This blog is probably the most important of all the articles we’re producing forGas Safety Week as the whole campaign is around the issue of protecting yourself from the risks of gas and carbon monoxide (CO).
CO can leak from an appliance when the fuel does not burn fully and is known as the ‘silent killer’ as, unlike gas itself, it’s odourless, tasteless and colourless. The symptoms can be very much like flu symptoms so can be easily dismissed.
Don’t worry though, you can easily protect your family from the dangers of CO by just following a few basic principles that will keep your appliances safe and arm you with the knowledge of how to spot the signs early should something go wrong:
However ‘handy’ you think you are, this is no job for a DIYer! Only allow any gas appliances you have to be installed by a qualified Gas Safe engineer. Not only will this ensure that it has been installed correctly, it will allow your appliance to comply with its warranty conditions.
The space where you have a boiler installed needs adequate ventilation. Your engineer will obviously make sure that’s the case when they install it but make sure you continue to give it of space by not piling items up around it and that nothing blocks or covers the flue.
Just as you need a Gas Safe engineer to install your appliance, you should also make sure it is checked every year by a Gas Safe engineer. Read more about why annual servicing is so important in our first article posted this week.
While a properly maintained appliance carries very little risk, you still need a CO alarm that would alert you if there was any kind of leak. They’re pretty inexpensive and could save your life. Keep it close to the appliance and for peace of mind, you may want to keep one upstairs as well where you sleep.
This blog has been produced as part of our Gas Safety Week 2019 campaign. See more information about Gas Safety Week here.
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