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It's Gas Safety Week - keep your home safe this autumn

In honour of Gas Safety Week, we thought we’d share some more tips with you about keeping safe at home.

Unsafe gas appliances have the potential to leak, cause fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. According to information from the Gas Safe Register, 1 in 6 homes has an unsafe gas appliance. You can find out how safe your area is on their interactive map.

Here are some tips for keeping your home safe.

Use Gas Safe Registered engineers

Ensure you use a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit, repair and service your boiler and gas kitchen appliances. You can find (and check) engineers on the Gas Safe Register website.

With 1 in 6 boilers inspected being unsafe, it’s vital that you have your boiler regularly serviced and checked once a year. You can add a gas boiler service with any of our Home Emergency products for £7.84 a month and we’ll always send a Gas Safe Registered engineer to your home.

Check your appliances

If you spot any of these signs, you need to get your gas appliances serviced straight away:

  • Your appliance isn’t working as expected

  • There’s a floppy yellow flame instead of a crisp blue one

  • There are brown/black marks around the appliance

  • Your boiler’s pilot light keeps going out

  • More condensation than normal on the inside of your windows

The Gas Safe Register recommend that you don’t wait for these warning signs before getting your appliances serviced; always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines to find out how often they recommend a service.

Know the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas which is caused by the incomplete burning of gas or LPG. This usually happens as a result of a gas appliance being fitted incorrectly, badly repaired or poorly maintained. It’s especially dangerous as you can’t see, taste or smell it and some symptoms mimic a cold or flu.

The main symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are:

  1. Headache

  2. Dizziness

  3. Nausea

  4. Breathlessness

  5. Collapse

  6. Loss of consciousness

If you have any of these symptoms and your gas appliances are showing any of the above signs, get into fresh air as soon as you can and see your doctor/go to hospital. They will be able to do a blood or breath test to check for carbon monoxide poisoning.

If you’re concerned there’s an immediate danger, you can also phone the gas emergency helpline on 0800 111 999 (mainland GB).

Prevent carbon monoxide poisoning

Getting your gas appliances checked regularly by a Gas Safe Registered engineer is the most important thing you can do to minimise the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

You can also install a carbon monoxide leak detector – or audible carbon monoxide alarm – in your home too, as they’ll emit a sound when carbon monoxide is detected. However, because these alarms only work when carbon monoxide is present, you shouldn’t rely on these alone.

To ensure their effectiveness, make sure any carbon monoxide detector you buy is kitemarked to standards BS EN 50291-1:2010.

Want to keep your heating running smoothly year-round? Discover our boiler and heating cover, or take out a Complete home emergency plan for total peace of mind. Get a quick, free quote online and find the perfect plan to keep your home cosy! Or explore our full range of plans, including plumbing and drainage, and appliance cover.

Last updated: 13 September 2021