Carbonmonoxide!!

[spider8]

I didn't know which section to put this...........we have an old multi fuel stove in the livingroom and it's been fine for ages then we were woken up in the night when the carbonmonoxide alarm went off. We had a look and thought it might be the door rope that needed replacing, this we did but the meter still goes off. Can anybody give us some idea about what might be causing this please?

[GeorgeSalt]

Could be door seal, or any of the seals on the flue, or movement of the flue. Or it could be a door hinge and the door misaligning. Or a more general flue problem and flue gases escaping via the air inlets.

Or it could be the CO alarm crying out for a new battery (refer to manual).

But I'd call the sweep in the morning.

[spider8]

Thanks for that Georgesalt. We had the chimney swept 4 months ago and we've replaced the door rope so will look at the hinges :)

[KathyLauren]

Time for a new stove. Carbon mooxide is not something to mess with. Its effects are cumulative. Just because you survived two or three nights exposure to it, it doesn't mean that you will survive five or six nights.

[boboff]

Does it give you a peak reading?

4 months if burning all day every day and over night is time for a sweep too, I suspect this will sort it out.

I just bought a Co meter with digital peak reading from Amazon for £16 including postage which I thought was reasonable.

[GeorgeSalt]

But I'd call the sweep in the morning.

I'm not recommending the sweep so you can get your flue swept, I'm recommending him as a professional sweep should be able to assess the stove and flue and determine what the problem is.

One very quick check you can make is the draught, you've not recently improved insulation, installed draught-proofing or new windows? If there's an air vent in the wall, it's not blocked is it?

Buying a new stove would be a hasty response, and needless (possibly even counterproductive) if it's a problem with the flue itself or a consumable/alignment issue.

I hope I can assume that you've not been firing the stove since the alarm went off the second time?

[spider8]

Certainly not GeorgeSalt! We are getting a sweep in to check over the stove as when swept 4 months ago they checked it then. Air vents are clear and we haven't altered anything so still a puzzle for now. Thanks folks.

[spider8]

We changed the door rope and put in 10 mm rope which seems to have solved the problem. The meter is now showing 0 all the time and we're happy. Thanks guys.

[diggernotdreamer]

This really does highlight how important it is to have a carbon monoxide detector, how many of us with stoves would think about the door rope allowing poisonous gas into the home, I have a CM alarm and I will now also make sure the stove is always maintained properly, thanks for highlighting this Spider

[spider8]

Must admit DND that it really scared us as we were watching the detector going up and up before our eyes. Something as simple as the door rope too. Thanks to all for your help and advice :)

[KathyLauren]

Glad you found the problem and got it fixed!