Natural gas has no smell of its own. The utility adds a chemical that smells like rotten eggs or sulphur precisely so you cannot miss it. If you smell that in your house, treat it as gas until someone with a meter tells you otherwise.
Get out
Leave the house and take everyone with you, pets included. Leave the door open behind you to let the house air. Do not stop to open windows or find the source. Distance first.
Do not touch anything electrical
On the way out, do not flip a light switch, unplug anything, use the garage door opener, or ring a doorbell. Do not use your phone until you are outside. Do not start a car in an attached garage. Any of those can be a spark.
Call from outside, in this order
- Enbridge Gas's 24-hour emergency line: 1-866-763-5427. They send someone to find the leak and make it safe, and there is no charge for that visit.
- 911 if the smell is strong, you hear hissing, or anyone feels dizzy or sick.
- Us. The utility makes the situation safe, but it does not repair your appliance or your gas piping. A TSSA-registered gas technician does that, and we dispatch for it around the clock.
Do not go back inside until the utility or the fire department says it is safe, even if the smell seems to have faded.
A faint smell only at the stove
If it is just a whiff at the cooktop and a burner knob is turned to a position where the flame is out, turn the knob off, open a window, and step away for a few minutes. If you can still smell gas after that, or you cannot find a reason for it, treat it as a leak and follow the steps above.
Carbon monoxide is different
Carbon monoxide has no smell at all, added or otherwise. It comes from a furnace, water heater or fireplace that is not burning or venting properly. The only warning is the alarm. If it sounds, get everyone outside and call 911. A yearly inspection of your gas appliances is how you stop it from getting that far.
What we fix
Leaking connections and fittings, appliance gas valves, flex connectors behind stoves and dryers, BBQ and pool heater lines, and relighting appliances after the utility has shut the meter. Every one of those is done by a licensed gas technician, because it is legally required and because it is the only way to know it is right.
Smell gas? Get outside first. Then call Enbridge, then call us.