A well-installed, regularly maintained gas boiler is extremely reliable and unlikely to pose any risk to your household.
However, a recent survey by Carillion Energy Services has suggested that around 26% of households haven’t had their boilers serviced in the last 12 months. Not only are these boilers likely to be operating less effectively in general, there’s an increased risk of them burning fuel inefficiently as well, which means they could be giving out dangerous CO fumes.
Carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and toxic, and that’s why we’d always recommend that you fit carbon monoxide detectors in your home to protect yourself and your family.
While most people have smoke alarms fitted to their homes, and are well aware of the risks associated with smoke inhalation, many still don’t think about carbon monoxide detectors in the same way. In fact, many people don’t even really know what carbon monoxide is and still don’t understand how dangerous it can be.
Carbon monoxide is formed as a result of incomplete combustion – this means that fuel is not being burned properly either in your boiler, or maybe in other household appliances.
Since all the fuel used to heat your water contains carbon, when it’s burnt properly - in plenty of oxygen, it produces carbon dioxide.
But, if the boiler isn’t working efficiently, instead of forming carbon dioxide it can form carbon monoxide.
Because carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas, it’s almost impossible for you to notice, but if it builds up in your house, it can pose a really significant health risk.
Mild exposure can cause headaches, vertigo, and flu-like symptoms, which is bad enough, but the real danger is that greater exposure can lead to damage to the central nervous system or even death. In today’s hectic world, we can all suffer from headaches and flu-like symptoms, and most of us wouldn’t be likely to make a connection with our boiler.
So for peace of mind, we would recommend that you do two things:
1) Get your boiler serviced by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer. We can arrange this for you for the fixed price of £69.99. You should have your boiler serviced once every 12 months, and if you haven’t done so, then you really need to take action.
2) Fit at least one carbon monoxide sensor, or if yours are over 5 years old, just replace them. A carbon monoxide sensor lasts between 5 and 7 years on average so it’s important to replace them before they reach the end of their operational life. Really, it’s better to change them well before time, and if you’ve moved into a house with existing CO detectors, then we’d recommend you replaced them anyway. You can get CO sensors from most DIY stores, or we can fit one when we come in to service the boiler.
Carillion Energy Services install around 30,000 central heating and boiler systems a year making them the 2nd largest heating installer in the UK. http://heating.carillionenergy.com/boiler-servicing