Gas appliances

Gas appliances

Gas appliances Get them checked Keep them safeEvery
year about 14 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas
appliances and flues which have not been properly installed or maintained.

Many others also suffer ill-health. When gas does not burn properly, as with other
fuels such as coal, wood or oil, excess carbon monoxide is produced, which is
poisonous. You can’t see it. You can’t taste it. You can’t even smell it. But carbon monoxide
can kill without warning in just a matter of hours.

You are particularly at risk when you are asleep because you cannot recognise
the early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. These include tiredness,
drowsiness, headache, nausea, pains in the chest and stomach pains. These
symptoms can mimic many common ailments and may easily be confused with flu
or simple tiredness

If you or your family experience the above symptoms, and you believe carbon monoxide may be involved,
you must seek urgent medical advice.

Your doctor will need to test a blood or breath sample. Carbon monoxide quickly leaves the blood and
tests may be inaccurate if taken more than four hours after exposure has ended.

You are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning if:

• your appliance was poorly installed;

• your appliance is not working properly;

• your appliance has not been checked for safety or maintained regularly;

• there is not enough fresh air in the room;

•  chimney or flue gets blocked up;
• you allow an engineer who is not on the Gas Safe Register to install or maintain your appliance(s).

There is a particular risk if you sleep in a room where an appliance that is not of the
room-sealed type (eg a conventional gas fire) is left burning at night. (Flue outlets
for room-sealed appliances are commonly located on an external wall at a low-level
protected by a cage rather than at or above roof level.)

The answers

• NEVER
  use a gas appliance if you think it is not working properly. Signs to
  look out for include yellow or orange flames (except for fuel-effect
  fires which display this colour flame), soot or stains around the
  appliance and pilot lights which frequently blow out.

• NEVER cover an appliance or block the convection air vents.

• NEVER block or obstruct any fixed ventilation grilles or air bricks.

• NEVER block or cover outside flues.
•  

CAUTION
Whenever draught exclusion, ceiling or extraction fans, double glazing
or conservatory extensions are fitted to a room containing a gas appliance, the
appliance should subsequently be checked for safety

ALL gas consumers are advised to have appliances checked for safety at least every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer.


You could be entitled to a free safety check . If you are over 60, chronically sick,
disabled, deaf or hearing-impaired, blind or visually impaired, you are entitled to join
your supplier’s Priority Service Register. It is free to join and once a member you
are entitled, among other things, to a free annual gas safety check (unless you live
in rented accommodation where it is your landlord’s duty to ensure the check is
done). For more information look at the back of your gas bill.

• CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS are a useful back-up precaution but must
• NOT be regarded as a substitute for proper installation and maintenance of gas
  equipment by a Gas Safe registered engineer. If you decide to buy a carbon
  monoxide alarm, ensure it meets current safety standards (BSEN 50291) and
  carries the Kitemark. If in doubt ask a member of staff for advice. Always follow the
  manufacturer’s siting instructions.

If you smell gas, or suspect there is a gas escape or a carbon monoxide leak, you

• should immediately do the following:
• Open all doors and windows.

• Shut
  off the gas supply at the meter control valve (if you know where it
  is). If gas continues to escape call National Grid on the Gas Emergency
  Freephone Number 0800 111 999
• Make sure that any investigations or repairs are carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

The law

The
Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 place duties on gas
consumers, installers, suppliers and landlords. These regulations link
with other
safety controls on combustion equipment, eg the Building Regulations, which are standards for ventilation and flues.



For your own protection remember:

by law anyone carrying out work on gas appliances or fittings as part
of their business must be competent and registered with the Gas Safe
Register.


Always check your
engineer is registered by asking to see their ID card which has a photo
of the engineer, their business registration number and

personal licence number, company name, the start and expiry date of the
card and a security hologram. The reverse of the card details what kind
of
gas work the engineer is
able to do. You can also call Gas Safe Register during normal office
hours on 0800 408 5500 or go to the website www.gassaferegister.co.uk;

• By
  law only a competent person can carry out work on gas appliances or
  fittings . Do-it-yourself work on gas appliances or fittings could be
  dangerous and is likely to be illegal;

• by law you must not use any gas appliance or fittings you know or suspect to be unsafe.

Through Gas Safe Register,
HSE has asked all registered engineers to disconnect any gas appliance
or fittings which are so dangerous as to be a threat to life if they are
used. If your engineer asks your permission to disconnect such an
appliance or fitting it will be in the interests of your own safety, and
that of others, to agree. Before you use this appliance or fitting
again, have it repaired by a Gas Safe registered engineer; by law,
landlords are generally responsible for making sure that gas fittings
and flues are maintained in good order, and gas appliances and flues are
checked for safety once in a period of 12 months. They must also keep a
record of the safety checks for at least two years and issue the latest
certificate to existing tenants and any new tenants before they move
in.

Duval Heating 07833 224 738

If
you own the appliance, you are responsible for its maintenance and
safety checks; by law, with the exception of the room-sealed type ,
there are restrictions on the installation of gas appliances such as
fires, boilers and heaters in sleeping accommodation. These restrictions
apply only to appliances fitted after 1 January 1996 and to those
already installed in rooms in rented accommodation which have been
converted to bedrooms after 31 October 1998.



Appliances
which are not room-sealed, eg conventional gas fires of 14 kilowatts or
less, may only be fitted if they have a device which automatically
turns the gas supply off before a dangerous level of fumes can build up.
However, for appliances above 14 kilowatts only those of a room- sealed
type are allowed in such accommodation; by law, since 31 October 1998,
it has been illegal to install in any room instantaneous water heaters
which are not room-sealed or fitted with a safety device which
automatically turns the gas supply off before a dangerous level of
poisonous fumes builds up;
By
law, mains gas transporters/emergency service providers (ESPs) must, in
the event of an emergency, make the situation safe . They should
establish
the cause of a gas
escape and take action to prevent the gas from escaping within 12 hours.
In the case of actual or suspected escapes of carbon monoxide
they should respond to reports from consumers and make the situation safe.