Smelly Gas Heater, kerosene smell

[ronaford]

Hi, has anyone else suffered from smelly gas over the last week? We had guests staying with us last weekend and the gas heater had smelly gas fumes coming out (not like normal) from Friday night, and we had to turn the heater off as we were feeling sick from the fumes and had headaches as a result. Can you imagine how we felt having guests feeling cold in the middle of the coldest weekend this winter?

I think this is probably the gas company using cheap gas mixed into the normal high-quality gas at a time of high usage to make extra profits by using cheap smelly gas.

I tried calling and they passed me off to someone else who didn't answer the phone after hours. This is NOT good customer service by a supposed reputable Aussie company!! It is also despicable that we are charged for smelly gas when we need heating most! Tonight it is still smelly and we had to turn it off again.

Ron

[ronaford]

Hi Jaden,

It is not a gas leak. When the appliance is turned off there is no smell. This is a Rinnai portable space heater and there is always a small slight smell from the gas burning, but this is ridiculous and smells like kerosene or something as the heater is burning the gas.

Ron

[Staceyabraham]

Noticed this same smelly gas last night thought it was my heater then today while cooking the same stink filled my house making it a waste of food as appetite was lost due to the stink 🤮

[Howie2]

Hello, We also have the same issue for the last two days our two Rinnai gas heaters are both pumping out heavy kerosene smells so much that we cannot use them  the fumes are so intense  !!!! We have not had this trouble before, i am suspicious that the last delivery was contaminated ?? We are frightened to turn them on again...

[Ellen1]

Hello Howie2! 

Welcome to AGL Community! 

Having a strong gas smell is always cause for concern, however you have stated your last delivery, is this a main line gas supply or bottles? 

AGL does not supply bottled gas, however if you have main line gas, this could be through us. 

If you have concerns of a gas leak in your water system, I would recommend that you consult a plumber, if the leak is in the meter or after the meter on the street side, you can contact the faults and emergency number on your bill. 

Thank you 

Ellen

[Ms_B]

We’ve also been experiencing smelly gas for a couple of weeks. We’re on natural gas and this is occurring in both an old Rinnai space heater and a 7 day old one. I’ve had the gas connection checked - there’s no gas leak. It’s an unpleasant kerosene like smell (as other people have commented) whenever the heater is operating. Why is this so AGL?

[David_AGL · Accepted solution]

A kerosene-like odour from a gas space heater is a common issue, but the smell is not caused by the gas itself.  Often it's the result of small amounts of other aerosols in the air (cleaning products, air fresheners, paint fumes, insect spray etc) being burned by the heater.

It may be worth contacting the appliance manufacturer (e.g. Rinnai) or having the unit serviced if you have not done so in a while.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

• If you do suspect a gas leak, follow the instructions here: What should I do if there is a gas leak?
• If you believe there's a risk to life or property, call 000 immediately.
• The smell of gas is not an indicator of "low quality" gas. Natural gas is odourless, and the distinctive "gas smell" (a bit like rotten eggs) is from a harmless but smelly chemical called mercaptan, which is deliberately added to gas as a safety measure - because it's important to be able to smell a gas leak!

[ronaford]

Well, there seemed to be some improvement this winter, however, today the Kerosene smell is back from our reticulated gas service supplied by AGL.

Get this fixed by stopping the use of cheap gas!!! AGL makes enough money from our high rates without having to cut corners on quality.

Ron

[David_AGL]

@ronaford Hi Ron, please check out my response above on this. In particular:

A kerosene-like odour from a gas space heater is a common issue, but the smell is not caused by the gas itself.  Often it's the result of small amounts of other aerosols in the air (cleaning products, air fresheners, paint fumes, insect spray etc) being burned by the heater.

The smell of gas is not an indicator of "low quality" gas. Natural gas is odourless, and the distinctive "gas smell" (a bit like rotten eggs) is from a harmless but smelly chemical called mercaptan, which is deliberately added to gas as a safety measure - because it's important to be able to smell a gas leak!

[ronaford]

This response is not adequate. We did not use cleaning solutions as we woke up and didn't clean the day before.

We have lived in the USA for 20 years before returning to AUS, and smelly gas WAS associated with low-quality cheap gas. We are very familiar with this type of thing which arose from time-to-time for us in California.