A gas leak in your home poses a significant safety and health risk to you and your family. Learn how to determine if your home has a gas leak and what measures you should take to protect your household.
How to Spot Gas Leaks in Your Home
You can determine if your house has a gas leak by paying attention to several clear signs. Primarily, if you smell gas, you can reasonably assume that one of your gas appliances or gas lines has a leak in it. Gas can often smell like rotten eggs, or more precisely sulfur.
Similarly, you can assume you have a gas leak in your home if one of your gas appliances has an orange or red pilot light instead of one that is blue. A discolored pilot light can sometimes indicate the presence of too much oxygen in the gas line. However, more commonly it means that there is a gas leak in the gas line or appliance.
Health Effects Associated with Gas Leaks
You and your family can experience numerous health effects from a gas leak in your home. Some of these effects include:
Chest pains
Dizziness
Fatigue
Nausea
Ringing in your ears
Bloody nose
Shortness of breath
Loss of appetite
If you experience any of these symptoms, especially if you also smell an odor of sulfur or rotten eggs, you should assume you have a gas leak and need to take immediate action to protect your health and that of your family.
You can also tell if you have a gas leak if your carbon monoxide detector goes off frequently. This detector signals to you that there is a buildup of this toxic gas in your home. You cannot see, smell or taste carbon monoxide. If your detector keeps beeping, even when you change the batteries, assume you have a gas leak that needs immediate repairs.
What to Do if You Feel You Have a Gas Leak
If you believe you have a gas leak in your home, you should take several important steps. First, you should open the windows so fresh air can get inside of your house and gas fumes can escape it.
Next, you and your family should leave the house and get out into the fresh air. You must follow this step before you or anyone in your family becomes overly drowsy or disoriented.
Your next step involves calling 911 to report a gas leak so the fire department and the gas company can investigate and find the leak. The fire department may need to cordon the area around your home to prevent the risk of a fire or explosion. The gas company will also need to shut off the gas service to your home until you have the gas leak repaired.
A plumbing service can typically repair gas leaks in your gas line and gas appliances quickly and efficiently. If the gas appliance is beyond repair, you need to buy a new one to replace it.
Gas leaks can put you and your family in jeopardy of sickness or worse. You can protect your household by following these steps to find and resolve a gas leak satisfactorily.