Protecting Your Home Using Carbon Monoxide Detectors
If you have gas or an open fire in your home then it is vital for the health of your family that you install a carbon monoxide detector. This small device can and does save lives.
Carbon monoxide can be released by any product that uses gas or if you use an open fire in your home. This gas doesn’t smell of anything, you can’t taste the gas and you can’t see the gas. However, this doesn’t stop it poisoning and slowly killing you.
The signs of carbon monoxide poison
There are many different symptoms but they are difficult to pinpoint that you are slowly being poisoned, they can often be mistaken for other illnesses, often until it is too late.
- Loss of consciousness leading to death
- Headaches
- Feeling dizzy
- Feeling unusually weak
- Feeling sick and actually vomiting
- Having pains in the chest
Whilst these are all very distinct symptoms, it is very easy to dismiss them or blame them on a bug. However, if you can check your detector and prove that it is what has caused the illness, it can save a life.
If you are going to stay in a hotel or self-catering apartment, I always take my own detectors with me, this ensures the room you and your family are sleeping in is safe, there are too many deaths with families whilst on holiday and they die due to faulty equipment. Don’t take chances with the lives of your family.
Maintenance issues
It is in the best interest of your family to get any gas appliances checked on a yearly basis, set up a calendar reminder to ensure you don’t forget. The health and wellbeing of your family is at risk if you don’t.
Purchase a carbon monoxide detector for each room that either has an open fire, including the stoves with doors or gas supply for wall fires or your boiler. These can detect the gas and alert you, saving lives.
Check the detector is working by pressing the button each week, and replace the batteries on a yearly schedule; it doesn’t matter if the battery is not dead, replace it anyway. You must replace the whole system every 7 years to ensure that it is still working correctly.
Whilst some devices indicate they are no longer working, this is not often the case with carbon monoxide detectors; they can look like they are still functioning, when in fact they are no longer protecting you and your family. This is why it is essential to replace the whole unit on a relatively quick turnaround scale.
Some detectors have a guarantee to last for a length of time, this includes the length of term for the battery; these products can be more expensive, but if you are not good at remembering the need to replace batteries on a regular basis, then this might be the better option for you and your family.
Therefore, it is essential to save lives that you get a carbon monoxide detector if you have gas or open fires in your home, it can save your life.
