Carbon Monoxide Detector?

[piggynose]

I have just been told these will have to be fitted to rented property from oct 2015. I have been quoted 47 quid plus fitting and vat. with a 7 year guarantee. is this a good deal?

[Buenchico]

Legal requirements here:
https://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/carbon-monoxide-requirements.shtml

Alarm prices (from a reputable retailer, with branches in almost every town in the country) here:
http://www.screwfix.com/c/security-ironmongery/fire-heat-co-alarms/cat5280012#category=cat5280012&page_size=100
(If your quote was from a local tradesman, he'll probably buy the alarm from Screwfix anyway!)

[ummmm]

Phone your supplier. We got ours free from British Gas.

[chrissa1]

They are ripping you off. They can be bought and fitted for a fraction of that price.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Does the property have solid fuel appliances?

[piggynose]

chrissa, i´m snookered, its a property management company, and they tend to look after the property, due to me living in madrid. so it looks like i have no choice.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your post anyway, Piggynose.

I've been meaning to get a CO detector for ages. (I had a close call with CO poisoning when I lived in a bedsit with a gas fire and a totally blocked chimney. Further, my gas cooker is now around a quarter of a century old and probably not burning as efficiently as it used to). So I've just been to Screwfix and bought one. (£14.99).

[piggynose]

chris, is there a screwfix near birmingham? and are they easy to fit?

[Buenchico]

Second question first:
The one I've just bought can easily be fixed to a wall or ceiling or even simply stood on a shelf. The wall/ceiling mounting simply involves drilling a couple of holes, screwing the mounting plate to the wall/ceiling and sliding the detector onto the mounting plate. (If its fitted to a plasterboard ceiling you wouldn't even need to drill the holes. You could just screw the mounting plate directly into the ceiling). It's no harder than hanging a picture. The screws and fixings come provided.

Back to the first question:
There are EIGHT branches of Screwfix within 10 miles of central Birmingham:
http://www.screwfix.com/jsp/tradeCounter/tradeCounterResultsPage.jsp?_requestid=70445

[chrissa1]

We had a couple of holiday lets a few years ago and I bought the detectors and simply stood them, out of the way, in the kitchen. Can a friend or family not do it for you?

[Dogsbody2]

Please take note of what Bright Spark said.

You do NOT have to retrospectively install a CO detector by law as a landlord UNLESS there is a solid fuel or wood-burning stove in the property.

Gas only in the property equals no statutory obligation under this new regulation.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

:-)

[piggynose]

silly question, but where should it be fitted? in the only bedroom, or if you had several bedrooms, would you install one in each bedroom?

[piggynose]

also i haven´t got a lot of time, as things are enforced from this thursday!! pity i wasn´t informed a couple of months ago.

[Tilly2]

Ours is in the same room as the gas fire. We got it free from British Gas and it's hanging on a picture hook about two foot from the ceiling. We were told to put it in the upper part of the room, not on a shelf.

[Buenchico]

The ADVICE is that you should have a CO2 detector in
(a) any room where there's combustion of either gas or solid fuels. [As Bright Spark points out though, the legislation only applies to solid fuels , not to gas appliances - but, having nearly died due to CO2 from a dodgy gas appliance myself, I'd still recommend the use of CO2 detectors where gas is used as a fuel) ; AND
(b) any room that a flue passes through (even if the flue is totally enclosed) ; AND
(c) in every bedroom.

However the only legal requirement is for a CO detector to be present in any room where solid fuel is burnt. (There is no legal requirement for them to be placed in bedrooms or elsewhere in the property - See my first link, above).

[BRIGHT SPARK]

My advise would be to have a hard wired system installed with optical/ionisation/heat/Co detectors fitted as needed...why people have to wait to be forced to install detectors is always worrying.Cheap detectors listed in links above should be avoided...if the battery is taken out or fails ...the cover has gone with it.

[Dogsbody2]

CO equals carbon monoxide. A bi-product of incomplete combustion. Odourless, tasteless and can kill in quite small concentrations.

CO2 equals carbon dioxide. A bi-product of combustion and of normal human breathing. Odourless, tasteless and won't kill unless in huge concentration, by which time human would have felt out of breathe.

Recommend not to fit CO2 detector as will trigger every time human enters room.

[Canary42]

LOL at dogsbody's remarks on Chris's inadvertent use of CO2 for carbon monoxide.

[piggynose]

i have an electric fire in the living room, a gas cooker in the kitchen alongside a gas boiler, plus gas central heating throughout.

[Dogsbody2]

Well then, as you were advised nearly 24 hours ago, you can stop fretting as you won't be breaking the law from midnight tonight.
Nevertheless, as advised by others, its a good idea to fit these CO detectors if the tenant seems a good-un, as it might prolong their life expectancy.