What do you think of when you hear the words ‘home security’ or ‘home protection’? CCTV cameras and burglar alarms? Stronger locks and door bars? The security and protection of our homes is more than just keeping thieves at bay, it also involves protecting the home and the people within it in the event of fire with a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm.
Carbon Monoxide is a very poisonous gas, a silent killer. It is a gas that you can’t see, taste or even smell, making it very dangerous indeed. As it is so silent, invisible and dangerous it can have devastating effects within our homes. Every home should have at least one carbon monoxide detector alarm installed. Breathing in carbon monoxide can be lethal in enclosed spaces and can result in CO poisoning, illness, and in some cases death. It’s created in our homes when the fuel in products, such as boilers, fires and ovens does not burn completely. Regular servicing of these products can reduce the risk of CO being present, but it cannot completely remove the risk. This shows how important having a CO alarm in the home is, and it is something that a lot of people overlook.
FireAngel are a well-known and respected brand of fire safety products for the home. They are experts in smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and heat alarms. With that in mind I was happy to install their FA3820 Carbon Monoxide Alarm in my kitchen.
The FireAngel FA3820 Carbon Monoxide Alarm is a small device for the early detection and protection against carbon monoxide in the home. It is a sealed unit (you cannot replace the battery) powered by a lithium battery and is certified for use in your home or whilst travelling. As you can’t replace the battery in this device it comes with an impressive 10 year battery installed. Whilst it does what every other CO alarm does and detects dangerous levels of carbon monoxide within the home and sounds an alarm, it also has another excellent feature that most other alarms don’t have – using the latest sensor technology it features an early warning indictor, a pre-alarm warning which encourages ventilation of your property when low levels of carbon monoxide are detected.
Features:
- 10 Year Lifespan
- 10 Year Sealed Lithium Battery
- 5 Year Warranty
- Designed for Wall Mounting or Free Standing Installation (rawl plugs and screws are not supplied)
- Certified for the home, caravans, motor homes, and boat use
- Loud 85dB audible alarm activates when CO level reaches 50ppm
- ‘Pre-alarm’ warning encourages ventilation of property when low levels of CO are detected
- Kitemarked to BS EN 50291-1: 2018 (domestic use) and BS EN 50291-2: 2019 (camping / caravans / boats)
- CE marked and UKCA marked
- Low volume test function (Single press – self-test at a reduced volume / Double press – self-test at full alarm volume)
- Silence low battery / end of life warnings with the Sleep Easy function for up to 8 hours
- Simple activation with the removal of the disabling tab
- Indicates previous alarm activation with memory function
- Dimensions (HxWxD): 67 x 125 x 33mm
- This carbon monoxide alarm is also suitable for both the Welsh and Scottish updated 2022 legislation
The FireAngel Carbon Monoxide Alarm is an unobtrusive small white box that once installed you can mostly forget about (except for regularly testing). It can be wall mounted or free-standing and should be placed in a room with any fuel-burning appliance (boiler, oven, gas fire or wood-burning stove) – if you have more than one room with a fuel-burning appliance then ideally you should place a CO alarm in each one.
Installing the alarm is quick and simple. Just pull the disabling tab out of the bottom of the device (don’t throw this away) and wait for the LED to turn green (this can take up to 1 minute). Once the alarm is activated by removing the tab, the battery should last up to 10 years. Test the alarm by pressing the TEST button (press once for a self-test at a reduced volume / press twice for a self-test at full alarm volume). Once the alarm is confirmed as working you can now site it where needed – for example, in the kitchen or garage near your boiler. Place the alarm between 1-3 meters away from the source (e.g. boiler) and on the same side of the room as the source (if wall mounting, place 15cm away from the ceiling, higher than doors and windows). If you are wall mounting, you will need to purchase suitable rawl plugs and screws for your walls as these are not supplied (the reason they are not supplied is that different wall types require different fittings).
With the alarm installed and working it should detect any dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in the room. Hopefully it will never be needed and will sit there silently but if carbon monoxide is detected in the air a very loud alarm will sound to warn you to act. In the event of the alarm sounding never ignore it, ventilate the room by opening doors and windows, turn off the appliances if possible and leave the property. Do not enter the property until the alarm has stopped – this can take up to 10 minutes depending on the levels detected. Do not use the appliances again until they have been checked by an expert (for example, ring your fuel supplier’s emergency number).
The FA3820 Carbon Monoxide Alarm also features an early-warning indicator. When low levels of carbon monoxide are detected, an alarm will sound with a different sound and flashing LED. This allows you to ventilate the room to disperse and build-up of carbon monoxide and get any appliances checked before a bigger problem can arise.
This carbon monoxide alarm is a sealed unit with a 10 year battery life. Once the battery is depleted the whole unit will need replacing. It will beep once per minute when the battery is reaching the end of its life, giving you 30 days to replace the alarm once the beeping starts. Once it is no longer detecting carbon monoxide because of low battery levels it will emit 3 rapid beeps per minute and will need replacing immediately. Whilst you are waiting for a new alarm, the constant beeping will become annoying, especially at night when you want to sleep, so the alarm is equipped with a Sleep Easy Silence feature that allows you to silence the alarm for 12 hours at night (for a maximum of 10 times), allowing you plenty of time to order, receive and replace the alarm without being annoyed and kept awake at night.
Overall, the FireAngel FA3820 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarm is a fantastic little device. It is small and unobtrusive and a potentially life-saving device that every home should have installed. Extremely easy to activate and install, it is extremely loud at 85dB when triggered, giving anybody within the home clear warning of a problem (it will also flash red, so you are visually aware as well). The early warning system is great for detecting issues allowing you to rectify them before they become a very big problem. And I love the lower volume for testing purposes as it is very loud at full volume.
Once installed, all you need to do to maintain it is to give it a quick test once a month. Testing couldn’t easier, you just need to press the test button. It will also need any dust build-up removed, just give it a quick vacuum every 3 months (or do every month when testing the device). You can’t clean it using any cleaners or solvents and never paint or cover it.
As it can be wall mounted or free-standing it is easy to use within any room in the house. As it is small and portable it is also perfect for use in caravans, motor homes, boats, hotel rooms etc.
With a retail price of under £30 it is excellent value. As it has a 10 year battery it works out at just £3 per year or 25p per month. That is nothing to be able to protect your family from a silent, dangerous and potentially deadly gas. Exposure to CO can result in mild symptoms including headache and vomiting to more extreme symptoms from prolonged exposure including unconsciousness, convulsions and even death – information on symptoms can be found on the NHS website.
The FireAngel FA3820 Carbon Monoxide alarm is an excellent quality device featuring intelligent sensing technology that results in audio and visual warnings to help protect you, your family and your home from a silent killer. It is so easy to use and maintain and is an easy way to help protect yourself and your family from something you can’t see or smell, something that can have horrible consequences.
Every home should have at least one carbon monoxide detector and at least one smoke alarm, and I can recommend the FireAngel alarm. The build quality is excellent, the alarm is very loud and the very visual flashing LED notifications are very noticeable. I haven’t tested it in an environment with carbon monoxide so I have to trust the experts at FireAngel that it works, and it also has BSI Kitemark approval so has been tested by independent experts as well, so I am extremely confident that it will detect CO levels in the event of a faulty appliance.
When you are looking at your home security and protection, don’t forget the smoke and CO alarms, they could prevent you from becoming ill and even save your life! And remember to get things like boilers and flues checked regularly with an annual gas safety check.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £29.99
For more information, visit www.fireangel.co.uk. Also available to buy from Amazon here.