Appliance safety
Advice to help ensure the safety of your gas appliances and reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Room-sealed gas appliances
Choose room-sealed appliances for your home. With room-sealed appliances, fresh air for the combustion process comes from outside of the building. Emissions are then discharged outside. The air in the room where the appliance is fitted is therefore not used or affected by the appliance. Room-sealed appliances (balanced flue or fanned draught types) are recommended for new and replacement boilers and water heaters, as they significantly reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Gas cookers and hobs
A flame failure device is a protective device built into a hotplate, oven or gas burner which shuts off the gas supply when the flame is no longer detected. In this way the device protects against a possible build up of unburnt gas. For example, if the burner flame goes out or you forget to light the burner, you will be protected.
All new cookers and hobs sold in Ireland since 2005 require flame failure devices to be fitted on all burners. If your cooker or hob was fitted prior to 2005 it may not have a flame failure device. Check with your local gas cooker retailer for further advice.
Information about unsafe gas appliances
Unsafe gas cookers
In 2011 the National Consumer Agency issued a call to locate certain gas cooker models which, in some circumstances, can cause fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. For specified makes and models of gas cooker with a separate oven and grill, operating the grill with the grill door closed can cause extremely dangerous levels of carbon monoxide to be produced which can rapidly cause serious injury or death. Certain models of the following gas cookers require URGENT modification: New World, Flavel, Leisure and Beko.
Free safety inspection
For further information and to arrange a free safety inspection visit the National Consumer Agency website. Do not, under any circumstances, operate the grill with the grill door closed - it must always be in the open position. Use the cookers in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and do not use them for any purpose other than cooking.
Potentially unsafe oil to gas conversions
In the past, existing oil boilers were modified to operate on natural gas. This was achieved by replacing the oil burner on the unit with a gas burner, with the old boiler casing and heat exchanger being retained.
Appliances where oil burners were replaced with gas burners should be inspected by a Registered Gas Installer.
Potentially unsafe water heaters
A flue is a duct or pipe that removes exhaust gases from a gas appliance to the outdoors. Flueless gas water heaters are considered dangerous because they use the air inside the room and discharge their products of combustion, including toxic carbon monoxide, into the same room. If used over extended periods, the levels of carbon monoxide may build up to dangerous levels if there is a lack of ventilation. In particular, bath heaters and water heaters over a sink may lead to dangerous carbon monoxide levels.
Free safety inspection
If you think you may have an unsafe water heater, contact Gas Networks Ireland now on 1800 89 89 89 for a free safety check.