Carbon Monoxide Deaths Again

[dhaslam]

Carbon Monoxide  monitors to be  compulsary in Ireland  after more deaths.    The recent deaths  in Sligo were very unusual in that there  was an open fire in the room and presumably good airflow.     It seems that a  potato crisp bag, the large outer one, may have blocked the chimney.   

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1228/1224309550942.html

[Philip R]

You will be surprised how many (seemingly intelligent) folk block up the air vents in rooms fitted with open flue gas boilers because of the cold draft running across the floor to the appliance. (Mind you, no condensation problems!)

Not enough air ingress, the chimney draft dwindles, hey presto, one's a gonner!!

Nasty old stuff the CO, during the early stages of poisoning, the victims supposedly go a bit daft and happy.

PhilipR

[Ivan]

I have a CO alarm near my woodstove which was bought from toolstation or screwfix (can't remember which) - it's not dramatically expensive, and therefore a good investment. It's about 3years old on the original battery, which gets popped out during the summer months when the woodburner isn't on...if I remember.

It's also probably worth highlighting the dangers of burning the new low sulphur fuel oil in old wick rayburns/agas. It doesn't burn well in these, and the wicks need to be serviced every 6weeks or so to prevent the build up of crud and low-efficiency running. They become smoky, and presumably produce a lot more carbon monoxide, but one of the consequences is that the soot builds up in the flue, and I've heard of several cases where the flue was almost entirely choked with soot....usually below the access hatch used to clean the flue pipe.

[dimogga]

I think UK regs for rented properties are going to be changed this year so that they all need to have wired smoke alarms.
Not sure if it mentions CO detectors though.

[pb]

CO alarms are already mandatory under UK building regs whenever a solid fuel appliance is installed or replaced.  They aren't currently required for other types of fuel although the regulations do contain the helpful note that alarms "can also reduce the risk of CO poisoning" for gas and oil appliances.  I suppose the thinking is that the number of new open-flued gas appliances being installed nowadays is so low that making alarms mandatory in that case wouldn't make much practical difference.  Making them mandatory for rented accomodation does seem like a sensible plan.

Of course, all this still relies on the user replacing the alarm when the sensor is life-expired and in practice I suspect a lot of people will forget/not bother.

[M]

Nasty old stuff the CO, during the early stages of poisoning, the victims supposedly go a bit daft and happy.

PhilipR

How true, expands your blood vessels and makes you look flushed and healthy.

Check out the WWII disaster in Italy, the Black Market Express. Labouring, overloaded train, burning low quality coal struggles through a tunnel. I think only a few guards who were in a van at the back survived. Possibly only one without health and mental damage. Hundreds dead. Guards reported that as they walked up the train to see why it wasn't moving, everyone looked fine and healthy, just dead!

My Aunt had a CO2 alarm that would go off all the time. My father arranged for a plumbing engineer to check for a problem. Eventually narrowed it down to the cooker, all hobs and oven fine, but when they tested the grill, it went off the scale. Replaced it quickly.

Mart.