As a homeowner, your home is probably one of your most prized possessions. With that in mind, you should take every measure possible to ensure that your home is not raged down by catastrophes such as leaks of gas. Taking precautions is one way in which you can ensure that your safety, as well as that of your loved ones, is guaranteed. Read through to find out how you can detect leaks of gas in your house as well as how you can prevent it.
How Prevalent are Gas Leak?
Incidents such as gas leak have reached a historic high over the past few years. For instance, statistics indicate that about 40 people die annually as a result of leaks involving gas. For that reason, it is necessary that every homeowner or tenant to take the right precautions that will ensure that they undertake gas leak in house detection and restore normalcy.
What are some of the Causes of a gas leak in house?
Before we delve deeper into the subject, let’s first look at some of the common culprits that are responsible for causing gas leak s. Some of them are:
- Faulty home appliances such as cookers and boilers
- Poorly fitted devices that use or conduct gas in the house such as gas cookers
- Ill-maintained home appliances like gas pipes, stoves, and heaters.
Therefore, as part of gas leak detection, you should always ensure that you conduct regular checks on all the appliances in your home that use gas. In case you notice an anomaly, always call a licensed Gas Safe Engineer to fix the leaks. Additionally, always ensure that you conduct spot-on checks on all gas appliances when you’re moving into a new house. Tell-tale signs such as old and rusty hose pipes and cookers will be a clear indication that immediate repair should take place.
What are some of the Consequences of an Unnoticed Leak of Gas?
The gas leak is hazardous if not dealt with immediately. Most media outlets have highlighted numerous cases of fires that were caused by leaks. Gas appliances that are unsafe may be a ticking time bomb that may cause a deadly inferno in the fullness of time. Apart from fires, they may also produce carbon monoxide poisoning and result in death.
How can you detect a Leak?
Natural gas has a characteristic smell. As such, you will almost always notice the smell whenever there’s a leak. Additionally, some symptoms may also be an indication that there is a carbon monoxide leak in your house. Such symptoms may be dizziness, nauseousness, and light-headedness.
The onset of the symptoms mentioned above should waken your suspicions and make you leave the house immediately. If you notice that the symptoms disappear when you’re outside, it will be a confirmation that there’s a carbon monoxide leak in your home. Apart from smells and odors, there are also a plethora of signs on your appliances that may confirm that a leak has taken place. Below are some of the symptoms:
- The presence of excessive condensation in the windows
- The presence of scorched areas, black and brown soot on the outside of your appliance
- If you notice a pilot light that seems to blow out all the time
- The presence of crisp blue flame as opposed to a yellow or orange flame
What should you do in Case you Smell Gas?
The immediate actions you should take in case you smell gas is to turn off the supply of gas at the gas meter. After that, create a free circulation of air in your house by opening all your doors and windows. Leaving the windows and door open for a while will assist significantly to disperse the gas and bring in the fresh air. Most importantly, you and any other person in the vicinity should desist from actions such as smoking, lighting candles or using electric switches since they could create a spark that may eventually ignite the leaked gas.
Once you have successfully carried out the above measures, you can then call your gas company to send technicians to arrest the situation. The gas engineers will be of great assistance in locating the source of gas leak in house and prevent any looming disaster. Leaks in gas should be tackled immediately to prevent fires that may engulf an entire neighborhood. All this can be avoided if the leak is realized soon enough.
How can you Prevent Leaks?
Detection of a leak is the first step in preventing a disaster that can affect the livelihoods of many people. Firstly, the first thing that you can do is to ensure that a registered engineer installs all your home appliances. Moreover, you can install audible carbon monoxide alarms to detect any carbon monoxide leaks. Lastly, always conduct regular maintenance of all the pieces of equipment in your house that use gas.
The Bottom Line
Gas is by far the cleanest and most efficient source of power in your home. Therefore, you should ensure that it never leaks since such a phenomenon can be catastrophic not only to you but to your neighbors as well. Early gas leak detection will help you avoid dangerous incidents.
