We went outside immediately. Good that there is a closet near the front door where we all keep our jackets, caps, and shoes. It was cold outside. We picked up our jackets to protect ourselves from the cold. Given that Dear Son had not eaten his dinner and we did not know how long it would take, we quickly grabbed some cookies and a bottle of water.
The technician came. I went inside the house with the technician. Dear Son and Dear Wife were waiting outside. The technician had a long stick on top of which there was a sensor that could detect gas. He checked all possible areas but no gas was detected. There was no gas leak. The technician told us that the detector he was using can even detect gas three feet under the ground. That indicated that there was no leak. The odor was gone by that time because we opened the windows.
There was a bathroom near the area where we smelled the odor. The technician told us that the odor could be methane (sewer gas) produced by the sewerage system of the house. Methane has a sulfur-like odor like the city gas. However, that kind of methane gas comes out only if the pipes are not drained regularly. We informed the technician that we had rarely used the bathroom near that corridor in the last six months. The technician suggested that we turn on the taps of the unused bathrooms for two/three minutes to drain the pipes once or twice every month. That will make sure that methane gas is not accumulated in the pipes.
The technician of the Texas Gas Service told us to call the company immediately if we smell that odor again.
The question remains, what to do if we smell gas in our home. Based on some research, we have come up with the following tasks one needs to do after smelling a gas odor in the home.
Putting out cigarettes right away
There is no question of keeping sparks around. Everyone who smokes must put out cigarettes right away if someone smells a gas odor in the home. Anyway, it is better not to smoke at all but that is a different topic of discussion.
No turning off or turning on anything
Switches may snap and spark if we turn them on or off. Electrical sparks may cause a fire if gas is surrounding the area. It is better not to do anything to the switches when there is a gas odor. Dear Wife told me that she read this before but still, she instinctively turned on all the lights, turned off the kitchen exhaust fan and the space heater, without worrying much about the hazards. These are a big no-no.
Let us not light a match
When there is a gas odor there is no question of lighting a match, candle, or stove. Cooking or a candle light dinner has to be postponed regardless of how hungry we are.
Please do not push the doorbell
We may be tempted to use the doorbell of our neighbors if we want to call them out due to gas hazards. A big Noooo to that. This is because the switch is outside but the bell is inside the house which may create a spark and cause a fire if gas is surrounding the bell.
Let us not use the garage opener
Opening the garage, staying in the car, and bringing the car outside might seem like a smart idea in a cold evening. However, the garage door opener is a switch that turns on electrical circuits. Additionally, the garage door may have enough friction to create some sparks. Please avoid garage door openers when you smell a gas odor in your home. Also, we would avoid turning on the ignition of the car.
We will not use the phone inside the house
A major mistake I did last evening was that I called the gas company when I was inside the house. When there is a gas odor in the home, the phone call must be made after going outside. Even a cell phone can create a spark, which may cause a disaster when there is natural gas in the air.
Go outside and wait for the responder
Go outside and maintain a good distance from the house. Call the utility company from outside. Wait for the investigator to arrive. Do not go inside the house before the investigator informs you that it is safe to go inside.
Concluding remarks: It is better to leave the cause of the odor to the experts. We could not really identify what caused that sulfur odor — natural gas or methane. It is better to be safe than sorry. Please keep a list of emergency numbers in your phone’s contact list. That will save a few minutes of searching the correct number on the internet while you are outside. A few minutes is a lot during emergencies. It is better to be prepared than to get overwhelmed at the last minute. Here is a nice handout from El Paso Fire Department and Texas Gas that says what to do in case of a gas odor: Link.
We are thinking of making an emergency backpack for such events, hoping we won’t have to use the bag ever:-). Let us know if you have suggestions regarding gas emergencies. Stay safe everyone.
Subscribe to receive notifications on our new posts.
wonderful job! great post thank you so much for providing this info.
jim simon recently posted…Propane vs Natural Gas
Thank you for visiting and the kind words. Have a wonderful week.
I live on a farm, we generate too much organic waste (manure, vegetations etc.). Since last 10 years, we are using our organic waste to generate biogas for our kitchen. The biogas and natural gas have same composition, however, biogas contains a large amount of water. Good thing about using biogas is it is not as harmful as natural gas when it leaks.
Wow… that is so awesome! Producing your own energy is so cool. I did not know that biogas is not as harmful as natural gas. Thank you for sharing the information. Have a wonderful day.
I will try to share these tips. The honest truth is that such incidents have gotten so many homes in Nigeria burnt. I hope most of my friends will learn from this as well.
Thank you for thinking about sharing this post. Yes, we need to keep some safety protocols in mind.
Have a wonderful week.
As I explore your blog, I notice that you are really sharing knowledge what you have. This is great article too. Thank you for sharing useful tips!
Thanks for this post. Very informative. For me, I would definitely turn off any electrical device, even the lights which can ignite the fume and then I open all the windows and doors to eliminate the gas.
Actually, even turning off any switch is dangerous because a spark is created when a switch is turned off. Any change of a switch position is considered dangerous. This is what we were told by the emergency personnel.
Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful day.
Your blog is very useful in such a situation. It never happened to me but if it would the first step would be to turn off the electric energy and then I would turn of the gases and contact the gas provider. They would come make a basic check and resolve the problem.
Actually, turning off any electric device when there is a gas odor is risky. This is because when you turn off a switch, there might be some sparks ⚡️ that may cause a fire. Thank you for visiting and commenting.
I’m so glad there wasn’t a gas problem. Great list of what to do. Thanks for writing the post.
Thank you so much for visiting and commenting.
Hi! Letting you know that I’ve nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award! Your site is informative and I enjoy your posts!
https://uyjewelry.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/one-lovely-blog-award/
So kind of you, Tasha. We are very honored. We will try to respond to the nomination. We are very excited to know that you enjoy our posts. Have a wonderful evening!
Never knew that gas companies added something so you could smell a gas leak. Where I live now we have propane gas not natural gas. Thank you for the very good information.
We are glad to know that you found the post informative. I only learnt that information about the smell recently. Isn’t that a neat idea to add an odorant to the natural gas! Thanks for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful week.
Glad everyone is safe. Thanks for sharing. Great tips! ?
Thank you! Just thought it might be useful to document the tips. We appreciate your visit and the comment.
Good to share research like this. Since we grew up with gas, I’d like to just highlight two basic steps: shut the main Gas source : it’s like the water main but under the stove. Open the windows and doors. The gas needs to flow away ASAP.
Thank you for visiting. Thank you for providing two more great tips. Knowing where the main switch is would help and of course opening the windows and doors will help as well. Sometimes, there are probably multiple sources. In our case, the technician looked for three sources: one under the stove, the other one near the air heating system that runs on natural gas, and the final one the water heating system which also uses gas. We did not know if there was one main switch. Awareness about the locations of these valves/switches would help during emergencies. With complex systems and limited knowledge like ours, I will still call the emergency line ASAP.
Thanks once again for stopping by and writing an informative comment. Have a wonderful day.
Great tips. Thanks for sharing.
We are glad to know that you liked this post. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Best regards.
Good that you smelled the gas. Thanks for sharing what you learned. That might come in handy should we gas users detect an odor.
Thanks for visiting and commenting. I cannot agree more that it is good to keep safety measures in mind. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Very informative! Thanks for posting this.
We are glad to know that you liked this post. Thanks a ton for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.