Gas water heater carbon monoxide monitors
Gas water heaters can cause carbon monoxide poisoning and it has been common until now.
According to our (2017-2022) annual monitoring statistics, non-occupational carbon monoxide poisoning occurs mainly in homes (with a share of 95.8%). The main risk factors include:
Use of coal stoves in poorly ventilated environments, charcoal fires, earth pits, fire walls, and other heating methods.
- Improper use, installation or substandard quality of gas or gas water heaters.
- gas leaks from gas stoves or gas piping.
- From 2018 to 2019, more than 500 cases of injuries due to gas poisoning were collected from 19 sentinel hospitals in Guangdong Province alone, of which, more than 70% were related to gas water heater products and more than 80% occurred in winter time.
Carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas water heaters
The latest Product Injury Surveillance in Guangdong Province 2022 shows that the winter season (December, January and February) is the highest incidence of carbon monoxide poisoning injuries (85% of cases). Accidents mainly occurred between 18:00 and 1:00 the following day for 7 hours (73% of the time), with the highest concentration in the 3 hours from 20:00 to 23:00 (41% of the time).
The vast majority of carbon monoxide poisoning accidents were related to gas water heaters (95%). The main reason was that gas water heaters were not equipped with exhaust pipes, or the exhaust pipes were improperly installed, which resulted in the accumulation of carbon monoxide in the case of incomplete combustion of gas.
Especially in cold weather, when taking a bath, close the doors and windows tightly for a long time, which can easily lead to air circulation, increase the concentration of carbon monoxide indoor, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning. This phenomenon is particularly serious in old urban areas with narrow building intervals and limited unit space, and in rental housing in urban and rural areas.
How to prevent gas water heater carbon monoxide poisoning?
Since the gas water heater entered the Chinese market in the 1970s, the gas water heater has experienced five stages of development: direct vent, flue, forced exhaust, balance, security, etc. The turnover between the different stages is almost always due to breakthroughs in safety protection. At this stage, the most common gas water heater protection for the security type, that is, in the gas water heater to increase the security module, the indoor carbon monoxide content monitoring, once found that the carbon monoxide concentration exceeds the standard will start the alarm mechanism, to consumers to send an alarm.
At present, the high-end gas water heaters on the market “carbon monoxide safety protection module” has been able to monitor the air 24 hours a day (not limited to the water heater itself, but also applies to the kitchen and can be monitored to the environment) the concentration of carbon monoxide, and real-time linkage with the water heater, once the carbon monoxide exceeds the standard immediately alarm and to take the cut-off (off the gas valve), sweeping, exhausting, and so on. Once carbon monoxide exceeds the standard, it will alarm and take protective measures such as cutting off the gas (shutting off the gas valve), cleaning and exhausting to actively ensure safety. Through the external CO Sensor, detect the carbon monoxide concentration, when the concentration reaches 120ppm will sound and light alarm, more than 240ppm will start the gas water heater fan to quickly clean the entire space of carbon monoxide.
Whether the performance of CO sensor is good or not is crucial to the carbon monoxide safety protection module, which needs to have the characteristics of sensitive response, stable output and accurate accuracy.FS01301 is a three-electrode electrochemical carbon monoxide sensor, which determines the concentration of carbon monoxide by measuring the size of the redox current between the electrodes. The response time of the sensor is reduced to less than 15s, which is very suitable for gas water heaters, fire alarms, range hoods and other home environments as well as industrial environments to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.