If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide
Smell gas? Only if it's safe, turn the gas off at the meter, or at the cylinder for LP gas. Put out any flames, leave electrical switches and devices alone, open the house up and keep everyone away. Ring the emergency number on your gas bill (Jemena distributes mains gas in Wollongong), or 000 for a fire. Carbon monoxide gives no smell at all. If you suspect it, Energy Safe Victoria's advice is to get outside into fresh air, turn off the gas appliances, open doors and windows, see a doctor or call 000 in an emergency, and keep the heater off until a gasfitter has checked it.
Wollongong facts for gas heating
Mild on the coast
Wollongong University station's July mean minimum is 8.4 degrees, and AdaptNSW says nights below 2 degrees are very rare along the coast.
Colder up the escarpment
Inland along the escarpment, the same snapshot counts up to 50 nights a year below 2 degrees. That's where a gas heater is most likely to run night after night.
Jemena's network
Natural gas in Wollongong comes through Jemena's distribution network, so its emergency details are the ones on your bill.
Windy heating season
July and August bring the westerly gales, right in the middle of heating season. Ask the gasfitter to check that the flue, the pipe or channel that carries exhaust outside, is clear and secure.
How often, and when
Two years at the most between services, and sooner if the flame changes colour: Energy Safe Victoria says a changed flame needs a qualified gasfitter's inspection and a carbon monoxide check. Seeley says some of its heaters need servicing more often, so read your manual.
Autumn is the time to book, so any fault is found before the first cold night rather than on it.
Don't wait for the service if
- The flame burns yellow or leaves soot.
- The pilot keeps dropping out, or pops when it lights.
- Several people, or pets, falling ill at once, or anyone feeling off only while they are at home.
- It's an unflued heater: the ACT Government recommends replacing those immediately.
Who can service it in NSW
NSW law classes gas fitting as specialist work, and anyone advertising it needs a current contractor licence whatever the size of the job. Look the gasfitter up on Service NSW's licence check before they come, and ask for someone who services heaters through every Illawarra winter.
If it's a reverse cycle system that won't heat, that's an air conditioning repair in Wollongong instead. For what the gas service itself involves, step by step, see gas heater service.
Yours, and the gasfitter's
You can
- Keep the space around the heater clear.
- Turn off the rangehood and bathroom exhaust fans while it runs, as Energy Safe Victoria advises.
- Fit a carbon monoxide alarm as a back-up.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Opening the heater and checking the burner and flue.
- The carbon monoxide test.
- Any repair, and the call on whether it's safe to use.
Ask the gasfitter
- Can I see your NSW licence before you start?
- Will the carbon monoxide result be written down for me?
- Is the flue clear and secure after the winter winds?
What we'd do
What we'd do
We'd book a gasfitter every second autumn at the latest, every autumn on the escarpment side if the heater runs most nights, and ask for the carbon monoxide result in writing. An old unflued heater we'd retire rather than service. Where we have a gas heating specialist near you, that's who we'll pass your job to.
