowing gases to escape .

And the little i know is that the tape should be replaced every year .

 

[RedBike]

I'm glad you're alright, but I am wondering what prompted you to post this?

You've just inspired me to buy/carry a bigger tent tomorrow morning so that i've got a porch to cook in rather than cooking inside my tiny one man tent.

The thought of drifting off into a deep sleep never to awake is worryingly appealling.

 

[addictfreak]

I think your local fire service will visit and offer advice and fit smoke alarms and CO detectors as well. My elderly neighbours were struggling with their smoke alarms. They were in the wrong place and kept getting set off when they did any cooking. I contacted the local brigade who sent a community officer round who replaced all the smoke detectors to better locations and fitted a CO detector as well.

I believe all Fire Brigades around the country will supply and fit smoke detectors and give advice, all of which is free.
However not all will fit CO detectors. Just contact your local fire station to find out.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm glad you're alright, but I am wondering what prompted you to post this?

It was because of this thread yesterday about carbon monoxide detectors. Svendo said that he'd got a really old boiler and kept putting off buying a CO detector so I thought I'd do my bit for public health and safety!