We were due to have our gas metre changed to a new digital type. my wife mentioned that she could smell gas from time to time. the engineer imediatly stoped work and shut of the gas at the mains (made safe). We susequently had a gas safe plumber to check the pipes. he has said that there is a leak at the gas valve on the boiler which has an automatic pilot. I dont feel that this is the cause of the leak as the boiler is mounted in the kitchen 4 foot high and about 15 foot away from the metre and smell (between 3 doors). Could someone please advise me if this is a logical cause of the leak / smell or is there another posible reason.

many thanks,

Tony Price.

Mr Tony Price, August 2009

when i worked on the gas we ALWAYS had to do a drop test( BEFORE STARTING ANY WORK.) This was done to PROVE the supply was SOUND and any drops later(LEAKS) were your doing.The number of times this found leaking supplies BEFORE we started work is unbelievable and the occupants were SMOKERS.

wirecutterman, August 2009

Remember that natural gas has about the same density as atmosphere, and therefore will travel around the property with ease, so the leak if small, will sometimes not be where you expect.

If the guy is Qualified and experienced, you have to take him on his word, after replacing the boiler gas valve, he will retest the entire gas supply system, and Will ensure that no drop (or leak) exisits

www.elanar.co.uk, August 2009

a good engineer will be able to tell you very quickly if the leak is coming from the boiler. it's very easy to check, when carry out the tightness test the engineer will check for a pressure drop, if a drop is indicated then the engineer can isolate individual appliances to find out exactly where the leak is. if this has been done then have the engineer fix the leak as you can't use your boiler if it has a leak.

Ian, August 2009