A gas leak is one of the most dreaded fears that any homeowner can realize. If not detected in time and contained, a gas leak can cause property damage and put the lives of any of the occupants at risk. As such, the best way to deal with gas leaks at home is to take every measure possible to contain them. In this article, find out several of the steps that you can take to protect your home from gas leaks, gas fires and/or gas poisoning:

Install a gas detector

Many people rely on their sense of smell to detect a possible gas leak and curb it. However, this option is not very effective due to a number of reasons. For one, you can only smell the gas when it has reached a certain concentration in the air, at which point your property is already at risk. Two, you may not be in a position to smell the gas if you are asleep or out of the house. A good solution is to install a gas detector sensor. You can buy the sensor as a singular part or as part of a home alarm system. Once it detects any gas, it will sound an alarm and possibly send you an alert (depending on what type of detector you buy).

Always leave all gas kitchenware turned off

Another easy and cheap way of avoiding gas leaks is to always double-check that your gas appliances are turned off before you leave the house and before you go to bed at night. The most prone gas appliances that you should check are kitchen appliances such as ovens, burners and barbeque grills. These appliances are especially dangerous because they can produce a flame when ignited, thus causing a fire.

Have your gas systems serviced regularly

Another preventive way of keeping gas leaks away is by seeking regular safety maintenance from your plumber. Gas leaks can sometimes be caused by faulty or worn gas systems, especially worn or loose hoses. Through regular maintenance checks, such irregularities can be noted and corrected before they cause a gas leak in your home.

Have the gas meter installed where you can monitor it closely

Last but not least, you can try to curb gas leaks by having your gas meter installed in a visible area where you can monitor it well. One way to detect a gas leak is to check if your meter is running even after all gas appliances are turned off. If the gas meter is easy to locate, you can then do this much more easily. It will also be easier to turn off the gas at the meter when leaving the house, just as a precaution.

Should you detect that you have a gas leak in your home, open all windows, clear the house, and then call an emergency plumber from a company like Nu-Jet right away.