Carbon monoxide, AKA: The Silent Killer, kills more than 50 people every year in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, every year in the UK, 4,000 people vist A&E due to conditions caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is deadly mainly because it is invisible and has no odour, thus why it’s commonly referred to as the silent killer. Symptoms of CO poisoning include dizziness, nausea, stomach pain, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
Because CO gas is odourless and invisible, it is vital to have some method of detecting it. Working like your smoke alarm, if you want to protect yourself from potential CO poisoning, then it is worth using a carbon monoxide alarm to keep you and the people you care for safe.
Different types of CO alarm
One example of a very good CO alarm is the Kidde 900-0259. Kidde produce over 30 million detectors every year and they have been Kitemarked and comply with the relevant British standards (BSEN 50291:2001) so you can be assured that they are safe to use.
A major benefit of this product is that it is portable. So if you move home or change the location of the boiler, you can simply move the CO alarm as you wish. It is recommended that if you go on holiday you take one with you in order to check your accommodation for potential CO leaks. This may sound overly fussy and untrusting but you cannot guarantee that the hotel, B&B or holiday home you are staying in has a regularly checked gas heating system for example. It is better to be safe and take precautions than to end up in hospital due to poisoning.
Another example of a CO alarm is the Kidde 900-0230. This works in a similar way to the other model. However, its LCD display is a very useful additional feature because it gives you details of the levels of CO in your property. Both systems include a low battery beep to tell you when the batteries need changing.
They come with a 5-year warranty and last for 7 years. Carbon monoxide detectors are relatively inexpensive but given it could potentially save the life of you and the people in your home or office, it is well worth the money.
Vital investment
You may think that you do not need a CO detector if you have no direct source of CO gas in your home like a gas boiler, however there are more and more cases each year of CO seeping into homes from an outside source like a neighbouring house.
A little bit of investment in the short term will protect the people in your property in the long term. Customer reviews and comparison online will also make it easier to find the alarm appropriate for your home or business.
They are very simple to fit, and if you want to keep your home protected it is worth getting an alarm today. It’s easy to put stuff like this off, we have all done it, but take this opportunity to make your home or office that little bit safer, especially if you have an elderly relative or child at uni.