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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to need advice about my carbon monoxide alarm going off today?

33 replies

Rae34 · 22/03/2021 11:32

I recently purchased my first home so new to dealing with these sorts of issues. This morning I turned the heating on for 10 minutes just to hear the place up. My carbon monoxide alarm then went off. I aired everywhere out and left the room with my cat/stayed in that room.

I phoned the emergency grid helpline & a company came out quickly. They said they couldn't see anything obvious but to be sure . They have now turned off all of my hot water & gas appliances and put 'do not turn on' stickers on them.

They advised i would need to get these turned back on by a gas safety engineer that I will need to pay for. I phoned a gas safety engineer, explained & they said they think it is strange this person turned everything off when nothing was found. But they will come out.

AIBU to have no clue what is right and wrong here?

OP posts:
Borogroves · 22/03/2021 11:34

The same thing happened to me. They came out, put stickers on the boiler and gas fire and I wasn't allowed to turn them on until I got someone out to check them.

Seeingadistance · 22/03/2021 11:36

Better safe than sorry, or dead.

You’ve done the right thing. The first engineer couldn’t identify what was causing the CO escape, but has correctly shut everything down. The next engineer should hopefully be able quickly to identify the problem and fix it.

Original poster
Rae34 · 22/03/2021 11:37

I am also at a complete loss of what to expect in terms of cost for this. I know it will vary. Can I ask what it cost you @Borogroves ?

OP posts:
ClarkeGriffin · 22/03/2021 11:37

You did the right thing and you're just following a professionals advice. Better to do that than end up with an accident.

Original poster
Rae34 · 22/03/2021 11:39

Also should say he since turned the alarm off/on and it is flashing normally again. The engineer suspects this is because I aired everything out and turned everything off.

But for all I know I could just have a faulty alarm!

OP posts:
Borogroves · 22/03/2021 11:39

@Rae34 It was 15 years ago so I can't remember I'm afraid. I feel like it was a similar price to a boiler service.

LIZS · 22/03/2021 11:40

When was it last serviced. It is normal for the gas co to turn it off until you can have it assessed. A gas engineer to check it , and service the boiler if needs be, should charge less than £100, or you could sign up to one of the annual contracts like British Gas who the. Come out free.

FangsForTheMemory · 22/03/2021 11:42

When I got a carbon monoxide alarm installed by the fire service, the chap told me to dial 999 if it ever goes off. I said 'is that an absolute?' and he said yes. You need to get a gas engineer in to check everything.

Comefromaway · 22/03/2021 11:48

National Grid won't check the safe operation of your appliances, just that it's not coming from the main supply and they will isolate your appliances until you have had them looked at/.

LemonInPlay · 22/03/2021 12:08

Please don't turn anything back on again.
Your alarm is normal because you did the right thing and aired the house.
The chances of an alarm being faulty is tiny compared to the chances of gas appliances being dangerous, sorry.
My partner is a gas engineer btw.
Carbon monoxide is so so fucking dangerous and can slowly poison you as well as outright killing you.

The parts per million in air of carbon monoxide to start to poison you is as low as 30 parts per million.

I can't advise on cost cos DP only does commercial boilers for a living but it's your life you are playing with here.

I know it's a pain but get someone out to check asap.

Gas safety is hugely important.

Original poster
Rae34 · 22/03/2021 12:12

Thanks @LemonInPlay

An engineer is due to come out this afternoon.

I tried to remove my cat from the room the engineer would be working in and she burrowed herself into a tiny hole and scratched me to bits! I'm so stressed out and meant to be working from home.

I didn't know it was a slow poisoner. Good to know! Hopefully all will be fine. It is a big inconvenience but being dead would be even less inconvenient.

OP posts:
everybodysang · 22/03/2021 12:16

we had this happen last year - it turned out to be a leak from our gas oven, though it was quite obvious when the engineer came out and he disabled it so we couldn't use it.

We then got an engineer to come and have a look to see if he could fix it - he couldn't, but it didn't cost us much for him to look and have a go. Maybe £45?

LemonInPlay · 22/03/2021 12:20

No worries!

I'm incredibly hot on gas safety because I know just how dangerous it can be. It's actually quite terrifying how easy it is to get ill from this imo.

And people tend to think of the monoxide alarm like a smoke alarm, you know when it goes off because your grilling bacon and it's a minor inconvenience??
This isn't like that....if it's gone off something is very dangerous, because the level to set off the alarm is the level at which it starts affecting your health.

There are loads of cases of families reporting headaches/hallucinations/ health problems and it turning out to be monoxide poisoning from a slowly leaking appliance.

Public service announcement there sorry! Wink

LemonInPlay · 22/03/2021 12:21

Oh and I can't advise on the cat, but I hope you get it sorted and it's not too stressful or expensive.

Toddlerteaplease · 22/03/2021 12:24

Better a faulty alarm and getting a full check, than Ignoring it and it killing you.

Toddlerteaplease · 22/03/2021 12:25

I'd risk getting scratched to bits and get the cat out!

LemonInPlay · 22/03/2021 12:27

Oh and sorry to bang on.....but for anyone else reading this...if more than one of you in the house gets regular headaches, or you "see" things as a family, please, please get your appliances checked.

Slow poisoning from monoxide is an actual thing, and accounts (imo) for loads of "ghosts" and stuff like that.

CovidCorvid · 22/03/2021 12:30

You could have a faulty alarm but not worth the risk.

I stayed in a caravan once and the carbon monoxide alarm went off at 1am. I turned the heater off, opened the window, alarm stopped. I closed the window (was winter) and alarm went off again. I was convinced the alarm was faulty as I’d turned the heater off and was sure I had nothing else running on gas. Alarm kept going off so I went and disconnected the gas bottle.

Went and bought another alarm the next day. Went back to the caravan, turned the gas back on. Went to sleep as I felt really tired, middle of the afternoon. Woke up with both alarms going off!

You’re doing the right thing getting it checked out. I always have two alarms now.

BashfulClam · 22/03/2021 12:31

The advice we were given by a gas engineer was to leave the house if the alarm went off. He said ‘you won’t know how much co2 is actually in the air so just get outside until it’s made safe’

ConnieDobbs · 22/03/2021 12:32

Same happened to us, the gas engineer came the next day, checked all of our appliances and said they were fine. We bought a new carbon monoxide alarm and it hasn't happened again. Bit of a pita having to pay out but it is better than taking the risk. It was years ago so I can't remember how much it costs, I think somewhere between 50-100

Mischance · 22/03/2021 12:35

CO is very insidious - take no risks!

Mine went off a few weeks ago and it turned out to be caused by a bucket of ash that I had taken out of the wood burner and left indoors temporarily because it was raining.

LabbyNoona · 22/03/2021 12:43

Definitely definitely don’t take any risks here. Order a new alarm to rule out it being faulty. But given it went off when you turned the heating on, I’d say it’s working

WeAllHaveWings · 22/03/2021 12:58

A carbon monoxide alarm only had a life span of 5-10ish years (check the make/model online). As you have just moved in and don't know the history of this alarm it is worth replacing anyway, a missed alarm is much more dangerous than a false alarm.

You can pick up an alarm from around £15.

Original poster
Rae34 · 22/03/2021 13:10

Hi again everyone. The engineer has been and performed all the checks - he said everything checked out fine, not a flicker of any issue whatsoever.

So why did the alarm go off then? I only bought it 3 months ago. It had excellent reviews.

I feel both relieved and a bit uneasy. Maybe I should get 2 alarms like @CovidCorvid ?

OP posts:
CovidCorvid · 22/03/2021 13:13

For £15 it’s worth it for peace of mind.

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