Every home with a gas, oil or solid-fuel appliance should have a carbon monoxide detector, and with one hundred and fifty million hours of time spent collectively in front of consumers a year, it’s the plumbing and heating engineers that should be their best ambassadors.
The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering believes that plumbing and heating professionals have a significant role to play in educating consumers and protecting public health.
Said Blane Judd, chief executive of the CIPHE: “It’s not just about turning up and installing a new bathroom or fixing a leaky tap. Take the opportunity to talk about safety issues when you are in front of customers and if you discover that they have a fossil fuelled appliances without a carbon monoxide alarm advise them to invest in one.”
Plumbing and Heating Engineer and Past President of the CIPHE, Colin Stainer has had first hand professional experience of how a CO alarm can save lives.
As he had only recently serviced the back boiler, Colin was surprised to be called out by a Salisbury letting agent when the CO alarm fitted at the property went off. He discovered that after only four months, the back boiler unit had completely sooted up with products of combustion spilling into the room.
When clean, all his tests showed that the boiler was working correctly with the correct gas rate and burner pressure and all the products of combustion were being extracted up the flue correctly. After questioning the tenant further, Colin discovered that an ultra-tidy decorator had masked the gas fire and surround with dust sheets and tape, unaware that the boiler behind was operational.
“Finding out the painter took five days with all dustsheets left in position gave me my answer – insufficient air to allow the boiler to burn correctly. Had I not installed this alarm the tenant and her daughter may not be here today.
“I try to sell and install a carbon monoxide alarm on every job I go to where there is an appliance that could produce CO. Letting agents I work with have now seen the benefits from this and insist on alarms in all of their properties with open flued appliances,” said Colin.
Ends July 2009
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