Propane Safety

Your friends at Southwestern Electric’s Propane Plus are serious about safety. We offer the following safety tips for anyone who uses propane:

• Make sure everyone in your home or building can recognize the distinct smell of propane, which is often equated to rotten eggs, a skunk’s spray, or a dead animal. Propane manufacturers deliberately add this odor to help alert customers to propane leaks.
• Before lighting a pilot, sniff around the appliance area for any sort of gas odor. Be sure to check near the floor because propane gas is heavier than air and may settle there. If you have trouble lighting the pilot or keeping it lit, there’s normally a safety feature preventing it from working. If the pilot won’t light, shut off the gas and call your propane supplier.
• Do not force the gas control knob. Doing so may override a safety feature and allow gas to leak. This could result in a fire or explosion. If the gas control knob becomes difficult to operate by hand, have the appliance serviced by a trained technician.
• If a gas appliance has been flooded, shut off the gas at the tank level. Don’t use your gas system until the appliance has been serviced.
• Install UL-listed propane gas detectors and carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions regarding installation, location, and maintenance.
• Never store gasoline or kerosene near propane-powered appliances. An appliance’s pilot light could ignite fumes from these combustible materials.
• Don’t allow your tank to run out of gas completely; serious safety hazards, including fire or explosion, can result.
• If you smell gas:
  • Extinguish any open flames–including cigarettes–immediately.
  • Do not operate an electric switch, light a match, use your telephone, or engage in any activity that might generate static electricity; a spark of any kind could ignite the propane.
  • Get everyone out of the building and shut off the gas valve at the outside tank, meter, or service entrance.
  • Call your propane supplier and/or local fire department from a neighbor’s telephone. Do not return to the building or area until your propane provider, emergency responder, or qualified service technician determines it is safe to do so.
  • Have your propane provider or a qualified service technician perform a leak check before you attempt to use any of your propane-powered appliances,