Carbon Monoxide Alarms – what would make yours go off?
When a potential fatal gas leaks from your wood-burning stove or another item in your house, your carbon monoxide alarm is there to warn you. In fact, it is legally required if your stove has been installed since 2010 (so if you don’t already have one, please acquire one soon).
You may experience some panic if your alarm goes off unexpectedly. Ventilating the room is the first step in distributing the carbon monoxide. At this point, you can begin looking into potential leak causes.
Check the Stove Body…
The first thing to look for is any visible cracks or holes in the flue or the woodburner’s body. Gases are probably going to be escaping if the body is damaged. It may be feasible to use fire cement to seal the defect, depending on how serious it is, or you may need to seek advice from your HETAS registered installer.
Check Stove Rope…
The stove rope, which creates a barrier around the stove glass and between the door and the body, should be examined next. The seal may be broken, allowing gases to escape, if the rope has been frayed, crushed, or snapped. Purchase a replacement stove rope if a visual inspection reveals issues.
Get your chimney swept…
For your flue to function correctly and draw out the gases from the stove, it must be hot and clear. It may not be able to accomplish this if it is obstructed, which could cause the gases to remain in the firebox and seep out of the air vents, so ensure that your chimney is swept on a regular basis.
Find a chimney sweep in your local area.
Take into consideration how you use your stove…
Are you slumbering the fire or running the stove at a low level on a regular basis? If so, issues may arise from this as well. Slumbering your stove stops the gases from being drawn up the flue pipe, just like when a flue is clogged. It is comparable to operating a vehicle in fifth gear at 10 mph. Once more, the gases are vulnerable to leaking through the air vents since the system does not have the force to remove them.
In essence, a woodburner’s air vents are a manageable leak. Based on the idea that the draw up the chimney will be larger than the draw back into the room, they act accordingly.
Better to be safe than sorry…
It is recommended to have a professional diagnose the issue if you are unable to determine why your carbon monoxide alarm is going off. Speak with a qualified HETAS engineer so they can tell you what is triggering the alert.
Yes, the information within this blog is meant merely as a guide. Please speak with a qualified HETAS engineer for a conclusive explanation of what is causing your wood burner to release carbon monoxide.