Having a suspected gas leak on meter or near your meter needs to be dealt with immediately. In this article, I’ll share safety advice when you suspect your gas meter is leaking, as well as sharing my own personal experience when I had a gas leak coming from my meter.
If you have a gas leak on meter or near your meter, then you will need to take immediate action.
Here’s what to do and what not to do if you have a smell of gas near your meter.
Below is a handy table of contents. Clicking on any of the article headers below will jump you straight to the place on this page you are interested in.
Table of Contents
Gas Leak On Meter – What To Do
If you suspect you have a gas leak on meter, near the meter or anywhere else in your home come to that, the first thing you should do is open all windows and doors that are nearest to your meter or suspected source, use the red handle to turn the gas off (located near your gas meter)and call the emergency helpline.
The emergency helpline number is below. Trust me when I say calling this number will get the same sort of response as calling 999 for any other emergency. The screenshot below is taken from the National Grid website.
After you have called the gas helpline, an engineer from cadent will be dispatched to your address.
Should I Smell Gas At Gas Meter?
Gas meters burp off a very small amount of gas to relieve pressure by design.
But it’s very small amounts, and not enough to be noticeable, and not enough to smell it constantly.
If you smell gas at your gas meter, suspect you have a gas leak on meter, open all doors and windows nearest the gas meter, turn the red handle into the off position if you can, and call the gas emergency helpline.
Will I Be Charged For An Emergency Gas Callout?
In short, no. You will not be charges if you call the emergency gas helpline and an engineer visits.
If you ring the emergency helpline, a Cadent engineer will visit your home and assess the leak and make it safe. There will be no charge for this, just like the fire service or ambulance service wouldn’t charge you to come out to an emergency.
They will do one of two things once they have assessed your gas meter or gas leak.
- Repair the leak at no cost to you. This will only happen if you are not responsible for the pipes where the leak is coming from. You are not responsible for any of the pipes that go up to the gas meter. You are also not liable for any faults with the gas meter itself (Your supplier is). You are only liable for any pipework that comes out of the gas meter that supplies gas into your home.
- Make the gas leak safe and recommend further work that will need to be arranged by you with a local gas safe regsitered engineer.
Here’s an image I have taken from the Cadent site, which explains who is responsible for what.
My Gas Meter Leak – Xmas 2022
We had converted our integral garage in the months leading up to Christmas, with a window and wall replacing the garage door, newly plastered walls and we had a new carpet and a complete new paint job done in the room.
The gas meter was located in the integral garage.
Once the new plaster was dry, it was my job to paint it and install new skirting boards.
The garage is accessed through the main hallway in my home, with a door dividing the garage and the hall.
On enetering the newly refurbished garage one morning, I thought I could smell gas.
It wasn’t overwhelming at all. In fact, it was so faint, I didn’t know if it was the odours coming from the room, given the fact the radiator had been taken off and it smelt a little damp and musty. Added to that was the smell of the new plaster on the walls drying out.
Because I thought I could smell gas, I opened the windows, which immediately got rid of the smell.
I then did something that is not officially recommended, but it’s a well known trick for trying to diagnose a leak. I sprayed some soapy water (water and Fairy Liquid) on the pipes and flexihose to see if I could see any leaks.
Almost immediately, a huge bubble started forming on the flexihose.
With the leak confirmed, I shut off the emergecy red handle on the pipe, left the room and called the emergency number.
Within 2 minutes, the phone call was answered, and from here on in, I have nothing but praise.
The call handler was professional and knowledgeable, took my details and said an engineer would be there within an hour.
The engineer arrived within 70 minutes (slightly longer than the advertised 60 minute response time), but diagnosed the problem within a minute, and had changed the old flexihose for new flexihose within 10 minutes.
This flexihose was before the gas got to my meter, so there ws no charge from me.
The gas engineer from Cadent was knowledgeable and professional, and i was extremely pleased with the service I received.
Summary
If you suspect a gas leak on meter, or can smell gas anywhere else in your home, always follow official advice.
- Open all doors and windows
- Switch off the gas supply by turning the red handle if you can
- Don’t enter cellars or basements if you can smell gas in that area
- Avoid switching on any lights, smoking or operting electrical items
- Call the emergency helpline0800 111 999
- Under no circumstances should you attempt to fix anything yourself
Not only will following these simple tips help save any danger or risk to you or your family, it also protects everyone around you. Gas is highly explosive in large concentrations, and can be deadly and cause huge devastation if not dealt with immediately.
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Questions & Comments
If you have a question or a comment on this article, please use the comments box below. I’ll try my best to reply to each and every one of your questions, comments and suggestions.
Stay Safe. Stay Secure.
