Honeywell E3Point Installation Manual
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Best Practices for Gas Monitoring
in the Commercial Kitchen
Enhancing Kitchen
Safety through
Strategic Gas Monitoring
Overview
The commercial kitchen is a hazardous area that should be monitored for both toxic
and combustible gas hazards. Whether natural gas or propane is used for
combustion, a variety of cooking equipment (e.g. stoves, grills and fryers) present a
Commercial
kitchens are
one of the most
“
hazardous
commercial
building areas.
constant ammable danger to workers. In addition, carbon monoxide (CO), the by-
product of incomplete combustion, can be present at unsafe levels. Over the last
twenty years, standards for CO monitoring have been developed, with rst-alarm
levels typically set at 25-35 parts per million.
“
Today more rigorous standards for gas monitoring are being developed; those driving
regulatory change vary by state but include many: building inspectors, consulting
engineers, insurance adjustors, re marshals, and life safety experts. More legislation
is inevitable in light of the sobering statistic that 25% of all fatalities in commercial
buildings are due to carbon monoxide poisoning. What’s problematic is, CO is
odorless, so rising CO levels are difcult to detect by humans. According to medical
research, just 0.1% CO in the atmosphere can adversely affect concentration. At 2%
CO levels, breathing reduces to about 50% of the normal rate. Once levels rise to
5-10% people quickly become confused and can lapse into unconsciousness.
The commercial kitchen presents a special case for more rigorous CO monitoring,
as there is a greater risk of CO poisoning from both long-term, low level exposure
as well as short-term, high-level exposure of CO concentration levels.
The First Step: Choose Commercial-Grade CO Detectors
The CO detectors recommended should be commercial-grade detectors. Be advised
that most residential-model CO detectors are not equipped with the same sensing
performance, diagnostics and congurable options as commercial-grade offerings.
A key point to note: a commercial detector will trigger immediately at a pre-
determined set point; however, many residential units alarm only after a time-weighted
duration of over 60 minutes. In addition, the commercial-grade CO detector also will
alarm under any of the following conditions: loss of power, automatic self check of
internal electronic system & sensing element (including a sunset feature). According to
most state codes, a commercial-grade CO detector must detect the gas (and sound
the alarm) at a lower level than a residential-use detector.
Providing kitchen personnel with the highest assurance of effective protection from
carbon monoxide poisoning should be the goal of every kitchen manager. That higher
standard of safety can be realized through one of two system designs: the redundant
gas monitoring system (CO/CO) or a dual gas monitoring system (CO/CH4).
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