Wales & West Utilities has urged households in Somerset to test their carbon monoxide alarms after data from the Carbon Monoxide Research and Analysis (CORA) platform showed that 95 per cent of carbon monoxide alarms were not tested at all in 20241. The figures were analysed from more than 50,000 digital alarms connected through the Internet of Things, and the announcement was published on 18 August 20251.
CORA is supported by the four gas distribution networks: Wales & West Utilities, Cadent, Northern Gas Networks and SGN1. The company said the results indicate that thousands of households are putting themselves at risk of carbon monoxide every day1.
The announcement notes that carbon monoxide is often associated with winter, but that gas cookers and boilers remain in use through the summer, and that barbecues, pizza ovens, camping stoves, camping heaters and gas lanterns can emit carbon monoxide and cause similar dangers if used in an enclosed space1. It describes the gas as the silent killer because it cannot be seen, smelled or tasted, and says symptoms including headaches, nausea, dizziness and breathlessness can be mistaken for other illnesses such as food poisoning, a cold or a hangover, with collapsing and loss of consciousness among the severe symptoms1.
Sophie Shorney, Vulnerability and Carbon Monoxide Allowance Manager at Wales & West Utilities, said:
"It is concerning to hear that most households are not testing their carbon monoxide alarms. We cannot stress enough the dangers households could be putting themselves into if they either do not own a carbon monoxide alarm, or are not testing to see if their alarm works."
She added that carbon monoxide is a risk even in the summer, that households travelling should take their alarm with them and test it regularly, and that pressing a button for a couple of seconds could save a life1.
Wales & West Utilities supplies free carbon monoxide alarms for eligible households across several of its Vulnerability and Carbon Monoxide Allowance (VCMA) funded programmes1. The VCMA is funded by Ofgem and is designed to support households living in vulnerable situations and to raise awareness of carbon monoxide through projects that go beyond the company's business-as-usual activities1. The announcement does not set out the eligibility criteria for those free alarms, and no figure has been reported for how many alarms have been supplied.
Why it matters for households
A carbon monoxide alarm only provides protection while it is working, and the CORA data indicates that the great majority of the connected alarms studied went a full year without being tested1. For a household, an untested alarm is an unknown quantity: it may still function, but nothing in the data confirms that it would sound if the gas were present. Because carbon monoxide has no colour, smell or taste, a home has no other way of detecting it before symptoms appear1.
The risk is not confined to the heating season. Cooking on a gas appliance continues through the summer, and portable equipment such as camping stoves and gas lanterns used indoors or in tents falls into the same category of hazard1. For a home's energy independence, the practical point is that the safety equipment fitted alongside gas appliances is part of the same system as the boiler or cooker itself, and its condition matters as much as the appliance's.
What happens next
No further dates or deadlines are given in the announcement. Wales & West Utilities directs households to its carbon monoxide pages for more information, and continues to supply free alarms through its VCMA funded programmes for eligible households1.
Sources1 cited
- Somerset Urged to Test CO Alarms | Wales & West Utilities, wwutilities.co.uk