This is the second time we have had an issue with gas. First it was a carbon monoxide problem with our gas water heater. Now it was with the flexable gas lines connecting the fireplace and my gas dryer.
It has not been an issue since most of the windows have been open all summer long. Now that it is getting into the 40's at night I closed up the house two days ago. Two mornings in a row I completely slept through the alarm and had a really hard time waking up. I also had a headache. It was not until the second day that I started putting two and two together. I checked our carbon monoxide detectors and they were registering zero so that was not the problem. So we went out and bought a Bacharach Leakator Jr Combustion Gas Leak Detector.
It is a nice hand held unit that can detect all sorts of combustable gasses.
We started checking around and found several areas where propane was leaking into the house. With further exploration we found that the inside of the fitting on the flexible gas line on our fireplace had a small score on the inner metal cylinder. This prevented a proper seal.
The faulty line.
You can see the score between 11 and 12 (if it were a clock).
We will replace this one and put copper washers in the others.
We are going to add some Safety Siren CO & Gas Detector alarms to to the CO alarms that we already have.
Propane is a colorless and odorless flammable gas. Breathing in or swallowing propane can be harmful. Propane takes the place of oxygen in the lungs. This makes breathing difficulty or impossible. The gas company puts a nasty smell in there to warn you but if the leak is small, windows are open or it's in the wall you may not smell it. If you have unexplained coughing, dizziness, weakness, heavy sleep, unusually hard to waken or sick pets it is something you might want to consider when trying to get to the bottom of it.
If you do have gas in your house the gas company will come out and preform these saftey checks for you . I think there is probably a charge but it would certainly be worth it.
Yikes! Good thing you figured it out.
Posted by: Christine | September 26, 2007 at 04:52 PM
Jane you know as well as I do that everyone that has a gas or wood burning appliance in their home should have a carbon monoxide detector, it could save their life. Also you should place your LP (propane) detector on the lowest level of your house close to the floor since propane is heavier than air.
Posted by: Jimmy | September 30, 2007 at 08:15 AM
Gas leak is a serious kind of problem in all homes and if it is not treated properly then it can be dangerous or it can be a cause of a serious accident,someone can lose his life just because of it so it is better to check your gas pipes regularly.
Posted by: 10besTucson | October 14, 2007 at 12:03 PM
Wow that is a bit scary. I have found excellent carbon monoxide detectors for a great price at resculite.com
Posted by: Marc | September 30, 2008 at 09:42 AM