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View Full Version : If you have gas or propane please check for leaks



Bill Huber
12-03-2013, 8:37 AM
We had a house here in Texas just south of me about 20 miles, that blow up and they say it was a propane leak in the basement. This was a large house and now it is gone, nothing left at all. One lady was killed and their dog, the husband was on a trip when it happened.

So if you have gas or propane please check for leaks and make sure you don't have any.

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/01/texas-home-leveled-explosion

David Weaver
12-03-2013, 10:23 AM
I wonder if they'll figure out what happened, or if it was intentional. We have a lot of natural gas here, and a lot of houses on it, and it seems like a couple a year blow up, but all of them recently have been intentional by the resident (or in some cases, by exes or people who have been foreclosed).

The trouble is, when they blow up, it's like that picture and it affects more houses than just the house that was intentionally blown up.

Bill Huber
12-03-2013, 11:13 AM
I wonder if they'll figure out what happened, or if it was intentional. We have a lot of natural gas here, and a lot of houses on it, and it seems like a couple a year blow up, but all of them recently have been intentional by the resident (or in some cases, by exes or people who have been foreclosed).

The trouble is, when they blow up, it's like that picture and it affects more houses than just the house that was intentionally blown up.

Well I hope this was not intentional, the lady got killed but then again you never know.
Lucky there was no other houses around it, it was out in the country.

Dave Richards
12-03-2013, 11:23 AM
Good suggestion, Bill.

And keep in mind, the leak doesn't have to be from your own gas supply. A number of years ago there was a house in Madison, Wisconsin that blew up the week before Christmas. The young couple was in the living room and were blown out into the snow on the front lawn. It turned out there'd be methane leaking into the basement from the old, retired landfill across the street. The gas accumulated in the house and when the young lady lit a Christmas candle in the living room, BOOM! Fortunately in that case both survived will relatively minor injuries.

Steve Rozmiarek
12-03-2013, 12:44 PM
I'm plumbing in a new propane service for the woodshop now, so the subject is on my mind too. Does anyone know if there are gas detectors, something that monitors constantly like carbon monoxide or smoke detectors?

ray hampton
12-03-2013, 1:42 PM
I hope that you can buy a detector that will warn you of a gas leak , any/all gas
FOR A DECENT PRICE

Lee Schierer
12-03-2013, 3:51 PM
I'm plumbing in a new propane service for the woodshop now, so the subject is on my mind too. Does anyone know if there are gas detectors, something that monitors constantly like carbon monoxide or smoke detectors?

Our camping trailer has a propane stove and came equipped with a gas detector for propane and you can also get them for natural gas.

I don't doubt that the house blew up, but propane really stinks (as does natural gas) and before it reaches explosive proportions, the house would really reek to the point where it would be nearly choking you. During the heating season, the air circulation system would move the gas around the whole house. How someone wouldn't notice a leak before it reaches explosive potential is pretty amazing. Understanding that Mythbusters is not exactly an exacting science show, they have to work pretty hard to get gas explosions in their tests.

Bill Huber
12-03-2013, 4:11 PM
Our camping trailer has a propane stove and came equipped with a gas detector for propane and you can also get them for natural gas.

I don't doubt that the house blew up, but propane really stinks (as does natural gas) and before it reaches explosive proportions, the house would really reek to the point where it would be nearly choking you. During the heating season, the air circulation system would move the gas around the whole house. How someone wouldn't notice a leak before it reaches explosive potential is pretty amazing. Understanding that Mythbusters is not exactly an exacting science show, they have to work pretty hard to get gas explosions in their tests.

I think natural gas and propane are both heavier then air and in this case they say the leak was in the basement.

My heating and AC have not been on much for weeks so the air does not move around much this time of year.

We had another one blow up last year and it was do to a natural gas leak at the cook stove, when the gas hit the hot water heater in the garage it blow. No one was home and the house was shut up so the gas just built up until it went.

Harvey M. Taylor
12-03-2013, 4:29 PM
Bill, natural gas is lighter than air, propane is not. just for the record. Max

Steve Rozmiarek
12-03-2013, 5:04 PM
My parents have pics of a house that blew up on a ranch they worked on. It lifted the roof, blew the blankets off the beds over the walls, and set the roof back down on them. Same thing happened there that I'm worried about. A leak in the basement, it was summer so no one went down there to look at the furnace, and it built up. In my shop, I'm not in there for a month or more at times, it could easily build up. Ideally a monitor I could wire into that fire alarms would be good. I wonder if Firex makes one...

Thanks for the lead Lee!

Bill Huber
12-03-2013, 5:25 PM
Bill, natural gas is lighter than air, propane is not. just for the record. Max

Thanks, it is always good to know right answer.

I also think natural gas has no smell and they have to something to make it smell.

Brian Elfert
12-03-2013, 5:49 PM
Several of the same companies that make smoke and CO alarms also make propane/methane alarms. Price is around $40 to $60.

ray hampton
12-03-2013, 9:38 PM
Thanks, it is always good to know right answer.

I also think natural gas has no smell and they have to something to make it smell.

adding a odor to to the gas to make it stink DO NOT help people that can not detect a odor with their noses, gas fumes will give some people flu-like systems , sometimes your throat will get sore