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Brief gas smell in shower

In the last month or two, occasionally when using the shower I get a gas smell - it seems to happen as the water reaches temperature rather than immediately, and goes away quite quickly.

It doesn't happen when I use the bath (shower is in the bath if that makes a difference) or when I use any other taps or the toilet. Only my water and heating are done by gas and everything else is electric. There is also no smell around the boiler or meter when I check them, although wouldn't know if they smell when I use the shower as I live alone.

I had a gas engineer do my annual check a month or so before I started noticing this and everything was tip top although he only checked the boiler and meter.

I've googled and it's suggesting sewer gas but it doesn't smell 'rotten' or have a sewage vibe to it, it's just a smell of gas that goes away very quickly. I'm not sure if it sewer gas given how limited and fleeting it is and the smell not matching the description I read.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what I can look into, prior to me getting someone out to have a look?

Comments

  • ashe
    ashe Posts: 1,574 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Could it be the trap in your shower?
  • Lorian
    Lorian Posts: 6,198 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Or a failing durgo/air admittance valve
  • Murmansk
    Murmansk Posts: 1,131 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 25 May 2024 at 10:06AM
    As the shower is over the bath, presumably having either a shower or a bath will cause the boiler to fire up so the fact that when you have a bath the plug is in might suggest the smell comes from the waste - which hasn't got the plug in when you have a shower?

    Try pouring half a bucket of water into the bath with the plug not in and see if you can smell anything? If you can, it'll show it's not gas (as in the stuff that makes the boiler get hot) but maybe some kind of gas/pong from the drain
  • MouldyOldDough
    MouldyOldDough Posts: 2,639 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Is your boiler flu, directly besides or below the bathroom ?
    Ours is - and when the wind is in the wrong direction - we can smell the output from the boiler - this does have a faint whiff of gas !

    If I was half as smart as I think I am - I'd be twice as smart as I REALLY am.
  • silver17
    silver17 Posts: 33 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Murmansk said:
    As the shower is over the bath, presumably having either a shower or a bath will cause the boiler to fire up so the fact that when you have a bath the plug is in might suggest the smell comes from the waste - which hasn't got the plug in when you have a shower?

    Try pouring half a bucket of water into the bath with the plug not in and see if you can smell anything? If you can, it'll show it's not gas (as in the stuff that makes the boiler get hot) but maybe some kind of gas/pong from the drain
    Hiya yes when I use ANY hot tap in my home, or the shower, the boiler kicks in. The smell only ever comes when the shower - not the bath or any other taps. Even when the sinks don't have plugs in, I don't get the smell - if it was the waste, would I not smell it via those too?

    I'll try the bucket idea and am also going to have a few days showering with the plug in, just to see what happens! Thanks for your help!

  • silver17
    silver17 Posts: 33 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Is your boiler flu, directly besides or below the bathroom ?
    Ours is - and when the wind is in the wrong direction - we can smell the output from the boiler - this does have a faint whiff of gas !

    Thanks for replying. Boiler and meter are in kitchen - the meter is directly below the bath taps/shower head and the boiler is below the other end of the bath. Would a wind theory not affect it coming up through the bathroom sink too which is right next to the bath?
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 5,449 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    silver17 said:
    Is your boiler flu, directly besides or below the bathroom ?
    Ours is - and when the wind is in the wrong direction - we can smell the output from the boiler - this does have a faint whiff of gas !

    Thanks for replying. Boiler and meter are in kitchen - the meter is directly below the bath taps/shower head and the boiler is below the other end of the bath. Would a wind theory not affect it coming up through the bathroom sink too which is right next to the bath?
    Have you tried lifting out the trap and cleaning it? We got an intermittent gas smell from our shower, (which used to wake me up) due, as it turned out to the drain being partially blocked with scale (and neighbours a couple of floors up flushing nappies and soiled wipes down the loo). However, cleaning the trap and using drain cleaner periodically fixed the smell temporarily. 

    Works to fix the plumbing properly, including having a company round to unblock and descale the drain have completely fixed the issue, plus the neighbours kids are now of an age where they're out of nappies.
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