Carbon Monoxide Safety

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon Monoxide gas has no taste, no smell and no colour and is highly poisonous. The fatal effects of Carbon Monoxide along with our inability to detect its prescence makes it incredibly dangerous. Even when exposed to low levels of Carbon Monoxide, there can be lasting effects.

Where does Carbon Monoxide come from?

Carbon Monoxide can come from any appliance which burns gas, oil, coal or wood, such as:

Gas or Oil Boilers
Gas Cookers
Gas or Coal Fires
Portable Heaters
Wood Burners

Your boiler works by burning a mixture of fuel and air, and this burning heats your water which will be used in the radiators and the hot water taps.

Even boilers whic are set up correctly will still emit Carbon Monoxide which could find it's way into your house.

Symptons of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Symptons of Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be similar to these of the flu, or even a hangover. The efects may include:

Headaches
Nausea
General Lethargy
Dizziness
Other Flu-Like Symptons

Check out the how the below levels of Carbon Monoxide will effect you:

100ppm - you will get a headache after being exposed to this level for 2-3 hours
200ppm - you'll have a headache, feel dizzy and sick, and quite lethargic after 2-3 hours of exposure
400ppm - the headaches and nausea will set in after 1-2 hours, and death can occur after 3 hours
800ppm - bad headaches, dizziness, bad convulsions up to 45 minutes of exposure, death can occur in 2-3 hours
1,600ppm - headaches, dizziness, nausea within 20 minutes, and the potential to collapse, with death occuring in 1-2 hours
3,200ppm - headaches, dizziness, nausea within 5-10 minutes, Death inside of 30 minutes

Your body and organs need Oxygen in order to function correctly, but if you breath in CO, your body does not get the required Oxygen. The effect of this is your organs and muscles don't get the required amount of Oxygen, and can become damaged. With CO affecting your muscles and brain, by the time you recognize the symptoms of CO poisoning, you may not have the energy to escape the room.

What Gas & Controls Offer

We stock a large quantity of various Carbon Monoxide CO alarms in Northern Ireland. Our alarms are manufactured by Honeywell, and we have 2 main types for domestic applications.

Honeywell H450EN - this unit is perfect for domestic use. It is cheap, reliable and easy to install. It comes with up to 7 years life, and a 6 year warranty. We offer these with quantity discount and next day delivery.

Honeywell SF340F - this unit offers the added protection of a built in relay to connect a gas solenoid valve. Once this detector sensors Carbon Monoxide, it will close the solenoid valve, preventing more gas from entering the building or house. Once the Carbon Monoxide clears, it opens the valve again, allowing your heaters/cooking appliances to come back on. While being more expensive than the H450EN, the SF340F offers greater protection. We stock large quantities of these Carbon Monoxide alarm in Northern Ireland.

Even with Carbon Monoxide alarms installed, allows read your appliances' manufacturers guidelines that come with the appliance. There should be plenty of advice and guidance in these.

If you would like any further information on the detectors we offer, please click here to contact us.

Carbon Monoxide Alarm Datasheets & Amended Building Regulations NI

Please see list of available downloads below:

File Name	File Size	Date Published
SF340F Datasheet	0.3MB	20/1/2012
H450EN Datasheet	2.45MB	20/1/2012
Amended Northern Ireland Building Regs	0.39MB	20/1/2012