Research by the Gas Safe Register has found that a third of adults in the UK are unable to recognise the signs of an unsafe gas appliance.
In addition to this, the research found that:
- 17% of adults don’t take any steps to ensure that their home’s gas appliances are safe
- Only 47% have their gas appliances checked annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer
- 29% know to check that their gas engineer is on the Gas Safe Register
- Just 38% have an audible carbon monoxide alarm fitted in their home
What are the Signs of an Unsafe Gas Appliance?
There are several signs that can alert you to the fact that you have an unsafe gas appliance. Use the table below to find out the signs as well as the percentage of UK adults that are aware of it.
| Sign of Unsafe Gas Appliance | Percentage of UK Adults Aware of Sign |
| Lazy yellow flame | 33% |
| Pilot light keeps going out | 32% |
| Black marks or stains on or around the appliance | 29% |
| Increased condensation inside windows | 12% |
How to Make Your Home Safer
As well as being able to recognise the signs of an unsafe gas appliance, you can take further actions to keep your home and family safe. The following steps come recommended by the Gas Safe Register:
- Use a Gas Safe registered engineer for all work on gas appliances
- Ask to see the engineer’s Gas Safe Register ID card and check both sides so that you know they’re qualified to carry out work on your gas appliance
- Have an annual service of all gas appliances
- Fit an audible carbon monoxide alarm which will sound if there’s a carbon monoxide leak
- Get to know the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning: headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, collapsing and loss of consciousness.
Gas Safety Week
To help raise awareness of gas safety, the Gas Safe Register are hosting Gas Safety Week (17th-23rd September 2018) and we’re getting fully behind it. Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing advice, articles and tips about gas safety and you can follow everything we get up to on the Home Heating Guide Twitter account.
