Many of the American uses natural gas as a fuel for cooking or heating. When using natural gas or any other gas for cooking, you need to be extra careful because a single small leak can cause serious danger like a fire hazard, explosion, breathing problem and others in your home. Since natural gas tasteless, odorless, and invisible, it is tough to detect a gas leak from the stove.
But if you know how to detect a gas leak from stove, you can easily detect the leak and get rid of dangers. We are here to help you and come up with the process or way to detect the gas leak from the stove. Here we go.
Smell test
Though natural gas is smell free, most of the suppliers add Mercaptan chemicals to add odor in the gas. It is added to provide additional safety. Without this chemical, it is impossible to get any smell from gas and it can be more dangerous then. Due to this chemical, the easiest and simplest way to detect a gas leak in the stove is the smell test. Whenever you get rotten eggs or sulfur type smell, you can assume that there is any leakage. Whenever you smell something like that, you should follow the smell and you will find the source of a gas leak. And then you can take the necessary steps.
Sound test
Another good test to detect a leak from the stove is the sound test. Whenever any leakage happens, there is a chance of making hiss or whistling sound. Whenever you listen to something like that, you should immediately turn off all the other appliances in your home and then listen to the sound carefully. Turn off the fans, TV, AC, and all other appliances, and then use your listening skills to carefully listen to that sound. You can use your other senses such as smelling to be sure about the leakage. But not all the time, there will be smell. So whenever you hear that sound after entering the kitchen, make sure you follow the sound and find the leakage.
Yellow, red, or orange gas flame color
In general, the flame of the stove is red, orange, or yellow. But sometimes, you will see the bluish flame in your stove. When you see that, chances are really high that there is a gas leakage in your stove. Stop the stove right then and look for other signs such as sound or smells. You should find any of the signs that tell you there is gas leakage.
Check the gas bill
You have your gas bill copy, right? Check it find out last year’s records. Then compare it to their year record. Do you see any difference? Unlike electricity bill, the gas bill does not vary that much. That means if you see any significant change in gas bill compare to the previous year, something is wrong for sure. It is time to immediately check the gas line and there might be a leak. In that case, you should follow our previous steps to make sure if there is any leakage or not.
Gas leak detector
All of the above ideas might not work in most of the cases. Not all the time you will get any smells or not all the time you listen to any sound. Or maybe you don’t see any bluish flame or any change in gas bills if it happens recently. To remove all these obstacles, gas leak detectors are in the market to detect a gas leak.
So if you want to know how to detect a gas leak from stove, then this is the best way for sure. You need to install a gas detector. When it comes to the gas detector, you can install a propane gas detector if you are using propane gas. Also, you should install a carbon monoxide detector to add more safety to your home.
Since gas is odorless, invisible, and tasteless, you may not see it but it will cause you damage for sure. But for the gas detectors, it is extremely easy to detect the leak. Whenever it finds any gas leak in your stove, it will start ringing alarm and some detectors will show notification in your mobile phone.
Even some detectors can detect smoke as well to prevent any kind of fire hazard. Also, it will tell you the source of gas leakage as well so that you find the sources immediately and take necessary steps. That means if you want to detect the gas leak from the stove, installing a gas detector is the best and most reliable solution for you.
Where Should You Check For Gas Leaks
Now the question is where you should check for gas leaks. Well, you should start checking on the flexible pipe connected with your stove. If you have any gas detector, then it will tell you automatically where the source is. But without it, you have to do it manually. Follow the pipe and try to smell or listen to any sign. You should not use any flame to check the gas leak, it can create an explosion and you may suffer from this. Then you can check the cut-off valve or control valve and also, all the connectors. I hope you will find it. If you are sure about the gas leak and do not find any leakage, do not hesitate to call an expert.
Conclusion
A tiny gas leak is dangerous. It can cause physical problems such as breathing problems, dizziness, headache, or even death. Also, it can cause monitory damage as well. So knowing how to detect a gas leak from stove is really important and I hope you know how to do it. As you can see, it is not that tough at all. All you have to do is to either install a gas detector or be careful and use your all senses to detect a gas leak in the stove. If you have any hesitation, call the expert and he will solve your problem. Do not take any risk to save a little amount of money.