Choosing A Natural Gas Leak Detector – How To Make the Right Choice
Natural Gas Leak Detector
If you use natural gas to heat your home or water, or to fuel your appliances, then you most likely already know that you need to install a natural gas leak detector to keep your family and your home safe from potentially explosive or deadly gas leaks. Whether you’re buying one for the first time or replacing an old home natural gas leak detector, here is what you need to know to make the right choice.
Methane is the most common component of natural gas, and it’s important to know a little about it. Methane is extremely combustible and flammable…if enough of it is in the air and you light a match, things will go boom. That nasty boiling cabbage smell is an additive that is put in as a way of warning you of a leak. Without it, you could be in a whole room full of methane and not even notice. While many people rely on the smell alone to detect leaks, it isn’t enough which is why most people opt for a natural gas leak alarm.
Before you settle on a natural gas leak detector, ask about its trigger effect…how likely is it that the sensor will trip to other sources of fumes, such as household chemicals, other fuels or even humidity.
The most important factor to consider when looking for a natural gas detector is the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) of the detector. This tells you how much gas needs to have leaked before the alarm will go off. The lower, the better! An LEL of 15%, for instance, means that the accumulation of gas only has to reach 15% of its dangerous level before you are alerted.
An alarm is no good if you can’t hear it, so be sure that the natural gas leak detector you choose has a loud enough sound that you can hear it from every room of the house, and that it will wake you up in the middle of the night. If you have a home security system, you may want to buy natural gas leak detector that hooks in to it directly.
Natural Gas Leak Detector
Some natural gas leak detectors come with multiple sensors, which is ideal if you have more than one source of natural gas in your home. make sure you follow the instructions as to where the sensors need to be placed. Natural gas rises, so you want to make sure they are placed near the ceiling or you may want to consider a portable natural gas leak detector as this can give you more flexibility.
You can get a hand held natural gas leak detector which can be good in some circumstances. Maybe your neighbor hasn’t got one and they need their property checked as you suspect they may be suffering from natural gas leak symptons. But the downside of these portable gas detectors is that they could be put away and forgotten about, which won’t give you any safety protection. I have a friend who bought a second portable propane gas detector because he forgot where he had put the first one he bought.
Like smoke detectors, a natural gas leak detector does need some maintaining. If it runs on batteries or has a battery back-up, you need to perform regular tests. Find out of your natural gas leak detection equipment has a button that will test the batteries, and if it will alert you when they need to be replaced.
You may find that your natural gas leak detector needs to be calibrated, but many don’t. If it does, find out where you can have this done, how much it costs, and how often it needs to be recalibrated. Also, ask about the life expectancy of the sensors, and whether or not you can replace them when they wear out. If not, you will need to replace the entire system.
