You sure love your water heater: it provides you warm water at night, in winter, on lazy days, literally whenever. It runs on gas, and nothing seems to be wrong with that. But one day, you find something is off with your lovely water heater, and you begin to wonder what the symptoms of gas leak from the water heater are.
The reasonable question is, since many water heaters run on gas these days, and knowing what it shows during a gas leak will help you decide the further steps to take.
Water Heater Gas Leak Repair
Before knowing how to repair the problem caused by a gas leak, it’d be better to know what symptoms of gas leak from water heater it may show you. Learning about this should benefit you from taking earlier steps to avoid more significant problems.

The water that you get has a gas-like smell.
This comes a bit later after the gas leak has been there for a while. That said when the water is starting to smell like something is off, take action immediately. What action should you take?
- First, make your way to turn off the gas that powers up your house’s water heater.
- Make sure that you also smell the same problem around the water heater. Typically, the scent is much stronger there.
- Leave your house immediately and make a call to the gas company. Tell the occurrence that you’ve experienced.
- Once the gas problem has been all set, ensure to call a water heater professional. Has your unit been checked? If it needs fixing or replacement, consider taking it as a better option to make.
The area around your water heater has a more pungent scent of gas.
This may be recognized later than the previous sign. That is why it was said to check the water heater area for the smell. If there is such a strong smell of rotten eggs, it can be pointed out that the gas is leaking.
You may also face health-related problems.
The gas leak can be dangerous for your health. Why so? Water heater gas leak is dangerous because it also contains carbon monoxide. Compared to carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide can be more hazardous for us human beings.
While natural gas is odorless, it becomes essential to know a specific chemical added to the gas. The chemical is called mercaptan. This chemical has a distinct smell, hoping that when our nose catches the smell, it can get us ‘alarmed.’ So, this will help you a lot when you don’t have a water heater gas leak detector.
What kind of health-related problems may occur? Here are some examples that you may feel:
- Headache, fatigue, drowsiness, or dizziness. It can come as a separate symptom or all combined.
- Difficult breathing with or without a chest pain
- Nausea that also comes with a bad appetite
- When it gets more serious, you may experience nose bleeds, skin bluing, or even ringing ears.
What to do when you face such symptoms of gas leak from the water heater? It’s not the right time to think about repair—instead, think about restoring your health first. That’s why leaving the house is the best thing to do after ensuring that the gas has been turned off completely. In the time being, consider calling the gas company to get your gas system fixed.