Do you occasionally smell a rotten egg odor in your home? If you do, you probably have a natural gas leak somewhere. Finding a gas leak is not difficult and does not require a lot of skill or equipment. So don’t worry just follow the safety tips below.
Natural gas
Natural gas is naturally odorless; suppliers add in mercaptan to make it smell. If they didn’t add in the artificial odor, there would be no way to detect leaks. Imagine the accidental explosions that would be happening on a daily basis if natural gas didn’t stink.
If you smell gas
Open all of the windows in the rooms that you smell it in first. Ventilation prevents a pocket of gas from building up and exploding. The second step you want to do is shut-off anything nearby that is an ignition source. Examples of ignition sources are:
- lighting
- cell phones
- appliances
- open flames
Finding the leak
Once you have ventilated the area you want to begin to pin-point the leak. Do a leak test, get an empty plastic spray bottle and fill it with cold water and a little dish soap. Then spray the soap solution on all of the gas connections. If you see blowing bubbles on any fittings, that means you found the leak.
Don’t panic!
Just close the shut-off valve for either the appliance or section of pipe where the gas is leaking. If there isn’t a shut-off valve, you will have to call the gas company immediately to turn off the gas coming into your home.
If this all seems a lot for you to take on. Click right here to schedule a gas line inspection test with Vince. A Pittsburgh plumber who knows how to handle all types of gas leaks. Vince is also (DOT) certified to install and replace natural gas service lines.
