If you use cooking gas at home, you need to be safety conscious to prevent gas explosion. It’s not because using gas at home is that risky, but your negligence can put your home at risk. There are known causes of gas explosion at home, and most of it are caused by human negligence.
Cooking gas (LPG) is clean energy. It’s safe to use in homes that’s why it’s used as cooking gas. There’s really nothing to be afraid of with using cooking gas at home. Most of what people are concerned about are based on fear-theories.
For most reasons, cooking gas is safer and more efficient than kerosene or even wood. However, the causes of gas Explosion is gas leak. If there’s no gas leak, there won’t be any gas Explosion. Therefore, to prevent gas leak, the right safety checks should be followed, and it’s easy and simply to follow.
✅ Tips to Prevent Gas Explosion
When cooking at home with gas (LPG), you need to know your safety rules. It’s important you don’t operate in fear, as against having the right knowledge about cooking gas safety procedures.
Being afraid of cooking gas Explosion is unnecessary. There are known reasons gas can explode in your home. And the root cause is 100% preventable. If you can prevent gas Explosion at home, you shouldn’t be afraid of your safety.
So, you should expose yourself to understanding what causes it and how to prevent it from ever happening around you.
✅ The Nature of Cooking Gas
The very known challenge of cooking gas is in its gas nature. Gas is invincible. It’s difficult to detect the flow of a gas in the atmosphere. The only ways to detect the presence of gas in your home atmosphere is if it’s strong enough to irritate your nose and eyes – or you could perceive the odor.
Naturally, cooking gas is odorless. It doesn’t smell or have smell that can be easily detected. That’s why one of it’s recommended production process is to add ethanol in cooking gas to give it a distinct odor that can be easily detected in the case of a leak.
However, some marketers still ignore this requirement and sell gas without the inclusion of ethanol. Although, the cost of gas which contains ethanol is costlier than those without ethanol. But with the lack of consumer awareness, marketers buy the cheaper option and still sale at the highest price possible.
✅ Main Cause of Gas Explosion
Gas explosions don’t just happen. It’s not a regular occurrence. You shouldn’t be scared about using gas at home. In fact, cooking gas is one of the fastest and safest cooking fuel.
If it’s not so, it won’t have been adopted all around the world as a global means of cooking. Also, note that the only major risk associated with cooking gas (LPG as liquify petroleum gas) is fire.
And cooking gas is not the only thing that can cause fire in the home. So, let’s isolate the real problem and show you both how it’s caused and how it can be prevented from ever happening at all.
Let us examine cooking gas and the remote possibility of gas Explosion. The only thing that can cause gas Explosion at home is gas leak. So, it’s only one problem you have to deal with. And it’s also very easy to prevent – which is to avoid gas leak.
However, not all gas leaks can cause explosion. The same way that not all explosions at home are caused by gas.
✅ Steps to Prevent Gas Explosion
The idea that you can be responsible for your own safety at home should excite you. It means that things can’t just happen by chance around you. If you put these safety checks in place, then it will be impossible for gas Explosion to ever occur in your home.
Have you not imagine why one of the safety recommendations for using cooking gas at home was never to buy fire extinguisher. But this requirements are placed in public buildings as safety rule. That’s because it’s actually easier to deal with gas leaks from a Cylinder without the aid of fire extinguisher.
Here are your best steps to preventing gas explosion in your home:
- Buy only Ethanol base cooking gas
- Avoid cheap and inferior gas cylinders
- Test your Cylinder when due
- Change your gas regulator or burner frequently
- Always replace the rubber on your Cylinder head
- Stop using the Cylinder once you could smell gas
- Fix any suspected leaks immediately
- Keep your Cylinder in a safe and airy spot
✅ Buy Only Ethanol Base Cooking Gas
Ethanol is required in gas to give it odor. Naturally cooking gas (LPG) is odorless. It can leak without detection. But the addition of ethanol adds odor to gas and help prevent undetected leaks.
You should constantly ask for cooking gas that has ethanol when buying gas at your Refill plant. Also, gas plants can take advantage of this to offer ethanol based cooking gas as a competitive edge.
✅ Avoid Cheap & Inferior Gas Cylinders
Cylinders are the best storage for gas at home. When buying cylinders, buy original ones for your safety. Avoid cheap and inferior cylinders. That the Cylinder is cheap against recommended brands should discourage you from buying it.
