We fitted the carbon monoxide detectors today. These were installed into each of the rooms where there is a solid fuel (i.e. log burning) stove. The units have to be main powered and linked into the same circuit as the heat and smoke alarms elsewhere in the building. We took quite a bit of time looking for half decent units – a number of the units were large and chunky.
These units from Kidde just look like a smoke detector. They were around £40 each and were supplied by www.discounthomelighting.co.uk.
If one of the heat or smoke detectors is activated, all of the connected alarms will go off. These CO alarms will display “FiRe” on their LED display. If one of the CO alarms detects carbon monoxide, all of the connected CO alarms will be activated.
To comply with the latest building regulations, carbon monoxide detectors need to be fitted in rooms where there are solid fuel stoves. With three log burning stoves, this means three detectors. They also need to be hardwired into the heat and smoke detectors in the rest of the building.
One of the three carbon monoxide detectors that have been installed today. This one is in the snug. The log stove is a Firebelly FB1.
Viewed from underneath there is a red LED display that shows the parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide. Unsurprisingly, it has a reading of zero.