Guidelines for Effective Gas Leak Detection

by Maria Williams Online Marketing Specialist

Natural gas is a primary source of energy in most homes. It is typically a safer option that is commonly used for cooking food. However, sometimes, you may encounter gas leaks because of an installation or maintenance problem.

Gas leaks are dangerous when they are not taken care of on time. Knowing how to effectively detect a gas leak and fix the problem at your house can help keep the danger away.

Confirming a Gas Leak Early On

Ideally, you want to detect a gas leak at an early stage. If you confirm a gas leak early on, fixing the problem would be an easy job. Following are some guidelines that will help you in this regard:

Use Your Sense of Smell

You can identify or confirm a gas leak early on by its smell. Natural gas provided to homes usually includes Ethyl Mercaptan. Companies add this odorous gas into the mix for safety purposes as it makes it easier to detect a gas leak. It smells like rotten eggs.

Watch Your Stove

Next, it is recommended that you identify the source of a gas leak in your home. Stove burners are the primary appliances that use natural gas. So, check them and look at their flame. If the flame colour is primarily blue, there is no gas leak, and the gas is only coming out of the gas injection nozzle as it should. However, if the flame colour is yellow, there may be a gas leak as the nozzle may be out of adjustment.

Perform a Quick Test

A practical method to test and confirm a gas leak on connections is lathering by adding water, liquid soap, and a sponge. Follow these instructions:

Mix soap in water to create a mixture.
Soak the sponge in that mixture. Make sure it doesn’t absorb too much water.
Find the gas outlet of your stove and foam around the hoses and fittings. If there are bubbles that increase in size, there is a gas leak. You will need to change the connections to fix the problem.
Repeat these steps to test gas inlet connections in your home and look for bubbles.
If there is a problem with the connection, use a wrench to tighten the tube. If the problem is not solved and there is still a gas smell in your environment, then it is highly recommended that you call gas leak detection services.

Preventing a Gas Leak in the House

The best way to prevent gas leaks in the house is to perform routine checks and maintenance of all your gas-related equipment, e.g. stove, gas pipe, and gas connections. Follow the above-listed guidelines and use the test procedure to check for signs of leakage from time to time. If you already suspect a gas leak in your house, you should shut down your gas valves and call your local gas leak detection services to solve the problem correctly and safely.

When it comes to gas leak detection, it pays to be sure. And to be sure, you need Sure Search.