If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide
Energy Safe Victoria's steps if you smell gas: turn it off at the meter, or at the cylinder for LP gas, only if it's safe to; put out any flames and don't smoke; don't use electrical switches or devices; open doors and windows; and keep people away. Then ring the emergency number on your gas bill, which for natural gas is your distributor's, or 000 for a fire. On Perth's network the distributor is ATCO. Carbon monoxide has no smell. If you suspect it, get everyone into fresh air, turn off gas appliances, open the house up, see a doctor or call 000 in an emergency, and keep the heater off until a gasfitter has checked it.
Gas heating in Perth
A big gas network
ATCO's Mid-West and South-West gas distribution systems serve greater Perth, Mandurah included, with more than 12,000 km of pipelines and over 700,000 residential and business customers.
A heater that sits off for months
Perth Metro's July mean minimum is 8.1 degrees, and nights below 2 degrees come about four times a year. A heater that's off from spring to autumn is easy to forget until the first cold snap, which is why we'd book the service ahead of winter.
Sealed-up homes
Energy Safe Victoria warns that renovating or weather-sealing a home can change the ventilation needed to clear carbon monoxide. If you've draught-proofed, replaced windows or renovated since the last service, tell the gasfitter.
The right permit
In WA, a Class G gasfitting permit includes installing and servicing domestic gas installations, and Building and Energy's online search lets you check a gasfitter is licensed.
How often, and what gets checked
We haven't found a WA rule setting a service interval in our sources, so we go by Victoria's regulator and the Better Health Channel: at least every two years, by a licensed gasfitter. Seeley adds that some units need it more often, so your manual has the final say.
A service should cover the burner and flame, the flue (the pipe that carries exhaust outside), a carbon monoxide spillage test, and on a ducted heater the fan, filter and controls. Our carbon monoxide testing page explains the test, and the national gas heater service page covers the rest.
Signs it needs a gasfitter now
- A yellow or sooty flame, other than on a decorative gas log fire.
- A flame that's changed from its usual colour. ESV says that needs a gasfitter's inspection and a carbon monoxide check.
- A pilot that goes out by itself, or pops or bangs as it lights.
- Soot marks on the wall or around the heater.
- Headaches, nausea or dizziness that ease once you leave the house, or people and pets falling ill at the same time.
- A ducted heater that keeps locking out. Seeley tells technicians not to keep resetting a heater without finding the cause.
What's safe for you, and what's the gasfitter's
You can
- Keep curtains, furniture and washing well clear of the heater.
- Leave the rangehood and bathroom fan off while the heater runs. ESV says they can draw carbon monoxide into living areas.
- Fit a carbon monoxide alarm as a back-up, never as a stand-in for a service.
- Never bring an outdoor gas heater inside.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Opening the heater, or working on the burner, flue or gas controls.
- The carbon monoxide spillage test.
- Finding the cause of lockouts, replacing parts, and deciding it's safe to use.
What to have in writing when the gasfitter leaves
- Their name, business and licence number.
- What was checked, and the carbon monoxide result.
- Any fault found, and whether the heater is safe to keep using.
- When the next service is due.
What we'd do
What we'd do
We'd book a gas heating specialist with the right WA permit every two years, in autumn before the heater's needed, and straight away if the flame changed colour. We'd keep the rangehood off while it runs and a carbon monoxide alarm nearby. If the heater was old and we were thinking of replacing it anyway, we'd get a reverse cycle quote alongside the service.
