If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide
Energy Safe Victoria's advice for a gas smell: if it's safe, shut the gas off at the meter, put out any flames, leave light switches and other electrical devices alone, open up the doors and windows, and keep everyone clear. Then phone the emergency line printed on your gas bill, which for natural gas is the distributor. In the ACT, Evoenergy owns and runs the gas network. For a fire, call 000. Carbon monoxide can't be smelled, so if people feel unwell at home and you suspect it, get them outside into fresh air, call 000 in an emergency, and don't use the heater again until a gasfitter has looked at it.
Gas heating in Canberra right now
Plenty of homes still on gas
Evoenergy, which runs the ACT's gas network, has over 140,000 gas customers. That's a lot of gas appliances to keep safe through a Canberra winter.
A long, hard season of use
July's mean minimum at the Canberra Airport Comparison station is 0.3 degrees, and frosts in 2006 ran from April to November. A heater that works that hard shouldn't miss its service.
No new connections, a shrinking network
Since 8 December 2023, no new gas network connections are allowed in the ACT's residential zones. The ACT aims to be off fossil fuel gas by 2045 and expects parts of the network to close from the mid-2030s.
Unflued heaters
The ACT Government says any unflued gas heater should be replaced immediately, because it produces dangerous carbon monoxide fumes. A service doesn't change that.
How often, and what the gasfitter checks
Both Energy Safe Victoria and the Better Health Channel set a minimum of one service every two years, by a licensed gasfitter, whatever type of gas heater you have. Seeley adds that some of its heaters need it more often, so read your manual as well.
A typical service covers the burner, the flame and the flue, a test for exhaust spilling back into the room, and on a ducted heater the fan, filter and controls. Our page on carbon monoxide testing explains the spillage test.
Book in autumn. A heater that's been checked before the first frosts is ready for the months when it runs every day.
Warning signs that mean a gasfitter now
- The flame has gone yellow or sooty (Better Health excepts decorative log fires).
- The pilot light keeps going out, or pops or bangs when lighting.
- Black soot staining near the heater.
- Headaches, dizziness or nausea at home that clear up when you go out, or several people or pets getting sick together (Energy Safe Victoria).
- An unflued gas heater still being used.
Who can work on a gas heater in the ACT
In the ACT, gasfitters and gas appliance workers have to be licensed. Access Canberra's public registers list licensed gasfitters and show any whose licence is expired, suspended or cancelled, with disciplinary actions under the 'Details' tab. Look yours up before they arrive.
Ask for a gas heating specialist who services heaters every winter, not just whoever can come first. They'll know your model's habits and what its common faults look like.
Service it, or start planning the switch?
The ACT's rules stop new gas connections, and the government recommends replacing old gas appliances with the most efficient electric systems when the time is right. A service is a good moment to ask how your heater is holding up.
If it's old, needs a major part, or is unflued, that's your cue. See reverse cycle in Canberra and our page on switching from gas to electric.
Your jobs, and the gasfitter's
You can
- Give the heater clear space: no curtains, clothes airers or furniture close by.
- Leave the rangehood and bathroom fan off while it runs. Energy Safe Victoria warns they can create negative pressure that pulls carbon monoxide inside.
- Treat a carbon monoxide alarm as a back-up, never a replacement for servicing.
- Keep outdoor gas heaters and barbecues outdoors.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Opening the heater and working on the burner or flue.
- The carbon monoxide spillage test.
- Finding out why a heater keeps locking out.
- Disconnecting it safely when you change to electric.
What we'd do
Our advice
Every second autumn, we'd have a licensed gasfitter in, and we'd call one sooner if the flame looked different or anyone had headaches at home. We'd replace an unflued heater now rather than pay to service it. And with the ACT moving off gas, we'd use each visit to find out how much life the heater has left, so the switch to electric happens on our timing rather than during a July breakdown.
