I would like to take the oppertunity to recomend to all the importance of carbon monoxide detectors last night my wife an self where woken by our alarm the fire brigade where called out as I took my wife to A&E . BIG PROBLEM the ordinary smoke detectors as fitted in most houses do not detect carbon monoxide ,but for us having a dedicated unit the fire service said not ony us but our neighbour would have been dead.We were lucky a -we had one b -it was an electronic unit not an expensive one either redily available from tesco,currys etc. The fire officer said that alot of people have the card type that changes coulor when gas presant NO GOOD we were in bed but for the audible alarm we would not have woken so I recommend to one and all buy one .A few hours on o2 in hospital thank fully every one seems to be ok .On a lighter note please ignore the spelling my head is still confuddled wether its the gas or just me I'll have to wait out
A very serious point
- Thread starter k15plc
- Start date
littlewoman
Longterm Registered User
In the past couple of weeks in Cumbria we had two deaths and one hospitalised on a boat in Windermere, followed a few days later by another 2 people hospitalised on another boat on the same lake. What does it take for people to get the message.
The symptoms are very much like flu at a low level of exposure, and can easily be mistaken for flu.
Make sure your detector is in the right place, about the level your head is going to be at most of the time, not on the ceiling like a smoke alarm.
Good to hear you're OK k15plc, it takes a while for your body to filter out the CO from your blood (and head) but light exercise (walking) in the fresh air should help.
The symptoms are very much like flu at a low level of exposure, and can easily be mistaken for flu.
Make sure your detector is in the right place, about the level your head is going to be at most of the time, not on the ceiling like a smoke alarm.
Good to hear you're OK k15plc, it takes a while for your body to filter out the CO from your blood (and head) but light exercise (walking) in the fresh air should help.
Glad you are OK. Bloody lucky......
One worrying thing about co2 alarms and smoke alarms is that young children may not hear them due to how deep they can sleep. Good video to watch if you have kids.....
Kids can sleep through smoke alarms, experts say - TODAY.com
There has been tons of discussion regarding this on boaty forums. Your advice about head height is a good one especially realising where your head is going to be when you are asleep.
One worrying thing about co2 alarms and smoke alarms is that young children may not hear them due to how deep they can sleep. Good video to watch if you have kids.....
Kids can sleep through smoke alarms, experts say - TODAY.com
littlewoman
Longterm Registered User
Its CO (carbon MON oxide) not CO2 (Carbon DI oxide). CO2 displaces oxygen so can suffocate but CO is poisonous. In basic terms CO is short of an oxygen molecule and is trying to become CO2, so when it gets in to the blood is binds to the haemoglobin which is trying to carry oxygen around and so deprives your brain (and everywhere else) of oxygen.
Brengunner
Longterm Registered User
It seems some people dont know this and I understand this, but most fire alarms fitted in houses are old hat.
If you want the right protection you need to speak to a electrical company and get them to quote you for fitting mains linked battery back up alarms, you can have fitted all round the house all types of alarms for seperate reasons but if one goes off they all go off, waking the street, let alone everyone in the house.
This is not the cheap option prob cost you between £300to £800 depending on whats required, but what cost do you put on your families lives?
Glad it turned out good for you!
Cheers, bren
If you want the right protection you need to speak to a electrical company and get them to quote you for fitting mains linked battery back up alarms, you can have fitted all round the house all types of alarms for seperate reasons but if one goes off they all go off, waking the street, let alone everyone in the house.
This is not the cheap option prob cost you between £300to £800 depending on whats required, but what cost do you put on your families lives?
Glad it turned out good for you!
Cheers, bren
littlewoman
Longterm Registered User
Unfortunately they also go off if the temperature goes below 4 degrees centigrade. So can't be problematic in winter if you've no central heating.
Right we had the stove checked out ok had the chimney cleaned -not even 1/2 a bucket of soot but after further investigation ie a camera up the flue we did find a sh1t load of cracked flue liners . This in itself did not explain the whole disaster because the flue was not phisically blocked an should still have been able to breathe , the problem has now been cured as we have had a stainless steel flexi liner fitted from the outlet of the stove to above the lip of the chimney pot, weird an wonderfull smelly candles lit in the system and detectors set up to look for leaks.A neighbour of mine a building contractor dropped all, left the work he was doing an sorted the whole thing out.I would like to thank all who posted for their concern and would seriously like to recomend everyone does fit co detectors they did save our lives, again thank you all
My Dad died of carbon monoxcide poisoning back in 2008 on his boat.......
And to make a joke of a bad situation, when going through his phone, igoring the 10 women he was clearly banging at the same time, his friend had texted 24 hours after his death(he was found 48 hours later roughly) saying "Answer your phone you twat, if you're dead, can I have your kayak?".....
So at his wake at the local pub, I walked in to the pub with a kayak and gave it to his friend who started nearly crying but we all love him for it.
A cheap alarm would of saved the silly bastards life.
And to make a joke of a bad situation, when going through his phone, igoring the 10 women he was clearly banging at the same time, his friend had texted 24 hours after his death(he was found 48 hours later roughly) saying "Answer your phone you twat, if you're dead, can I have your kayak?".....
So at his wake at the local pub, I walked in to the pub with a kayak and gave it to his friend who started nearly crying but we all love him for it.
A cheap alarm would of saved the silly bastards life.
Cracked flue liner would mean the gasses did not follow the correct path, as in up the flue and out. The gasses would have gone in all directions due to the pull of the fumes - that is why chimneys have flue liners fitted in order to direct the gasses.
You have to have your ventilation, air intake, extract, high and low vents. The liner is there to direct the gasses.
There's also new directive out that any flue over 4m long must have access points within a meter of any joins on the flue otherwise the appliance must now be placed 'at risk' which means appliance switched off and not to be used.
Glad you had your alarms fitted and hopefully people will listen to your experience.
I think there is variety of the alarm that are use to detect the co2 level in any place.You must set the level of the the CO2 in the alarm and if the co2 rises from that level the alarm will automatically send alert to security company as well as on your personal phone.