O'FALLON, Ill. — Have you ever turned on the heat and noticed a rotten egg smell? The team at Ameren Illinois says you are not alone. Calls about natural gas smell triple during the first cold snaps of the year.
"Natural gas in its raw form is odorless and colorless," explains Ameren Illinois Gas Public Awareness Supervisor Jake Dukett. "We add mercaptan to it which is a chemical that gives it that really pungent rotten egg odor."
Even if you aren't sure, call your gas provider.
"When in doubt, just make the phone call and get us out there immediately," Dukett urges. "We do that 24/7, 365 and it doesn't cost anything."
So you've made the call. Now it's time to get out and wait. Durkett explains what happens when a journeyman arrives, "Once they get here, they'll check around the building. They'll check the gas meter. And then once they make entry into the building, they'll make sure that it is safe for them to enter and they'll keep checking the atmosphere throughout the building and throughout the house, making sure that it is not at a hazardous level."
Here's a tip you might not know. When you are turning on the stove or any gas appliance, you should see a solid blue flame.
"Natural gas when it's burning correctly should have that nice crisp blue flame," Durkett said. "A lot of time when you see your stove or your furnace operating and it's kind of an orange or yellowish flame, maybe it's dancing around, maybe some speckling. Those dirty flames actually represent the possibility of the appliance not operating correctly or a carbon monoxide leak in the house."
If there is a dangerous gas situation, sometimes the fire department will be called out and then crews will make the repair.
"We'll cut the power, and eliminate any ignition sources and then we'll go ahead and figure out the source of that leak and get it fixed," Durkett said.