UltraFire ULLCO10 Travel Carbon Monoxide Alarm with 10 Year Sealed Battery, Complies to BS EN 50291-1&2

Aa advertised and arrived on time.

Compact

Kept being told when we have our gas safety checks that we need to have one, so I ordered one of these. The unit itself is compact and easy to fit. Simply attach the base plate and then click this into place, the unit is cleverly designed so that putting it on the base plate turns the switch on.The alarm is loud, luckily I have only heard it when testing it after installing and it's one of those you wouldn't want to hear again.10 year claimed battery life, so should give us peace of mind for a while yet.

This replaces another 10 year alarm which only lasted 6 years. Without purposely subjecting this to carbon monoxide it's impossible to know whether it actually works - the test alarm does so I'll keep my fingers crossed that it does.It's a compact unit so will fit in most spaces. I didn't realise that this was designed as a travel alarm but it makes sense.

The media could not be loaded. Prior to relying on any safety equipment I like to test it and have found this Ultrafire CO detector to have almost exactly the same sensitivity as a Fire Angel detector, Fire Angel being a highly regarded brand recommended by almost all the UK’s fire brigades.I checked it by placing both in a sink with an incense stick smouldering away, covered with a sheet of cardboard and kept checking the Fire Angel’s display, which shows the CO level in parts per million. Due to the low level of CO produced, it took 12 minutes to get up to 95ppm and 20 minutes for the first sound to be heard, which was 4 bleeps from (I think, but not 100% certain) the Ultrafire at 140ppm but not repeated for another 2 minutes, at 161ppm. After a further 3 minutes, at 195ppm, the Fire Angel sounded (4 beeps repeated continuously) then just over 1 minute later the Ultrafire started again, this time with 4 beeps repeated continuously. You really couldn’t hope for closer results. 2 videos (merged into 1 as Amazon only permit uploading of 1) attached. In the second part, with both sounding, the display had reduced to 149ppm as I’d had the ‘lid’ off the sink for about 30 seconds.Like all CO detectors, the time to activation of the alarm depends on the level of CO. The Ultrafire’s instructions state that it will take 60-90 minutes to alarm at 50ppm, 10-40 minutes to alarm at 100ppm and will alarm within 3 minutes at 300ppm.As well as working fine, I like its neat appearance, 10 year battery life and the fact that it can be inactivated by removing it from the backplate. If the backplate is fully clicked into position, as it ought to be, you have to press a little plastic tab on the right side away from the device towards the wall (if wall mounted) then slide the device about 8mm to the left and lift it off.It does not have a display of the CO ppm but that is not a common feature on carbon monoxide detectors and at £22, which is a fair price, you would not expect a display.

I ordered this travel carbon monoxide alarm for taking away with us when travelling in the UK and abroad. Over the years there have been some devastating tragedies of families dying because of faulty boilers, so taking this with us and setting it up gives peace of mind and ensure if there is an issue we are alerted to it immediately.The small alarm works in the usual way nod similar devices. This one has a sealed ten year battery, rather than requiring batteries. I know some reviewers feel the sealed battery is an issue for transportation, but if you keep it in the box it arrives in, it ensures the test button is not depressed accidentally.The alarm is easy to set up and test (it is very loud!). Obviously not able to actually test it with carbon monoxide, but have complete faith in the build quality, as it complies with BS EN 50291-1:2018 (Gas detectors. Electrical apparatus for the detection of carbon monoxide in domestic premises - Test methods and performance requirements). Very happy with this product, but with confidence. Five stars.

The Ultrafire carbon monoxide detector arrived boxed together with a wall mounting plate, fixing screws and wall plugs (should you choose to permanently mount it) and a brief but clear user manual.Ultrafire is part of the Safelinks group which is an established safety company with a UK phone number and email address.The unit is compact and constructed of lightweight but sturdy plastic. It has a built in lithium non-replaceable battery which should last for 10 years and also has a 10 year warranty, possibly more realistic than some given that it is with a known UK company.The alarm doesn’t have an LED readout of the CO level as some do, but that is possibly superfluous for ordinary use where the purpose is simply to know if CO is present at a dangerous level in your environment. This device is quite sophisticated in its warning algorithm. I won’t reproduce the detail here but will attach an image from the manual. Basically the level of CO in the environment determines the promptness of the alarm. The idea behind this is to only alert you if the level is of concern for safety. For example, if the CO level is 30 ppm, an alarm sounds only after 120 mins of this being detected. If it is at 300 ppm on the other hand, the alarm sounds almost immediately. I may not have clarified this very well but it seems to me quite a sophisticated way of alerting you to danger.The unit is CE and UKCE marked so it is fair to assume that it will measure carbon monoxide accurately and effectively. Also, although I’m not clear about the distinction, it is British Standard certified for both home and travel (caravan, boats, motor homes) use. It also has an alarm to signify a fault in the unit and one to signify the battery is failing. These sounds are not the same as the CO danger alarm, and also the lights on the unit are different for each condition.This alarm is slightly on the expensive side at the current price of £21.99 when compared with equivalents (10 year battery life, no LED, 85 db alarm) on the Amazon site but as it is from a known make with UK contact details it may be worth paying the additional few pounds. I will rate it at 4 stars.