# Are there dangers of having a 2kg co2 cylinder in your bedroom?



## Harvoification (12 Jan 2017)

Could a 2kg cylinder of co2 be potentially hazardous if it were to leak? I know carbon dioxide isn't anything like carbon monoxide, but I've you it can still kill in high enough doses. I'm worried about a leak occurring while I'm asleep.

In addition, what's a good way to fasten down a cylinder to secure it in place to stop it flying round the room and going through the wall in a worst case scenario?


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## ian_m (13 Jan 2017)

Harvoification said:


> Could a 2kg cylinder of co2 be potentially hazardous if it were to leak? I know carbon dioxide isn't anything like carbon monoxide, but I've you it can still kill in high enough doses. I'm worried about a leak occurring while I'm asleep.


????

1. If it leaks fast enough to even raise the CO2 slightly above the natural 400ppm I am sure you would hear it.
2. 2Kg of CO2 gas occupies about 1m3. A bedroom is say 4m x 4m x 2.5m which is 40m3. Thus CO2 level would be 2.5%, which might cause headaches/nausea, more than likely not. A stuffy unventilated room of people can approach 5% CO2.  Workplace limits if 5% for 8 hours.



Harvoification said:


> In addition, what's a good way to fasten down a cylinder to secure it in place to stop it flying round the room and going through the wall in a worst case scenario?


How ?  what planet at you on, flying cylinders ????    We have about 20 2Kg FE's at work, some just free standing and have been knocked over quote a few times and none flew round the room, no one died, no one asphyxiated.

My FE sits in the lounge standing beside the tank, not tied down, not an issue. It has leaked all its gas before in a couple of days and only noticed when bubble counter stopped and algae reared its head.


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## jaHko (13 Jan 2017)

Yes. You will die instantly when it explodes and the canister hits you in the head 


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## KipperSarnie (13 Jan 2017)

The flying canister may not be so funny! 
I saw the damage an acetylene bottle did after it fell over & separated the brass neck from the bottle.  Luckily none were hurt but H&S for gas bottles was rewritten.
The brass neck is the weak link & liable to separate rather than the bottle itself explode.

For interest I use plastic spray can caps to stand my bottles in.


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## Delapool (13 Jan 2017)

That was the concern for us with young kids. Kind of worse case but we looked into bins, etc that would be more stable and hide it away. 


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## ian_m (13 Jan 2017)

KipperSarnie said:


> I saw the damage an acetylene bottle did after it fell over & separated the brass neck from the bottle. Luckily none were hurt but H&S for gas bottles was rewritten.


I very much doubly it was an acetylene cylinder as they are relatively low pressure (250psi, rather that CO2 800psi) and full of a filler that limits the rate of gas that can be released. Was probably and oxygen cylinder which is pressurised at 2200psi and is a gas rather than a liquid in an FE so considerably more dangerous.


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## KipperSarnie (13 Jan 2017)

I'm pretty sure it was acetylene, 1975 Leonard Fairclough main plant workshops.
Just thought I'm not sure if Faircloughs had their own acetylene plant I know a number of fabricators made their own.


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## ian_m (13 Jan 2017)

Anyway back to original question a 2Kg (or bigger ) is perfectly safe in your bedroom. If having a worry, store it in the fish tank cupboard or attach it to something with bungies so it can't fall over.

You could of course use a soda stream bottle, much smaller, only 420gr CO2, available for £10 at Argos. Easy to protect and hide away, but about 5x the cost of using extinguishers, but probably acceptable on smaller tanks.


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## Andy Tran (20 Jan 2017)

CO2 is also much heavier than air. Assuming the entire cylinder contents leaked at once, the "suffocating layer" of CO2 should only be a few cm high off the ground and will dissipate if there is a draught anyway.


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## Progen (27 Jan 2017)

Keep bedroom well ventilated and you should be fine.

Not sure about the other posters but I've had personal experience with CO2 in an open tub about 40 - 45cm high. It was just a one second burst to euthanise some rats for freezing. Rats stopped moving instantly and froze. I got curious thinking that they had frozen because of the sound so I put my head in for a closer look.

INSTANT DOUBLE VISION!

So yes, it can be dangerous but in most cases, it shouldn't be of risk unless your mattress is on the floor and the doors and windows are closed with zero to minimal air movement and you're near to the cylinder.

My 8kg is right beside my mattress which is at ground level which is why the doors and windows are always open and the fan's on at low speed.


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