Gas Alarm

carbon monoxide detector (Photo credit: Judy **)

Gas Safety in the Home

By Jay J Stephens

On average, 20 people die each and every year of carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of poorly installed or maintained gas detection systems. When fossil fuels such as coal and oil don't burn correctly an excess of carbon monoxide is produced. It is a colourless, odourless gas that can kill quickly and without warning.

There are a number of things that can be done to improve gas safety in your home.

Used a registered engineer. To guarantee safety in your home you should ensure that all installations and appliances are fitted by an approved Gas Safe Register. The Gas Safe Register replaced CORGGI on the 1st of April 2010 and now the recognised official body for gas safety in the UK. All registered engineers carry identification which details the level of work they're qualified to carry out.

Have your appliances checked regularly. You should have your appliances thoroughly checked every year by a qualified engineer. Your Gas Safe registered engineer will carry out tests and checks to establish your appliances are operating safely. They will use industry approved documents as a guide to ensure that any pipework that has been installed in an unsafe way or is currently operating unsafely is rectified to guarantee safety.

Install an audio carbon monoxide alarm. By installing an alarm you'll alert yourself to danger before it is too late. As mentioned previously, carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas which cannot be detected without the use of an alarm or an awareness of the symptom.

Exposure to this gas can lead to serious illness including brain damage and in severe cases death. It's important then that you understand thesix symptoms:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Breathlessness
• Collapse
• Loss of consciousness

A further danger is that many of the symptoms are very similar to those experienced while unwell with flu, food poisoning, viral infections or even tiredness so it's possible for people to mistake the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning with other conditions.

One way to make a distinction is to look at the symptoms in isolation and to assess them while you're away from your home. If you only feel the symptoms while at home or they improve when you leave the home then this could indicate that it is carbon monoxide poisoning and not another illness. You should also see if the same is true of other family members who share the property with you.

To improve gas safety in your home use a registered engineer, have your appliances checked annually, install a carbon monoxide alarm and make yourself aware of the symptoms.

Protect your home from harmful gases with a natural gas detector.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_J_Stephens