CO ALARMS COMPATIBLE
CO alarms have traditionally been installed as standalone items. But with the development of wire free (using radio frequency signals instead) alarm interconnection in the smoke alarm market, things have changed. This technology can now also be used with compatible CO alarms, allowing the CO alarm to be wirelessly interconnected to the smoke alarms so that when the CO alarm detects dangerous levels of CO, all the alarms interconnected on the system will sound. This is important as a CO alarm is generally away from a bedroom area so may not be heard if there is a CO incident when occupants are asleep. This makes use of the interconnection facility already in place for the smoke alarms, greatly reducing cost.
There is a greater opportunity than ever before to push the benefits of a CO alarm.
gas, paraffin, wood, petrol, diesel or charcoal is a potential source of a CO leak. The most common causes of a leak are faulty appliances, poor ventilation or incorrect installation. With greatly improved home insulation and emphasis on reducing air leakage in buildings, there is even less chance of CO escaping if the ventilation is inadequate or blocked. CO sensing technology hasn’t dramatically altered and CO alarms remain more expensive than smoke alarms. What’s more, regulations haven’t changed much. The only change has been to The Building Regulations, Approved Document J ‘Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems’ which, for the very first time, makes CO alarms mandatory ‘Where a new or replacement fixed solid fuel appliance is installed in a dwelling.’ This may be
a step forward, but it doesn’t apply to gas appliances which are actually the most common cause of CO poisoning. Furthermore, the bulk of social housing properties aren’t heated by solid fuel appliances, so this new Regulation will only apply in a handful of cases. The one key thing that really seems to be driving this move to fit CO alarms seems to be awareness.
“ BE AWARE
There have been a number of high profile deaths from CO poisoning over recent years, which have made the news. Pressure groups have also been a driving force, as has the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with its continual feed of information highlighting the problem of CO leaks. A few years back you would have been hard pressed to find anything in the news about CO poisoning. Some far sighted local authorities and housing associations have been quick to pick up on this and revise their tenant safety policy accordingly.
The CO alarm can be wirelessly interconnected to smoke alarms.
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Housing Association L&Q is a prime example of this knowledge spread. L&Q is installing CO alarms into 6,000 of its properties across Greater London and south east England. Craig McFarlane, asset policy advisor, explained the decision to install CO alarms in the first place, ‘HSE is keen to raise standards of gas safety. L&Q has taken this action in
THE ONE KEY THING THAT REALLY SEEMS TO BE DRIVING THIS MOVE TO FIT CO ALARMS SEEMS TO BE AWARENESS.
response. L&Q is committed to ensuring the highest standards of health and safety and believes that CO alarms will provide an added level of assurance on gas safety.’
Keith Hooker at Swindon Borough Council acknowledged the influence of the HSE and public awareness. He said, ‘Incidents of CO poisoning get reported via news channels more than ever before, including some large cases, and there is more information coming from the HSE on which to base policy.’ And this is good news, as there are
very few regulations driving the move to CO alarm installation as we have already seen.
The Decent Homes standard has also
proved beneficial to the case for fitting CO alarms. Billy Brooks, electrical project manager at 2010 Rotherham explained, ‘We started fitting CO alarms into vulnerable properties, i.e. those with solid fuel and open flued appliances, and we have now included it into the specification for our Decent Homes programme.’ 2010 Rotherham has installed mains powered CO alarms into all of its properties, interlinked with smoke alarms. This raises another interesting point that may be having a positive effect in the social housing sector − CO alarm sensing technology hasn’t changed, but the ability to simply and cost effectively add CO alarms to an existing smoke alarm system has.
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So what does this mean for the installer? Well, essentially it’s good news as it means extra – easy – revenue. With the social housing sector more receptive to CO alarms, you have a greater opportunity than ever before to push the benefits of a CO alarm and to offer an installation service when doing other electrical work on the properties, for example, when replacing smoke alarms. It means valuable incremental income and profit for next to no extra effort and for your customer it means valuable extra cover under ‘duty of care’. Battery CO alarms are available, but mains powered are best practise as they don’t rely on residents having to change the batteries and, as we have seen, they can be integrated into existing compatible mains powered smoke alarm systems.
HERE TO STAY
It looks to all intents and purposes that the tide really is turning and CO alarms are finally being considered important home safety devices. Sadly it’s taken a number of preventable deaths to get here and without any new regulations on the horizon it still remains up to individual landlords to make the decision to install. But installing they are, at least in the social housing sector. For astute contractors, now is the time to be pushing the benefits of a CO alarm to that sector – the argument is a compelling one.
Neil Perdell joined Aico over 15 years ago after having spent the previous 15 years in a technical role in the chemical industry. His prime role is providing technical support to the sales team and customers in the field, by telephone, email or by the written word. He has extensive knowledge of domestic fire systems and has contributed to several standards and regulations. He is the company’s representative on the Self Contained Smoke Alarm Group, a sub-committee of the British Fire Protection Association.
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