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Recently I've had an experience with a minor gas leak that's left me afraid to even use my furnace. I have a gas furnace, and I live in a rental. The furnace wo

Recently I've had an experience with a minor gas leak that's left me afraid to even use my furnace. I have a gas furnace, and I live in a rental. The furnace works, but for the first hour of it being on I can smell gas. It's enough that a carbon monoxide detector will go off nearby. One day I told my partner that I've been feeling super groggy and cloudy-headed for a few months, and we narrowed down the time frame to when I moved into my place. Sure enough, I switch to using a small space heater and two weeks in I'm feeling better than ever before. I 100% attribute the fogginess in my brain to the gas leak. It wasn't enough to cause an explosion, but it doesn't take much to cause serious health problems. Here's a great video on the topic by Climate Town, an awesome educator on climate change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX2aZUav-54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX2aZUav-54

giantg2 4y ago
It likely wasn't a leak. It was likely that the furnace is not properly maintained, resulting in poor ignition allowing unburned gas and CO. Possibly something wrong with the exhaust too. A leak itself should not make you groggy - gas workers are exposed to fairly high concentrations without issue. However that is a symptom of CO exposure, and your CO alarm triggered...
sibartlett 4y ago
That’s not a gas leak. That’s a faulty furnace that needs fixing ASAP, you should notify your landlord right away. Carbon monoxide is caused by poor combustion.
rootusrootus 4y ago
Unburned natural gas is not just a little stinky, it is profoundly nasty. Way, way, way before you could get enough concentration to hurt you, or blow something up, you'd be vacating the premises. Mercaptan is really strong stuff. Like someone else mentioned, you probably had a malfunctioning furnace. Your symptoms match CO poisoning, and carbon monoxide sensors don't usually detect natural gas leaks -- it's a different molecule entirely.

giantg2 4y ago

It likely wasn't a leak. It was likely that the furnace is not properly maintained, resulting in poor ignition allowing unburned gas and CO. Possibly something wrong with the exhaust too. A leak itself should not make you groggy - gas workers are exposed to fairly high concentrations without issue. However that is a symptom of CO exposure, and your CO alarm triggered...

sibartlett 4y ago

That’s not a gas leak. That’s a faulty furnace that needs fixing ASAP, you should notify your landlord right away. Carbon monoxide is caused by poor combustion.

rootusrootus 4y ago

Unburned natural gas is not just a little stinky, it is profoundly nasty. Way, way, way before you could get enough concentration to hurt you, or blow something up, you'd be vacating the premises. Mercaptan is really strong stuff. Like someone else mentioned, you probably had a malfunctioning furnace. Your symptoms match CO poisoning, and carbon monoxide sensors don't usually detect natural gas leaks -- it's a different molecule entirely.