The tragic death of eight Indians in a hotel in Nepal due to suspected carbon monoxide poisoning is a grim reminder of the danger posed by gas-based room heaters, particularly when used in closed rooms without ventilation.
According to reports from Nepal, the eight tourists from Kerala were part of a group of 15, holidaying in Nepal. On the last leg of the journey, they all checked into a hotel late in the night and since it was very cold, requested the staff for a room heater and was given an eight-foot outdoor gas heater –which should never have been used indoors. To make matters worse, eight of them bundled into one room , because of the lone heater and shut the door and the windows to keep out the cold air while they slept. This was a sure recipe for disaster.
Like all combustion products, unvented portable room heaters that work on gas, wood, kerosene or coal pose the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, when used in enclosed spaces with no ventilation. In December 2014, a Delhi-based computer engineer , his wife and their six-year old child were found dead in similar circumstances because of using a gas-based room heater in a closed bedroom in the night.
In order to understand the risk from these heaters, one must first be aware of how they work. If the gas-based room heater is built to stringent quality standards that ensures efficient and complete burning of the fuel, then the carbon monoxide released by it will be within permissible limits.
{{/usCountry}}In order to understand the risk from these heaters, one must first be aware of how they work. If the gas-based room heater is built to stringent quality standards that ensures efficient and complete burning of the fuel, then the carbon monoxide released by it will be within permissible limits.
{{/usCountry}}However, besides the quality of the room heater, there is another essential component for efficient and complete combustion –adequate air. Whenever a carbon fuel burns efficiently and completely, each carbon atom in the fuel binds with two atoms of oxygen in the air and releases carbon dioxide.
However, when it is used in an enclosed area like a bedroom, with all doors and windows closed and no ventilation, the heater first utilizes the available oxygen and when the oxygen level in the room depletes, the carbon atom begins to bind with only one oxygen atom (incomplete combustion) to release carbon monoxide. If there is no inlet for fresh air from outside or an outlet for the Carbon monoxide to exit, it builds up in the room to dangerous levels.
The problem with carbon monoxide is that it is an odourless, tasteless non-irritant gas- so it is very difficult to detect it. While at low levels, carbon dioxide inhalation causes dizziness, nausea, headache, vomiting, confusion, shortness of breath, at higher levels it causes disorientation, impairs your thinking, muscle coordination, thereby preventing you from escaping from the contaminated area.
As the concentration of carbon monoxide in the air increases, it can cause sudden unconsciousness and death, because it displaces the oxygen carried by the haemoglobin in your blood. And without oxygen, the cells and tissues in the body begin to die.
So a good quality, third party certified electric room heater is far better, but if because of power outages (or during a holiday in a snow-clad area) you are forced to use a gas –based room heater, never use an outdoor one indoors. Even the indoor heater should have an oxygen depletion sensor, that automatically cuts off gas supply to the heater, if the level of oxygen in the room goes below, say 19.5 per cent, as against 20.95 per cent that exists in the air. You should also have in addition, a carbon monoxide alarm in the room . But despite these safety measures, I would still advise you never to use them in an unventilated room and never use them when you go to sleep, even if it us for a short afternoon siesta.