Gas Detector recs please

It's not exactly normal to have one fitted, though as you've found they're available, probably more lives would be saved by fitting dangerous dog detectors ...

You have a pipeline from the 1970's into your house?

Town gas? Where are you? Most of the UK converted to North Sea gas some 40 years ago.

Interestingly, if you did the same Ebay search for "Gas detector" omitting the word "combustible" you will see from items 9 and 11 onwards, that the vast majority are for CO detectors.

Fair enough, CO is a gas but I wonder how many non d-i-y'ers believe they have installed a combustible gas detector?

Ah, looking at Dave's post, it maybe North Sea Gas. When we moved to Cornwall 15 years ago, there was no gas. We used a Morso coal/wood heater, brrr.

Gas arrived in the road 12 years ago. The local Gas Board dug up the front path, took gas supply to front door and put a meter on side of front porch.

We got a plumber to install a GCH system. He ran the supply from the front porch, up into the loft and dropped it down into the extended kitchen at rear of property.

I guess the chance of having a gas leak in the loft is remote as he has hidden the piping under the loft floor-boards. However, gas leaking from the boiler at kitchen level, is likely to end up in loft?

You'd be astounded as to how much gas it would take to leak into a room bef ore the concentration of gas in air gets anyway close to the lel (lower exp losive limit). If you are really so scared it might happen to you try getti ng a competent person to carry out a soundness test on your installation.

yeah yeah tell it to Haxby

Isn't a leak test a mandatory part of the annual servicing of a gas boiler? I know the guy I have check my parents does a leak test.

The only time it might be sensible to have a combustible gas detector is if the householder has absolutely no sense of smell.

Very few people are unable to smell mercaptans at the level they are added to mains gas so I don't think it is worth worrying about.

Gas explosions are so rare and spectacular they make the national news.

no doubt the vultures will be circling to sell methane detection equipment.

Don't know if Ed Sirrett is still dipping in here from time to time but the Corgi magazine used to report incidents and the follow up actions. There w ere always reports of removal from the register for unsafe work. I've been retired for some time and out of the loop but Ed might know if Gas Safe are as stringent. Things like leaving an uncapped pipe even though the supply was turned off was automatic removal. Kitchen ventilation was always a conc ern if a non flame fail protected hob was in use but it was understood a ho b ring blowing out should smell but not reach explosive levels if ventilati on was correct. (didn't stop the double glazers and kitchen fitter altering things sice the last gas checks)

I am unable to smell household gas, so it's not that uncommon. Mix gas with rural or industrial smells and it's difficult.

I suspect it is actually uncommon. It stinks to high heaven. Can you really smell nothing?

Tim

I do wonder whether the guy who sadly died in the Haxby explosion (I heard the bang from about 10 miles away) may have had the same problem as you and hence not realised that there was a gas leak... I imagine that the central heating kicked in at 7:30 after gas had been building up all night to the explosive gas/air concentration. Worrying that one of the comments on the York Press web site story was from someone else in Haxby who had discovered gas leaking from the underground pipes outside her new house when she first moved in a year or so ago. Is there a problem in the area?

Interesting, if her house was new it would have a plastic feed pipe I believe. I wonder if it was connected to a plastic or iron gas main?

Please re read the reply completely.

Neither of us have particularly good senses of smell. Even less so, during the wee hours. The 9v models (above) are the portable ones used by site engineers.

I'm looking for something with a permanent fixing and say, an 85 Db alarm. I've come to the conclusion that these types are mains powered. I will have to bite the bullet and get mains installed in the loft, with alarm placed as close to the ridge as possible. We'll sleep better. Also these 1840 houses didn't have much loft ventilation.

I have. The stink of gas with its stenching agents is pretty unmistakable. Can you really not tell the difference between gas and cow s*it?

Tim

Rather than a new circuit, can you access the top floor lighting circuit from the ceiling roses? Alarms are hardly going to be a high current item.

Yes the rose is next to the hatch. The loft isn't fully boarded. It's just a question of removing 2 screws and lifting a plank.

I guess the ceiling rose may also provide a 40w light which would be handy?