Gas is one of the main ways to heat your home. A lot of homeowners choose this for their home as it’s an efficient and reliable form of heating energy. However, while gas is a great energy source in your home, it can cause hazards if you were to have a gas leak in your home. A fire could occur on your property and leaking gas can cause poisoning if inhaled by homeowners. Therefore, it’s important to recognise a plumbing gas leak as soon as you can. Here is how to detect a gas leak in your plumbing.
What is a natural gas leak?
So what exactly is a natural gas leak? This is when gas comes out from the pipe and into the area inside the home. It poses a risk to your property and moreover your family. The gas leakage is flammable and poses a fire risk. It’s also lethal to people if inhaled and it leads to around 60 deaths a year in the UK. Therefore, when you do have a gas leak in your home, you need to get in touch with a plumbing company ASAP.
How to detect a gas leak?
Now you know exactly what a gas leak is, the next thing you need to know is how to detect it. That way, you can get the necessary help as soon as you can before the problem escalates and your family and home are put at risk.
Place carbon monoxide detectors
One good way to detect a gas leak is to install a carbon monoxide detector in your home. These will let you know if there is any sign of the gas which is hard to detect as it’s often colourless and tasteless. If it does detect carbon monoxide, it will set off an alarm so you know straight away. Just like a fire alarm, it’s important to check these are working regularly.
Whistling noise
Another sign there is a gas leak in your home is if there is a whistling noise. This is likely to be a different sound to normal and is said to be like a hissing noise. This peculiar noise tends to occur when there is a leak and tends to be louder the larger the leak is. This noise is a good indicator that you should contact your Essex boiler specialist company immediately.
Smell
Another way you can tell if there is a gas leak is by the smell. Unfortunately, it’s odourless but you could ask your plumbing company to add a chemical which makes it easier for you to know if it’s leaking. A lot of companies add mercaptan which then when released gives off a distinctive, egg-like smell which is easy to pick-up.
Bubbles
When you have a leak, there is likely to be some wet areas inside or outside of your home. If there are bubbles in the wet areas, this is a tell-tale sign that it’s a gas leak.
Condition of plants
If you find the plants in your home are wilting and dying quickly, this could mean there is a gas leak in your plumbing system. They are sensitive to gas so will die immediately if there is gas in the air which can be a warning sign to you to check it over.
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