Gas Leak Near HVAC Equipment, Georgetown TX Emergency Protocol
If you smell gas near your furnace, heat pump, or any HVAC equipment: leave the area immediately, do not operate any electrical switches, and call 911. After the gas company clears the area, call ProAir Georgetown for HVAC equipment inspection and safe restart. If you've noticed a faint smell for a few days and put off calling, don't wait any longer, a delayed call is the wrong kind of patience when gas is involved.
Do not operate any electrical switches, no lights, no thermostat, no appliances
Leave doors open as you exit to ventilate
Call 911 from outside or a neighbor's property
Wait for fire department and gas company clearance
Call ProAir Georgetown at (512) 798-8094 for HVAC inspection before re-entering
Gas Leaks vs. Carbon Monoxide: Two Different Emergencies
A gas leak and a carbon monoxide problem both originate at furnace equipment but are different hazards with different warning signs. A gas leak is unburned natural gas escaping before combustion, typically at a loosened fitting, a failed gas valve, or a damaged flex connector, and it carries the sulfur-like rotten-egg additive smell utilities add specifically so leaks are noticeable. Carbon monoxide is a combustion byproduct that escapes after the gas has already burned, most often through a cracked heat exchanger that lets exhaust gas mix into the air your furnace is supposed to be heating and circulating. CO has no smell and no color, which is exactly why it is more dangerous in practice: nothing alerts you to it except a working detector or the physical symptoms of exposure, headache, nausea, confusion, that people often mistake for the flu.
Both hazards call for the same first response, leave the structure and get everyone to fresh air, but the follow-up differs. A suspected gas leak goes to the gas utility and, if severe, the fire department. A CO alarm calls for the fire department first. In both cases, our inspection happens only after the property has been declared safe, and we do not reconnect or restart any gas appliance without confirming the specific fault has been corrected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Leave the area immediately. Do not turn on or off any lights or switches, electrical sparks can ignite accumulated gas. Do not use your phone inside the house. Call 911 from outside or a neighbor's property. After the gas company has inspected and cleared the area, call us for HVAC equipment inspection before restarting.
Yes. Gas leaks at HVAC equipment typically occur at: the gas valve (component failure or vibration-loosened fitting), the supply line connection to the furnace, a cracked heat exchanger that allows combustion gas to enter living space (CO issue, not raw gas), or at flex connector fittings. We inspect all connection points and component seals.
We perform a complete furnace inspection: gas valve function test, supply line connection inspection with an approved leak detection solution, heat exchanger visual inspection, combustion analysis, and CO level measurement. We don't restart equipment we can't certify as safe.
A gas leak means unburned natural gas is escaping, usually from a valve, fitting, or supply line, and it carries the distinctive rotten-egg additive smell. A carbon monoxide problem happens after the gas has already burned, when a cracked heat exchanger lets combustion byproducts leak into the return airstream instead of venting outside. CO is colorless and odorless, which is why we always recommend a working CO detector near sleeping areas in addition to watching for the smell of gas.
If it sounds while your furnace is running or has run recently, treat it as furnace-related until proven otherwise. Leave the house, call 911 or the fire department, and do not go back in to check the furnace yourself. Once the home is cleared, we inspect the heat exchanger and combustion process before you use the furnace again.