To have thought carbon monoxide has a smell?!

[Aghhhk]

I thought when you smell gas that was carbon monoxide… am I wrong?

When you switch it on it sparks, so like a cigarette lighter rubs a rough metal wheel against some flint. At the same time it releases gas which gets set alight by the spark. As long as the gas flows it will stay lit

Do you mean 'how does the spark light the gas' or 'how does the switch make a spark?'

yes

Well as no one here knows the type of fire you have they are going to struggle to answer you.
Is there a name/model number or anything else on it? Look it up, you will find the manual online somewhere I am sure.

Do you understand that gas burns? All by itself? Have you ever seen a bunsen burner, or a lighter? Something makes a spark, which sets the small stream of gas on fire.

In a domestic setting it is made by a boiler starved of oxygen, it became a problem in the 70's and 80's when double glazing started to be a thing and houses became more sealed. Up to that point boilers and particularly "geyser type" water heaters like the Ascot drew air from the room.

As the rooms were more sealed with less fresh air the boilers didn't have enough air to make CO2 and instead made CO. Ascot rapid water heaters, common once in bathrooms and kitchens used a lot of gas very quickly, and drawing a bath without the right ventilation could make enough CO to kill, and it did, on many occasions.

So called "open flue" appliances were banned, all gas boilers and water heaters installed in the home are now BALANCED FLUE, meaning they draw air from outside and have no air or gas passage into the home.

The Ascot water heater, invented in the late 1800s by Johannes Vailant lives on as the basis for the modern combi boiler, water being heated quickly, on demand , as it is drawn, modern boilers like the Ascot before them, burn a lot of gas for a short period so can in theory produce a lot of CO quickly

In theory if they are fitted properly and working properly CO cannot get into the home, but if it does, being odourless it can kill quickly, it makes you quite drowsy which is another risk inherent to it.

Natural gas from the main has a smell added, it too is very dangerous if it escapes, whilst it can suffocate, its main risk is that in the right ratio with air it is highly explosive, you occasionally see a house completely destroyed by a gas explosion.

There are three types of igniter in gas appliances, one which creates a spark from mains electricity via a small transformer, one that creates a spark using the piezo electric effect, making a single spark, and one that utilises a small, constantly burning "pilot" flame fed from the gas supply.

Ha! Definitely on a wind up 🙄

Have you never turned on a burner on a gas hob OP?

Back in the day you turned on the gas and lit it with a match.

These days you turn on the gas and press the Ignite button.

Surely, SURELY you've at least seen this?

We have carbon monoxide detectors in our home partly because we have "things burning and on fire" (a wood burning stove). The alarm is the only way we'd know if our stove happened to develop an issue that caused carbon monoxide to be emitted (to be fair, it's very unlikely because the stove is well maintained and we burn the correct fuel, however it would be very stupid not to have an alarm just in case).

@BMW6 yes, I think my worry was when it doesn’t ignite, it just clicks! I don’t really get why it ignites quicker at times than others

Google;

Yes, you are wrong; carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, making it difficult to detect without specialized equipment.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a "Silent Killer":
Because it has no smell, color, or taste, you can't rely on your senses to detect it.
How it's produced:
CO is produced when fuel (like natural gas, propane, or kerosene) doesn't burn completely, often due to faulty appliances or poor ventilation.
Symptoms of CO Poisoning:
Exposure to CO can cause symptoms like headache, dizziness, nausea, and weakness, which can be mistaken for other illnesses.
Importance of CO Detectors:
To protect yourself and your family, it's crucial to install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors in your home.
What to do if you suspect a leak:
If you suspect a carbon monoxide leak, immediately evacuate the area and call emergency services.

Same way a lighter doesn't work ist time sometimes. Or my gas hob burner.

The spark failed / missed

But why "worry", modern appliances have safety features so if the ignition fails the gas doesn't come out.

Sometimes when I've cleaned my hob I've noticed hours later that one (or more) of the knobs has turned to On, but no gas has been released as I hadn't lit the burner, so perfectly safe.

Fires require fuel, oxygen and an ignition source.

If you just have fuel and oxygen but no ignition source there is no fire.

If you just have fuel and an ignition source but no oxygen there is no fire.

Theoretically if you had 100% pure oxygen and absolutely no combustible elements and an ignition source you might be in a situation where there was no fire due to nothing to burn, but in pure oxygen the container housing the pure oxygen would be combustible, as would the ignition source. Do not try this at home. Almost anything can be redefined as "fuel" with enough oxygen. But in normail are there's only about 21% oxygen so that's ok.

Fuel includes natural gas, bits of wood, lumps of coal, candle wax.

An ignition source can be a match, a spark from a flint or an electrical spark (the little blue line that fizzes when an electric circuit has a tiny air gap - this is used for the ignition button on a gas stove.

Your gas fire has a remote control that turns on the gas supply and ignites it, and switched off thegas supply when you switch it off.

Old fashioned gas fires worked by you turning the gas on and then igniting it with a match or electric sparker. Yours is safer.

Well we don't normally pip CO in to our houses. The gas in your cooker / boiler can cause explosions, that's why it is dangerous.

CO usually occurs when there is a fault or when there is inadequate ventilation. Eg if you use a Calor gas heater you have to open a window. A by product of the heater is CO2 - Carbon Dioxide, the gas you use to make fizzy drinks.

But if too much CO2 builds up in can start to form CO.

Most gas is odourless, air that we breath is made up of mainly Nitrogen, oxygen and argon and some traces of other gases.