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scott_dish · Nov 10, 2011, 04:33 PM

We recently moved into a new place and noticed that in one of the rooms there was gas smell mostly faint that would come and then go sometimes almost immediately and other times hang around for awhile then disappear. It seems to only occur when the heat is on. We notified the gas company who came out and said there was a leak, the landlord reluctantly hired a plumber who came and found several leaks, the closest one to the room where we smelled the gas leak was below the floor about 6 feet or so from where we normally smell the leak.

About a week later we noticed the gas smell again. The landlord is saying something to the extent that it is normal to smell some gas when the heat turns on and that it burns away and if it was truly a leak we would smell gas all the time, but we seem to notice the smell when the gas turns off. He is having the plumber come back out but only to retest the lines and replace the valves where the leaks were occurring.

My question is 1. How dangerous is this? 2. Is the smell were smelling from a gas leak or is there some other logical explanation - does the landlord's argument make sense?

I've never lived in a place where I could smell gas before.

wmproop · Nov 10, 2011, 04:41 PM

And if its not fixed I wouldn`t live there at all
How will landlord explain it when the house explodes, no argument would make since then, when its to late

mygirlsdad77 · Nov 10, 2011, 04:54 PM

Agree with wmproop. You should not smell gas at all. If they are coming to retest the system, they should find the leak. Good luck and please let us know what they find.

scott_dish · Nov 10, 2011, 05:20 PM

They found several leaks last time... they tested the lines for about 30 - 45 minutes, should they be testing them for longer? If they were to have supposed to tightened the spots where the leaks were occurring why would they be showing up again? Also is it reasonable to always smell the gas in the same spot that isn't really that close to any of the lines, the closest line I can go to and I don't smell a thing.

If we assume the gas leak is being caused when the heat comes on then we should be OK if we don't turn on the heat?

mygirlsdad77 · Nov 10, 2011, 05:54 PM

No, the testing time seems more than ample. I would suggest soaping all joints beyond what is being pressure tested, as in gas valve connections, unions, etc. Im just glad to hear that they are coming back to do more testing, This most definitely needs to be resolved. Just keep a cool head, and be very nice and polite, and see if they will go the extra mile in finding the issue for you. Many times, these small leaks can take some time to locate. Hopefully they will do their job and keep at it until all is well.

scott_dish · Nov 12, 2011, 07:50 AM

So the plumber came and retested the line and found that there were no leaks. The gas lines are a closed loop system that go to the furnace, heater, and stove. Where those pipes are we don't smell the gas, we smell it about 6 to 12 feet away from the nearest gas pipe.

We have been living with the heat off so we hadn't been smelling any gas lately. When the plumber came he turned it on - we smelt gas once in the same spot, but it was gone by the time he could come up and smell it.

The plumber is at a loss as to what we could be smelling, they checked the ignition for the water heater and it wasn't clogged or anything like that. He believes we are safe but, like you guys, said we shouldn't be smelling gas at all.

Any idea what this could be? Do you know of any natural gas detectors for the home that actually work? (we bought one put it right up to the gas stove with the gas on and it didn't go off)

Thank you so much for your input thus far and I look forward to your reply.

mygirlsdad77 · Nov 13, 2011, 12:07 PM

Are you certain it is unburnt gas you smell, or could it be burned gas you are smelling when the furnace ignites. How old is your furnace? You may be getting a small backdraft on the vent of your furnace when it first fires up, which is actually somewhat common on old natural draft furnaces. It may be time to get in an HVAC tech to look the heating system over.

scott_dish · Nov 13, 2011, 02:33 PM

Great - this definitely sounds more reasonable as the smell certainly isn't as pungent as a pure natural gas smell. I will bring this up to my landlord and ask to have an HVAC come in and check it out. I can't express how thankful we are for you input! I will keep you posted.