Gas Appliance Safety

Natural gas appliances are used for heating our homes, heating our water, cooking our food, drying our clothes and providing a comfortable ambiance. Follow these appliance safety guidelines to help ensure the safety of you, your home and your appliances.

• Make sure appliances have been approved by recognized testing centers to ensure national safety standards have been met.
• Use only qualified gas contractors to install and maintain natural gas appliances.
• Follow all manufacturer’s instructions on the appliance labels and in operating manuals.
• Make sure to have an active, approved fire extinguisher around the house.
• Make sure the flame burns blue, not yellow-orange.
• Never use an improperly operating appliance.
• Never use an appliance for anything other than its intended purpose.
• Never store or use flammable products around, in the same room or near any gas or heat-producing appliances or equipment.
• Keep combustibles such as paper, clothing, and curtains away from open flames.

Home Heating

• Make sure gas fireplace logs are vented properly and free of debris or insects.
• Follow safe venting practices when using gas fireplace logs.
• Do not use gas fireplace logs for cooking or grilling.
• Clean or replace furnace filters every month during heating and cooling seasons.
• Have the gas heating appliances inspected annually by a certified professional.

Water Heating

• If the water heater is installed in a garage, make sure the pilot light is a minimum of 18 inches above the floor or per manufacturer’s installation instructions and local building codes.
• Do not store combustibles of any kind near or in the same room as the water heater.
• Monitor the temperature setting to maintain safe usage and help prevent scalding.

Cooking

• When lighting a burner or oven with no pilot light, always strike the match first, place it at the burner and turn the range knob.
• If a burner flame goes out, turn off the range knob, wait for the gas to dissipate and then relight the burner.
• Keep burners and range top surfaces clean and free of debris.
• Periodically clean burners and ports to ensure the free flow of gas.
• Do not use foil to cover holes in the broiler pan.
• Make sure flames do not rise up around the outside of pans.
• Avoid over boil as this could extinguish the burner flame and keep the gas flowing.
• Never use the range or oven as a source to heat the house.
• Do not use gas grills inside the house as these are designed to vent in the open air.
• Do not light gas grills with the top closed, always keep the lid open when lighting.
• Always check the connection between the propane tank or gas line for leaks.
• Make sure the grill is placed at least 10 feet away from other objects including the house, shrubs or bushes.

Laundry

• Make sure gas dryer vent pipe is free from obstructions and vented properly to the outdoors.
• Remove any lint or dust from lint traps and vacuum lint trap area for loose lint.
• Keep the exhaust vent opening and adjacent surrounding areas free from lint accumulations.
• Periodically check exhaust duct to make sure there are no restrictions.