smelly caller gas- how to mask the smell!

[Rory786]

Hi everyone, my elder kids are doing their GCSE's, and the younger kids are pre school age and very noisy.

When we bought our house 3 years ago we converted the garage to a room, so its attached to the house but it has no water supply. Therefore we cannot put in radiators. Its too expensive to put in oil heaters (its a large room) so we bought a caller gas heater. It heats the room up brilliantly, its in a safe place but....its so smelly!

Any ideas?

You mean a Calor gas heater, right? And electric heater won't smell at all, but they can be expensive to run depending on what you pay for electricity.

Is the room ventilated?

I thought you meant you had a visitor with bad wind.

I too thought you had an unwelcome visitor.

BiggFactHunt

I'd make sure they were connected properly and ventilate the room. I don't think there is supposed to be a noticeable smell from the Calor gas

Sounds to me as if you're putting your kids at risk. You need good ventilation and good insulation.
I'd recommend saving to get a radiator fitted.

An electric heater

sorry for the typo, yes Calor gas heater.

An electric one will be so expensive. The room is ventilated but the gas smell is awful.
Hate wasting money, bought the gas heater now I wish I didn't. But there isn't any other way of heating the room. Its a lovely big space for the girls to run around but its COLD!

Meant to say too - get the heater serviced. It could be that it's not burning the gas properly. It shouldn't smell.

Have you properly checked the connections to make sure there are no leaks?

Has it been serviced? It really shouldn't smell. Do you have a co2 monitor?

it really shouldnt smell get a carbon monoxide monitor ASAP and get the thing serviced

Ive seen people put down a saucer of water no idea if it actually helps.
Is it burning correctly?
Please make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector in that room, in fact in any room that burns a fossil fuel ie wood, coal, gas.

Btw you dont need a water supply to put in radiators just a few pipes connected to existing central heating system

Ok thank you. I haven't turned it on for days now because I thought it wasn't right to have smelly fumes. Will get someone in to have a look. Thank you so much everyone. I'm glad I posted on here!

CO2 is carbon dioxide, which we breathe out.
CO is carbon monoxide which is the deadly gas which can be produced due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels.

Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are both odorless.
But these heaters shouldn't smell, something either us leaking or not burning fully. Please get it checked out before using it again, and install a carbon monoxide detector.

Most gas has a stenching agent added to it so you can smell a leak- if it is an eggy-ish kind of smell that you can smell, switch it off now, there’s a problem meaning gas is leaking out.
If is more a burning smell, it might just be dust on the heating elements burning off.

Seconding that a Calor Gas heater really shouldn't smell and you should turn it off, ventilate the room and get it serviced. A smell strongly suggests it is malfunctioning or that you've got a gas leak.

I use to use these heaters a lot. Sometimes they smell when you start a new bottle, but it goes off. Smelling all the time is not right. Did you buy it new? If so, take it up with the retailer. If you bought it second hand, get it serviced. You will have to take it to a local agent to do this.
They are a good form of space heating, but they need an adequately ventilated room. They also chuck out a lot of moisture.
Personally I wouldn't be happy leaving children in a room with a calor gas heater, however safely you have placed it. They are on wheels and can easily be knocked, and it is dangerous to move them while lit, plus the danger of an open flame.
You would do better to increase the insulation in the room. Most garages are just a single skin of bricks anyway. Unless of course you have already done this.
I think I would have gone for oil filled electric radiators. Calor gas is not that cheap these days, and with a calor fire going full blast you can get through the bottles very quickly.

Have a look online. , how old is it, does it need serviced. Is the tank connected properly because the gas should be burned off so shouldn't smell much.

We use these, and paraffin heaters a lot. A fresh gas bottle does smell for the first few hours.

We find the gas smells less than than the paraffin. But using diesel in the paraffin heater smells less

Just adding to those saying after you’ve got it looked at get a carbon monoxide detector alarm, but you should also get a gas leak detector alarm. I’ve got both in my kitchen as we’ve had more than one leak over the years.

Judashascomeintosomemoney

DH now has a emergency gas leak repair kit at the ready.

Its a brand new heater with Calor bottle attached. And it still reeks we have had it for a good 3 weeks now.

I will contact the retailer.

Thanks