Are your appliances ready for winter?
But as well as warming people up, the big switch-on could also bring with it a silent killer.
Faulty appliances that use fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil or wood) can produce carbon monoxide, a difficult to detect colourless, odourless and tasteless gas — which can also cause sudden collapse, loss of consciousness and even death.
Older people, children, pregnant women and their unborn children, and those with breathing problems or cardiovascular disease, are at increased risk of the effects of carbon monoxide. According to the HSE, on average six people per year die from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
When inhaled, carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, and so starves vital organs of oxygen. As more carbon monoxide is inhaled, less oxygen can be carried in the blood and symptoms, which can include headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, chest pains, nausea and vomiting, worsen. High levels can potentially lead to organ failure and can kill, sometimes quite rapidly.
Long-term exposure can also be associated with lasting neurological problems, like difficulty concentrating. Symptoms can often mimic flu or food poisoning.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, as well as fires or explosions, can occur when a gas appliance is unsafe, usually because it hasn’t been serviced regularly or fitted and maintained properly.
Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week takes place from Monday 22 to Sunday 28. It’s an ideal time to get your gas boiler checked by a Registered Gas Installer (RGI).
Dr Simon Bouffler, public health expert, says: “Many carbon monoxide poisoning deaths are preventable. To lower the risk, people should ensure their fuel- and wood-burning appliances are regularly checked by an appropriately registered engineer. ”
He recommends that appliances and flues are checked before the start of winter, and that rooms in which appliances are used are adequately ventilated.
He also advises people with potential carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms to visit their GP, and tell the doctor that they may have been exposed to the gas.
Carbon monoxide alarms, which can be bought from most DIY stores, are increasingly fitted in homes. However, the most important precaution, with regards to avoiding leakage of the lethal gas, is to make sure appliances are well maintained.
Carbon monoxide can also be produced when fuels such as oil, charcoal, coal and wood don’t burn completely. It can also build up when flues or vents are blocked, eg, where a bird builds a nest over a flue.
* Black, sooty staining on or around an appliance.
* A yellow gas flame from gas appliances, rather than a blue flame — although this doesn’t apply to decorative-flame gas fires.
* A lot of condensation inside.
* Smoke accumulating in rooms due to faulty flues.
* People, and even pets, displaying symptoms which could indicate poisoning.
* You’re experiencing symptoms which improve when you’re outside.
