Don't Buy this carbon monoxide (CO) alarm – it failed to sound in 6 of our carbon monoxide detection tests

Bought from an online marketplace, this is yet another cheap and unbranded carbon monoxide (CO) alarm that you simply can’t rely on to detect CO. We’ve made it a Don’t Buy, as our test results show that it's unreliable when it comes to detecting CO.

UnbrandedCarbon monoxide alarm 12

Name: Unbranded Carbon monoxide alarm 12
Brand: Unbranded
SKU: WH18639-0035-01

£8.50Typical price

Test result

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This alarm failed to detect carbon monoxide (CO) in our tests, which makes it dangerous. High levels of CO went repeatedly undetected. When tested with a super-high concentration of the gas, it did work initially, but then failed to continue to work afterwards. Also, it’s nowhere near loud enough. We recorded just 65 and 67 decibels (dB) when it should have sounded at 85dB to start with, then at least 82dB after four minutes. Also, the instructions are dangerously misleading, advising users not to install it in a kitchen, where in many UK homes you’ll find a gas boiler and where you would need a CO alarm. It’s an altogether unsafe product, so it’s clearly a Don’t Buy.

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Jun 2023Last checked by Which?
Jun 2023First reviewed by Which?
Jan 2023Released

The overall Which? test score is made up of the following star ratings, all determined by our rigorous lab tests.

How we test carbon monoxide detectors

27 Feb 2024

Carbon monoxide (CO) detection

How we test carbon monoxide (co) detection

Five stars means that the CO alarm detected CO in every one of our tests. One star means that the alarm failed to detect CO in one or more of our CO detection tests. We test each carbon monoxide (CO) alarm more than 30 times to see whether it can detect the deadly gas. We test with low concentrations of CO and higher concentrations. We also test with a catastrophically high concentration of the gas. We check whether the alarms respond in time and whether after detecting CO, they can go on to continue to detect the gas.

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UnbrandedCarbon monoxide alarm 12

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