Should the CO alarm also be wired in?

[Guest Dawn]

Hello,

I have two properties that are currently tenanted. Previously the both had fire service installed battery operated smoke alarms installed. I have arranged to have new ones connected to the main in both properties this week.

My question is - should the co2 alarm also be mains connected?

Kind Regards
Dawn

[green-foam]

Hi, Not wishing to appear to be pedantic but I should correct your question. Carbon monoxide is written as CO and is given off by unburnt materials which contain carbon, it is the same density as air and is colourless. (it is also flammable)

CO2 (that you said) on the other hand is heavier than air and is commonly found in fire extinguishers such as this one.

It is very important you do not confuse the two.

Back to your question.

Ideally a carbon monoxide detector should be installed adjacent / reasonable proximity to any appliance that is liable to produce carbon monoxide. To that end, most are designed to be wall mounted such as this one (available from HERE )

Being wall mounted it is often not easy to conceal the cable, so most (not all) carbon monoxide detectors are battery operated.

If you want a mains operated CO detector you can get them from HERE

[Safelincs]

Hi Dawn

I know there were some discussions to force mains powered CO alarms into newly built properties etc, however, I am not sure how far this has progressed. One of the problems is that most mains powered CO alarm sensors only have a 5 year life, which clashes with the 10 year life of mains powered smoke alarms.

The vast majority of councils and landlords we supply are still choosing battery operated CO alarms. Now that there are 10 year sealed battery units available, I would suggest you use these. These alarms have 10 year sealed batteries, which a tenant cannot remove.

Harry