How to Prevent and Detect Gas Leaks

Gas in your home can find many uses as a cheap alternative to electricity and electric appliances. As useful as the gas is, it comes with its own perils if a leak occurs. There are many reasons why a gas leak may occur, such as poorly fitted badly maintained or faulty appliances like boilers and cookers. When an appliance is badly fitted, the leak will always occur at the junction where the hose is connected to the appliance. To avoid this, make sure that your gas appliances are installed by a certified technician.

Another thing to look out for is the use of second hand appliances or when moving into a new home that has already fitted the gas appliances. A gas leak if left unattained can lead to serious consequences like carbon monoxide poisoning, fire, explosion which may result in serious injury or death. Gas leak isn’t something that you take for granted, an if you smell gas in your home you should immediately vacate the house and call leak detection experts.

The most obvious sign of a gas leak is if you can smell gas in your home. Even if you can’t smell anything there are some related symptoms that can indicate a gas leak such as dizziness feeling ill, lightheaded. If you feel some of these symptoms you should immediately go outside on fresh air. If these symptoms disappear it is a sign of a gas leak in your home. There are some signs of a gas leak even if you don’t smell anything: the flame of your appliance should be crisp blue and not yellow or orange; look out for a pilot light that blows out; look for soot or brown and black scorched areas around the appliance.

The first thing you should do If you smell gas is to turn off every appliance and turn off the gas at the valve before the gas meter. This is sometimes hard to find, so it is a recommendation to familiarize yourself with the location and the way the valve works especially if you are moving in to a new home. Next thing to do is to get fresh air into your home to dissipate the smell of gas, which means to open all the windows and doors to speed up the process. When airing your home after a gas leak you should avoid the use of any electrical switches as they may produce a spark and ignite the leftover gas. Once you have done all of these steps you should immediately call leak detection experts to locate and eliminate the leak so you can return to your home and continue with your normal schedule worry free.

As the saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry, it is better and easier to prevent gas leaks from occurring than dealing with them after they have happened. That is why you should have regular gas leaks detection and have your appliances installed by a certified leak professional.