Safety Tips

Natural gas is colourless, odourless and non-toxic. As a safety precaution, to provide speedy detection of a leak of natural gas, a chemical that smells like rotten eggs is added to it. The unusual smell is immediately noticeable. When natural gas appliances are operating properly, there is no odour.

The following safety tips apply to all the natural gas appliances in your home.

To ensure your family’s safety, have all your appliances installed and maintained regularly by a certified natural gas professional. Properly installed and maintained natural gas appliances are safe, clean and operate efficiently. You should also have your gas ventilation system inspected regularly. Certified natural gas professionals are listed in the telephone directory under “Heating”.

Combustion heating appliances need air intake to completely burn the combustion products and gases they produce. The main byproducts of the complete combustion (burning) of natural gas are heat, water and carbon dioxide.

The pilot light or the flame from the burner in any natural gas appliance should be mostly blue, with a small yellow tip. (The only exceptions are new natural gas fireplaces, which have ceramic logs and produce realistic yellow flames). If the flame in a natural gas appliance is white, noisy or uneven, this indicates a problem you should not ignore. Have a natural gas technician check and adjust burners and pilot lights. Please note that this service is not provided free of charge.

Keep the area around your natural gas appliances tidy, and do not store anything near them. Do not block the controls, air intakes or exhaust outlets.

After a meter shut-off or a service interruption, your natural gas appliances will need to be relit by a Gazifère technician. If you were absent during the technician’s service call, please contact our client services line at 819-771-8321 to make an appointment with one of our technicians. Please note that this service is free of charge.