You should not put the safety of your family at risk for a cheaper price of Cylinder. Always buy known and durable brands. Unless your life is cheap then you can buy cheap cylinders.
Substandard Cylinder are more likely to leak easily or cause explosion, due to their poor and easily corrosive material they are made of. Most of these cheap cylinders are from china, being imported by unreasonable importers.
✅ Test Your Cylinder When Due
Not many people knew that their Cylinder can expire. And once it has expired it can constitute a danger in your home. Although, the due date of a Cylinder doesn’t necessary mean expiring date. It’s a reminder for you to test your Cylinder to confirm its continuous usage date. It’s better to know when your Cylinder is no longer usable than risk Explosion in your home.
Moreover, gas plants should also be able to physically detect bad cylinders to seize and remove them from usage. Such cylinders can also endanger the plant and the owners home. As gas pressure can cause a bad Cylinder to explode – if the Cylinder is already weak and corrosive.
You can see this test date written on the body of your Cylinder. This date starts with A,B,C and D alphabets, and followed by 2 digit numbers like in this example (B-23). The 2 digits represent the year, while the alphabets represent quarters in a year. This date is marked on one of the sides collars of your Cylinder.
However, you need to understand what the alphabets stand for. Here’s how to read the date:
- A – First Quarter (Jan-Mar)
- B – Second Quarter (Apr-Jun)
- C – Third Quarter (Jul-Sep)
- D – Fourth Quarter (Oct-Dec)
Therefore, B-23 means your Cylinder due date for usability testing is by 2nd quarter of 2023. You should submit the Cylinder for testing at any of the gas plant closer to you. The tests are done free of charge at the gas plants.
✅ Change Your Gas Regulator or Burner Frequently
One other safety precaution to take is regarding your gas regulator or burner – if you are using camp gas cylinders. You have to check and replace these accessories regularly.
These gas accessories wear out with time. And it can cause gas leakage. It’s important that you check them and replace them. Avoid trying to manage them once you notice some wear and tear.
The burners being sold in the market now are easily corrosive and can leak gas if not replaced regularly. Other accessory you should consider changing often is the hose and clips. The hose can tear and causes leak. And should be changed at least once a year.
Also, if you keep your Cylinder outside of the house, always watch to ensure the hose has not been sabotaged or broken due to effects of weather condition.
✅ Regularly Replace Cylinder Head & Rubber
Not many people know that the head of your Cylinder needs replacement once in a while. Gas can leak from the Cylinder head undetected. You should regularly check the head to ensure it doesn’t have leakage.
Also, for those using regulator type cylinders, these a rubber usually inserted inside the Cylinder head. This rubber should be changed each time you go for gas Refill. This rubber helps to hold your regulator firmly and easily thin out due to pressure.
These simple but easily ignore safety checks are major causes of gas leaks at home.
✅ Fix Any Suspected Leak Immediately
Gas leak of any form shouldn’t be ignored. Once you notice any leak, take action immediately. It doesn’t matter when you noticed a gas leak, even if you are cooking, stop immediately and switch off the gas cooker.
If you use ethanol based cooking gas the odor will help you notice easily if there’s leakage. But place priority on safety always when using cooking gas.
✅ Keep Your Cylinder in a Safe & Airy Spot
Safe keeping or location of your Cylinder in your home is equally important. Ventilation is important when using gas at home. If the house or kitchen is stuffy, it’s not safe to store your Cylinder there.
Make sure the Cylinder is kept in an airy place in the house. If you are the only one occupying the compound, or if the environment is safe without errant children, you may consider keeping the Cylinder outside of the house.
Air helps to dilute gas in a case of leakage. The air absorbs the gas and reduces the impact even if there is Explosion or fire. And if you store the Cylinder inside, when you notice gas leak, quickly open all the ventilation – like doors and windows to allow the gas to flow out. And avoid using naked light at this point, until you can confirm that the presence of gas has completely evaporated.
✅ Conclusion
Gas leak, fire or explosion at home doesn’t happen too easily. And the possibility of gas Explosion at home can be prevented from ever happening at all by keeping to these safety measures.
There’s nothing really to be afraid of with using cooking gas at home. Cooking gas is a clean and safe energy when used as directed. And if you follow these safety guide you will never have to worry about gas exploding in your home.
Finally, most of the causes of gas Explosion is man made errors. In Nigeria, we can be negligent sometimes – mostly dues to lack of funds. People tend to manage bad equipment because they cannot afford to replace them. But never do that with your cooking gas equipment.
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