Knowledge/Gas safety and CO/Every open-flued space heater under a Victorian alert
Every open-flued space heater under a Victorian alert
Six heater families are under a current Energy Safe Victoria alert. They're Vulcan and Pyrox Heritage, Regency i31, Nectre 2000, Real Flame Pyrotech, Regency F38 and FG38, and Cannon Fitzroy and Canterbury. On five of them you service as normal and add a negative pressure and carbon monoxide (CO) spillage check. On the Heritage you isolate it instead.
- Heater families on alert
- 6all open-flued space heaters
- The exception
- Heritageisolate it, don't service it
- Sales ban from
- 1 Aug 2022unless it meets the new standards
- Deaths since 2010
- 3CO from open-flued gas space heaters
Which heaters are on the list?
| Heater | Supplier | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Vulcan and Pyrox Heritage | Climate Technologies | 03 8795 2462 |
| Regency i31, from 2010 | Fireplace Products Australia | 1800 860 660 |
| Nectre 2000, from 2007 | Glen Dimplex | 1300 014 389 |
| Real Flame Pyrotech, from 2012 | Glen Dimplex | 1300 014 389 |
| Regency F38 and FG38 | Fireplace Products Australia | 1800 860 660 |
| Cannon Fitzroy and Canterbury | Sampford IXL | 1800 035 410 |
Every one of them is an open-flued gas space heater. None of them is a ducted heater, and that distinction matters more than it looks.
Why is the Heritage handled differently?
GIS 59, one of Energy Safe Victoria's (ESV) gas information sheets, has one rule for these heaters and one exception. For every heater except the Heritage, service it as normal and add a check for negative pressure and CO spillage.
For the Heritage, isolate the appliance. Tell the customer to contact Climate Technologies or the Department of Health and Human Services (the name GIS 59 uses), whichever fits. Don't service it and hand it back.
The recall and the alert are two different things
The Heritage matter usually gets described as one event, and it's two. The recall of 3 June 2009 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was narrow. It covered Climate Technologies models 4804BN, 4804SB, 4808SB and 4808BN, serials 00706981 to 00794271, sold between 1 August 2007 and 28 May 2008. The reason was incorrect burner assembly, which could cause unacceptable CO emission levels.
The ESV safety alert and deed of undertaking (a formal, legally binding promise) is far wider and still current. It reaches heaters first manufactured in 1977. All were withdrawn from sale, manufacture stopped, and Climate Technologies ran a testing program with a $150 rebate toward a gasfitter inspection. Residents must not use them until a qualified gasfitter has serviced them.
Myth
we
checked
There's no Brivis or Braemar gas ducted recall
You'll hear there's a recall on Brivis or Braemar ducted heaters over cracked heat exchangers. We went looking for it. There's no Brivis or Braemar gas ducted heater recall and no Energy Safe alert against either.
Cracked heat exchangers are a well-documented failure on those units, and trade forums talk about them a lot. But a known fault isn't a recall. Every current Victorian alert and recall in this space is for an open-flued space heater.
It matters because telling a customer their heater is under a recall when it isn't is a claim you'd have to stand behind. Find the fault, document the fault, quote the fault.
What did the 2022 ban actually stop?
Since 1 August 2022, some open-flued gas space heaters can't be sold or supplied in Victoria unless they meet the updated Australian and New Zealand safety standards, AS/NZS 5263.1.3 and AS/NZS 5263.1.8.
The ban is about what the heater does, not which model it is. It catches any open-flued space heater that doesn't shut itself down within 15 minutes if combustion products spill under any negative pressure condition. Heaters installed before 1 August 2022 are grandfathered, so the ban doesn't touch them.
And the reason it exists is worth knowing when a customer pushes back. The ban follows a recommendation by the Victorian Coroner that these appliances be phased out.
Found something on site you're not sure about?
Gas safety is the one area where the right answer and the comfortable answer aren't always the same, and you're the one holding the licence.
If you've got a job you're weighing up, Kevin's happy to talk it through.
Who this is for: small and medium HVAC contractors in Victoria. If you're a homeowner after a rebate or a repair, you need a licensed contractor, not us, and yours can point you the right way.
Related
- Sealing a house that still has an open-flued heaterRentals need draught proofing from 1 July 2027, and evap cooler vents are on the regulator's sealing list. Add an open-flued heater and that's a CO risk.
- How a negative pressure and carbon monoxide spillage test runsEnergy Safe Victoria's four-stage test from GIS 38, where the probe goes, why the pass mark isn't a ppm figure, and how to size the ventilation fix.
- The ventilation rule changed on 31 March 2014The building's approval date decides it. Before 31 March 2014 it's 1 m³ of room per 3 MJ/h. From then, an open-flued appliance needs 1 m³ per 0.4 MJ/h.
- What to do when a customer won't fix an unsafe heaterFour steps in order, with the numbers to call. Notify the Building and Plumbing Commission properly and it won't take enforcement action against you.
Review date: 1 March 2027. Figures in this area change without much notice and this page carries some that will go stale. Every number above is dated and sourced so you can check it yourself. If you find something out of date here, tell us and we will fix it.