Landlords and homeowners have been urged to have their gas heaters professionally serviced regularly, following an inquest into the deaths of two small boys in Victoria.

Meanwhile tenants should ask their landlords if regular servicing has been carried out by a qualified gas fitter.

Chase and Tyler Robinson, eight and six years old respectively,  died in their sleep from carbon monoxide poisoning from the gas heater in their home near Shepparton, in May, 2010.

In her findings delivered two weeks ago, Coroner Jacinta Heffey said that a build-up of soot, dust and lint in the heater prevented oxygen getting in, creating a fatally high level of carbon monoxide.

• You’ll find the original Melbourne Age story about the Robinson tragedy HERE.

• You can get factsheets on gas heater safety by clicking on these links from Victoria, NSW and WA.

• The federal government report on unflued gas heaters is HERE.

Ms Heffey said the Robinsons’ landlords had not had the heater cleaned or serviced since 2005 and called for the continuation of a campaign warning the public of the dangers of not properly servicing their gas heaters regularly. However, she found there was nothing to alert the landlords to any problem with the heater.

“I consider that most people in the community prior to this tragic event would not have had any idea of the danger represented by the combination of an unclean gas furnace and extraction fans,” Ms Heffey said.

She also praised the boys’ parents, Vanessa and Scott, for raising public awareness about the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Robinsons’ gas heater was open-flued and connected to an extractor fan but experts say apartment residents should be especially careful as often their only option is to use unflued gas heaters which emit waste gasses directly into the room

These heaters require a reasonable level of ventilation and many modern units are designed to be energy efficient – which can mean that the amount of natural ventilation in the rooms is reduced.

Also, the way many modern apartments are designed, room ventilation may require a sliding door rather than just a window to be opened, reducing the effect of the heater.

“Measures to increase the energy efficiency of homes often decrease ventilation,” says a federal government study into the effects of unflued gas heaters on air quality. “This can result in indoor air contaminants concentrating to high levels.”

A NSW Health department factsheet on unflued gas heaters says: “Check that the room you are heating has air vents and that these are not blocked. If you do not have air vents you should keep a door or a window open to allow the movement of air in and out of the room.”

So residents in apartments need to think about how much air is flowing through the rooms where their unflued heaters are working.

And tenants and landlords need to be extra cautious. Tenants may have little idea of how often their heater has been serviced, if ever. Landlords will have little idea of how often or for how long  their heaters have been used.

Various authorities across Australia recommend that heaters are serviced by a properly qualified gas fitter at least every two years although the health department of the WA government recommends servicing every year.