New to gas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of anyone having a gas detector.

CO detectors, yes. If you bought recently or rent these are mandatory in MD (not sure about DC and VA).

We have natural gas detectors. It's a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many people have gas. Get CO detectors and check/test them monthly. I do ours on the 1st of the month so I don’t forget.

Someone checks our furnaces, HVAC, water heaters, and gas stove. The people who check the furnaces and HVAC come 2x a year and the rest usually come once. I do it through the gas and electric company, but many heating and plumbing companies have this sort of maintenance you can pay for. It can be pricey so check around. I think it’s worth it because they also check for CO and any damage that can possible cause an issue.

If you smell gas get out of your house and call the gas company or the fire department. Will say we had a CO detector go off and my spouse was home and called the fire department. It ended up being faulty alarm and not a problem, so we bought a new detector (get new detectors every few years should say on box) but the police told us if it happened again and it ended up being faulty we would be fined! For something you can’t smell or see! I told the cop next time I would call the gas company and he told me
I should call the fire department. 🙄 Luckily we haven’t had that issue again.

If you’re worried you can probably call the gas company and have them look at things (but you’ll be charged unless you smell gas or something). When we first bought our home the laundry room closet smelled like gas so I called the gas company and they came out, fixed it and checked everything else. They ended up redoing the entire gas main line and it all was no cost to me.

The ignorance about natural gas astounds me. Did you all fail high school chemistry? Natural Gas is NOT CO. Natural Gas is mainly CH4 which is Methane. I guess this is why grills have warnings not to use them idoors. People are zero awareness of the world around them.

OMG. Cringiest, self-own I've ever read. Clearly YOU are the one who failed high school chemistry!! People with natural gas in their homes NEED to monitor for CO. It's a byproduct of incomplete combustion, and its odorless and deadly. Face plant. Here's some info for all the ding a lings who failed chemistry: https://www.lung.org/clean-air/indoor-air/indoor-air-pollutants/carbon-monoxide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

gas detectors detect leaking gas. CO detect gasses released by fire. the danger with gas is not poisoning but explosion. CO detectors are really not that relevant for gas, because they only react when it's too late?

Jesus OP.

CO detectors detect CO which is a byproduct of combustion that isn’t properly vented or something is wrong. This can happen if your appliance is malfunctioning and/or your venting is malfunctioning for any operating gas appliance: water heater, furnace, stove, fireplace, etc…

CO is deadly and undetectable.

Gas Leaks are very detectable and the reason gas detectors aren’t common is because 999/1000 times in the rare event of a gas leak you will smell it.

sorry, i don't understand this part. what is burning there and releasing CO? sorry, i am just trying to understand.

Not even sure if this is a real post... But your furnace is burning natural gas to produce heat, water heater burning natural gas to create heat, stove and oven burning natural gas to create heat, dyer or other natural gas appliances are burning gas. etc. When things aren't operating and burning correctly, CO can be given off. You CANNOT smell it. It prevents oxygen from going where it should. You feel sleepy. You say I am just going to rest my eyes. You die. Alternately it happens when you are sleeping and night and so you just die. Does this make sense?

[Anonymous]

Gas stove household: We have an air purifier in the kitchen. When we use the stove we turn on the vent and also open the kitchen window.

[Anonymous]

I'm in my 40s and have always had gas, even when I was a little kid. I think 8 or 9 different houses?

We've always had a CO detector in the basement. I've never had a gas detector. The rule has always been: CO down low, smoke alarms up high.

CO shouldn't ever be a problem... if everything is working right. And generally speaking, everything works right nearly all the time. In 40+ years, I've never had a problem nor known anyone directly who has had a CO problem. But if something isn't working right, it'll kill everyone in the house before anyone knows anything is wrong. That sounds like a good reason to have a detector.

Gas leaks ... I've always assumed we'll smell them before they become dangerous. I know I can smell the gas from my stove if it doesn't light right away. So I don't worry about a detector for that.

