Yellow flame on heater
Visible CO warning sign. Stop using and read this.
Emergency · Get out now
CO alarm sounding? Get everyone out.
A CO alarm is not a nuisance smoke alarm — it's life-or-death. Carbon monoxide is invisible, odourless, and binds to your blood faster than oxygen. The alarm sounding means there is enough CO in your house right now to harm you. Get out first. Call 000 if anyone has symptoms. Then call us — we'll find the source and make the property safe.
Highest priority callout
Digital CO meter on every job
24/7 emergency Adelaide
Licensed gas fitter
Emergency
Get out first
Don't return
DO THIS NOW
The 5 things to do — in order
1
Get everyone outside
Family, kids, elderly, pets. Don't stop to grab things. Open the front door and go.
2
Open windows on the way out
If a window is right there as you pass, open it. Don't go room-to-room ventilating — just leave.
3
Turn off any gas heater
If the gas heater is near the door and easily reachable, turn it off as you pass. If not, leave it.
4
Check on people
Headache, nausea, dizzy, confused, drowsy, chest pain — call 000 immediately. Stay outside.
5. Call us once you're safely outside
We're moving as soon as you ring. Highest priority callout. We won't leave until the source is found and the property is safe.
Call 0485 676 319 nowWhat's happening
Why CO is the silent killer
Carbon monoxide is a by-product of incomplete combustion. Any time gas burns without enough oxygen — a faulty heater, a blocked flue, a cracked heat exchanger — CO is produced instead of harmless carbon dioxide. Unlike natural gas, CO has no smell, no colour, no taste. You cannot detect it without a meter or a CO alarm.
What makes CO dangerous is the way it binds to haemoglobin in your blood. It attaches roughly 200 times more strongly than oxygen, so even small concentrations of CO in the air starve your tissues of oxygen. Babies, pregnant women, elderly, and anyone with heart or lung issues are most at risk. Mild exposure causes headache and nausea — easy to mistake for a winter cold. Severe exposure causes loss of consciousness, brain damage, death.
A CO alarm is your only reliable warning. When it sounds, the device has detected concentrations rising above the safe threshold. Take it seriously every time, even if you "feel fine" — feeling fine is exactly what people report right before they collapse.
Symptoms
Symptoms of CO poisoning
If anyone has any of these — call 000 and stay outside:
- Headache (often severe, frontal)
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Nausea or vomiting
- Drowsiness — wanting to lie down
- Confusion — trouble thinking, slurred speech
- Shortness of breath at rest
- Chest pain
- Loss of consciousness — call 000 immediately, this is severe poisoning
Tell the paramedics it's a suspected CO exposure. They have specific protocols including high-flow oxygen treatment.
Source
Where the CO is probably coming from
- Cracked heat exchanger in your gas heater (most common in Adelaide). Tiny cracks open over years of stress, especially on heaters that have been banging on ignition. Combustion gases including CO leak out of the burner space and into the air your fan circulates.
- Blocked flue. Bird nest, leaves, render or paint blocking the flue cowl. Combustion gases can't escape, push back into the room. Common on rendered home renovations where the flue cowl gets accidentally covered.
- Dirty burner. Years of unserviced burner ports cause incomplete combustion. Yellow flame is the visible warning sign.
- Gas hot water unit indoors. Less common but does happen — typically older laundry-mounted units with corroded flues.
- Vehicle exhaust into the house. Car or generator left running in an attached garage. Different cause but same alarm response — get out, ventilate.
DIY?
Can I fix it myself?
No exceptions. CO faults are licensed gas fitter work under SA's Plumbing, Gas and Electrical Services Act 1995. The diagnosis requires a calibrated CO meter, a manometer, and (often) a borescope to inspect inside the heat exchanger. The fix usually requires replacement parts and re-commissioning under a compliance certificate.
Do not turn the heater back on after you ventilate. Even if the alarm has reset, the underlying fault is still there and CO will start building up again the moment the heater fires. Wait for a licensed gas fitter to test, repair, and confirm safe.
Do not remove the CO alarm batteries to silence it. The alarm is the only thing standing between you and serious harm.
Call us
What we do when you call
- Confirm everyone is safely outside and ask about symptoms — if anyone is unwell, we'll tell you to ring 000 first.
- Dispatch a licensed gas fitter as priority — same-day metro Adelaide, after-hours included.
- On arrival we test air with a digital CO meter — every room, near every gas appliance.
- Identify the source — usually the gas heater. Heat exchanger inspected with a borescope. Flue inspected outside. Burner CO measured.
- If the heater is the source we shut it down and red-tag it. We then quote the repair (or replacement if heat exchanger is cracked).
- After repair, we re-test the property air, issue a written compliance certificate, and confirm it's safe to re-occupy.
Honest pricing
How much will this cost?
2026 Adelaide pricing, GST included:
- Emergency CO callout + full source diagnostic + compliance cert: $249 (waived if you proceed with the repair)
- Burner clean + flue de-block: $260–$420 if the cause is fixable
- Heater shutdown + red-tag report: Included if the heater is unsafe to repair
- New heater installation: from $2,400 (wall) or $4,200 (ducted) — quoted separately
Don't make a budget decision in a crisis. Get everyone safe, get the heater shut down, then we'll talk through repair vs replace properly the next day.
Response time
How quickly can you come out?
CO alarm calls are our top-priority callout. We're moving as soon as you ring, day or night, weekends, public holidays, anywhere in Adelaide metro. Most response times are under an hour during the day, around 90 minutes overnight or weekend.
While you wait, stay outside. Don't go back in to grab anything. The alarm exists for a reason — trust it.
FAQ
CO alarm — common questions
Get everyone out immediately, including pets. Open windows on your way out if quick. Once outside, call 000 if anyone has symptoms. Don't go back in until a licensed gas fitter has identified and repaired the source.
Headache, dizziness, nausea, drowsiness, confusion, shortness of breath, chest pain. Symptoms ease outside and return inside. Severe poisoning causes loss of consciousness — call 000 immediately.
Most common in Adelaide: faulty gas heater — usually a cracked heat exchanger, blocked flue, or unserviced for years. Other sources: gas hot water units, gas cooktops with poor ventilation, vehicle exhaust from attached garage.
With windows open and source off, CO usually clears in 15–30 minutes. Don't go back in until a licensed gas fitter has tested with a calibrated meter and confirmed safe.
CO alarms are our highest priority. Moving as soon as you ring, day or night, anywhere in Adelaide metro. After-hours rate $249. We bring digital CO meters and won't leave until the source is found and the property tests safe.
Related help
More CO safety reading
I can smell gas
Different gas, different response — but also an emergency.
CO safety guide for Adelaide
Why CO from gas heaters kills Australians every winter.
Once you're outside — call us. We're moving.
Highest priority callout, day or night, Adelaide metro. Digital CO meter on every job. We won't leave until your home tests safe.