Why Aren't Explosive Gas Detectors Mandatory?
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 3/29/2015 1:00:00 AM
A few days ago, an entire building blew up in New York City because of a gas leak.
We've all seen news stories from time to time about a house or a building that suddenly blew up. Sometimes they have lots of photos of where the building used to be, but for the most part, there's not much left to see except a small pile of debris. The rest of the debris is usually found scattered over several miles.
The strange thing is gas leaks are pretty common, and most of the time people don't pay attention to it. There was recently a gas leak in my neighborhood, and I smelled it as I walked my dog. I didn't say anything. I assumed it was just some other smell or somebody would've done something about it, so I kept walking.
A few hours later, I saw the gas company outside and I went over to talk to him. I mentioned I thought I smelled something a while back, but assumed it was nothing. He assured me my first instincts were right. It was definitely gas and he detected it using his equipment. As he poked around here and there in the ground he mentioned that actually finding the leak is like finding a needle in a haystack, because it could be coming from anywhere. He said it could be a barbecue left on outside, a small hole in a pipe or a simple overflow from a safety valve. Needle in a haystack or not, he was there to try to find it.
That got me wondering. If he had equipment to detect natural gas, why don't we have them in our homes. After all, there are laws requiring smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in homes and I would think if it was possible to detect explosive gases before they explode, that would save a ton of lives too.
The logical side of me assumed that gas detectors are simply too complex or expensive for home use or we would all have one, just like smoke alarms. I was wrong. There's plenty of them out there, and their dirt cheap.
So, if they are readily available, and they're cheap... why doesn't everyone have one? Odds are it's because... 1) People don't even know they exist, and 2) Because there are no laws requiring people to own one.
In my case, it's reason #1, I had no idea they even existed, but now I know. Even though there aren't any laws that require them, I'm getting one. It only took me a few seconds to find these on Amazon.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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