The upside: if there's a power outage, turn on the gas at your stove and light a match. You can still cook!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in my 40s and have always had gas, even when I was a little kid. I think 8 or 9 different houses?

We've always had a CO detector in the basement. I've never had a gas detector. The rule has always been: CO down low, smoke alarms up high.

CO shouldn't ever be a problem... if everything is working right. And generally speaking, everything works right nearly all the time. In 40+ years, I've never had a problem nor known anyone directly who has had a CO problem. But if something isn't working right, it'll kill everyone in the house before anyone knows anything is wrong. That sounds like a good reason to have a detector.

Gas leaks ... I've always assumed we'll smell them before they become dangerous. I know I can smell the gas from my stove if it doesn't light right away. So I don't worry about a detector for that.

The upside: if there's a power outage, turn on the gas at your stove and light a match. You can still cook!

And if there's been a gas leak, you get cooked!

[Anonymous]

OP here. thanks a lot for your help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many people have gas. Get CO detectors and check/test them monthly. I do ours on the 1st of the month so I don’t forget.

Someone checks our furnaces, HVAC, water heaters, and gas stove. The people who check the furnaces and HVAC come 2x a year and the rest usually come once. I do it through the gas and electric company, but many heating and plumbing companies have this sort of maintenance you can pay for. It can be pricey so check around. I think it’s worth it because they also check for CO and any damage that can possible cause an issue.

If you smell gas get out of your house and call the gas company or the fire department. Will say we had a CO detector go off and my spouse was home and called the fire department. It ended up being faulty alarm and not a problem, so we bought a new detector (get new detectors every few years should say on box) but the police told us if it happened again and it ended up being faulty we would be fined! For something you can’t smell or see! I told the cop next time I would call the gas company and he told me
I should call the fire department. 🙄 Luckily we haven’t had that issue again.

If you’re worried you can probably call the gas company and have them look at things (but you’ll be charged unless you smell gas or something). When we first bought our home the laundry room closet smelled like gas so I called the gas company and they came out, fixed it and checked everything else. They ended up redoing the entire gas main line and it all was no cost to me.

The ignorance about natural gas astounds me. Did you all fail high school chemistry? Natural Gas is NOT CO. Natural Gas is mainly CH4 which is Methane. I guess this is why grills have warnings not to use them idoors. People are zero awareness of the world around them.

Gas is purposely scented. CO is much more likely to kill you and is odorless

+1

There is a general lack of common sense (prevalant in this area).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many people have gas. Get CO detectors and check/test them monthly. I do ours on the 1st of the month so I don’t forget.

Someone checks our furnaces, HVAC, water heaters, and gas stove. The people who check the furnaces and HVAC come 2x a year and the rest usually come once. I do it through the gas and electric company, but many heating and plumbing companies have this sort of maintenance you can pay for. It can be pricey so check around. I think it’s worth it because they also check for CO and any damage that can possible cause an issue.

If you smell gas get out of your house and call the gas company or the fire department. Will say we had a CO detector go off and my spouse was home and called the fire department. It ended up being faulty alarm and not a problem, so we bought a new detector (get new detectors every few years should say on box) but the police told us if it happened again and it ended up being faulty we would be fined! For something you can’t smell or see! I told the cop next time I would call the gas company and he told me
I should call the fire department. 🙄 Luckily we haven’t had that issue again.

If you’re worried you can probably call the gas company and have them look at things (but you’ll be charged unless you smell gas or something). When we first bought our home the laundry room closet smelled like gas so I called the gas company and they came out, fixed it and checked everything else. They ended up redoing the entire gas main line and it all was no cost to me.

The ignorance about natural gas astounds me. Did you all fail high school chemistry? Natural Gas is NOT CO. Natural Gas is mainly CH4 which is Methane. I guess this is why grills have warnings not to use them idoors. People are zero awareness of the world around them.

Gas is purposely scented. CO is much more likely to kill you and is odorless

+1

There is a general lack of common sense (prevalant in this area).

*prevalent