If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide
If you smell gas, Energy Safe Victoria says to turn the gas off at the meter (or the cylinder, for LP gas) only if it's safe, put out any flames, leave electrical switches alone, open doors and windows and keep people away. Then call the emergency number on your gas bill, or 000 if there's a fire. Carbon monoxide has no smell. If you suspect it, Energy Safe Victoria says to get everyone outside into fresh air, turn off all gas appliances and open up the house. Call Nurse-on-Call, see a doctor, or dial 000 in an emergency, and leave the heater off until a qualified gasfitter has been.
How often does a gas heater need a service?
Two years is the regulator line. Energy Safe Victoria and the Better Health Channel both put it at a minimum of every two years, by a licensed gasfitter, for all types of gas heaters. Seeley adds that some units need it more often, so read your manual too.
Don't wait the full two years if the heater starts behaving differently. ESV says a flame that changes from its usual colour means a qualified gasfitter must inspect it and check it for carbon monoxide leakage.
Signs your gas heater needs a gasfitter now
- A yellow or sooty flame, unless it's a decorative gas log fire (Better Health).
- A pilot light that goes out on its own, or pops or bangs as it lights.
- Soot stains on the wall or around the heater.
- Headaches, nausea or dizziness that ease once you've left the house.
- A ducted heater that keeps locking out. Seeley tells its technicians not to keep resetting a heater without finding the cause.
- An open-flued Regency i31, Regency F38/FG38 (excluding LP models), Nectre 2000 or Real Flame Pyrotech. ESV's safety alert says not to use one until a gasfitter has tested it.
What a gas heater service usually covers
The burner and flame
Cleaned and checked for a steady flame of the right colour.
The flue
The flue is the pipe or channel that carries exhaust outside. Seeley's technician guide says most pressure faults on its ducted heaters come from blocked flues or blocked pressure tappings.
A carbon monoxide check
A test for exhaust spilling back into the room. Our carbon monoxide testing page explains it.
Controls, fan and filters
On ducted heaters, Seeley lists a dirty return air filter and too few outlets open among the usual causes of overheating faults.
A written result
What was found, what was done, and whether the heater is safe to keep using.
Who can service a gas heater?
Only a licensed gasfitter. In Victoria, ESV says to check the gasfitter's licence online, and a rental safety check must be done by a gasfitter endorsed in Type A Gas Appliances Servicing, shown on their Plumbers Identity Card.
Queensland needs a gas work licence for a type A gas device, and a servicing licence there doesn't cover installing, removing, altering or certifying. WA's Class G gasfitting permit includes servicing domestic installations. In the ACT, gasfitters and gas appliance workers must be licensed and appear on Access Canberra's public registers. Our licence guide shows how to look someone up.
Ask for a gas heating specialist rather than whoever can come soonest. Someone who services heaters all winter knows your model's common faults.
Renting in Victoria?
Rental providers must have a licensed or registered gasfitter do a gas safety check every two years, and from 13 October 2026 that covers every rental with gas appliances. The record should show the gasfitter's name, business, licence or registration number, the date and the results.
A working gas heater can stay. The 1 March 2027 change only applies when the main living area heater permanently fails; its replacement must then be energy efficient and electric. See our rental heating guide.
What makes a service quicker or longer
A wall furnace in the lounge is usually the simplest visit. Ducted heaters take longer to reach, and Seeley says its ducted gas heaters can sit in the roof, under the floor or outside.
A neglected heater, or one that fails its carbon monoxide test, needs more time and maybe parts. Ask for any repair in writing first.
Warranties can set the timing. Rinnai's Brivis extended warranty needs scheduled servicing by Rinnai, and Seeley says the fourth-year service for 7 year Braemar ducted gas cover must be done by Seeley or its nominee.
What's safe for you, and what's the gasfitter's
You can
- Keep furniture, curtains and drying washing clear of the heater.
- Turn off the rangehood and bathroom fans while it runs. ESV says they can create negative pressure that draws carbon monoxide into living spaces.
- Fit a carbon monoxide alarm as a back-up, never as a stand-in for servicing.
- Never bring an outdoor gas heater inside.
- On a ducted system, clean the return air filter if your manual shows how.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Removing covers and working on the burner, flue or gas controls.
- Testing for carbon monoxide spillage.
- Finding out why a heater keeps locking out.
- Replacing parts and deciding whether it's safe to use.
What you should have when the gasfitter leaves
- Their name, business and licence or registration number.
- The date and what was checked.
- The carbon monoxide test result.
- Any fault found, and whether the heater is safe to use.
- When the next service is due.
What we'd do
What we'd do
We'd book the service every two years without waiting for trouble, and straight away if the flame changed colour or the pilot kept dropping out. We'd fit a carbon monoxide alarm nearby and keep the rangehood off while the heater runs, and we'd want the gas heating specialist's result in writing.
