Gas Grilling

Gas appliances are used in over half of all British homes to cook food and provide heating and hot water.

The majority of us take it for granted that our gas appliances, such as boilers, cookers and gas fires are safe.

In fact, very few of us take any notice of them at all unless there is a problem with them. Although dangerous incidents involving gas appliances are rare, they do happen, so it is vitally important that anyone who has a gas appliance in their home should understand the gas safety rules and be vigilant about upholding them.

Always get a Gas Safe registered engineer to install, repair and service any gas appliances in your home. If someone is coming round to install, repair, or service a gas appliance, such as a gas boiler, fire, cooker, central heating system, or radiator, make sure that you see their Gas Safe Register ID card before you allow them to carry out any work.These cards take the form of photo ID, and include details of the type of work that they are qualified to carry out, as well as a unique reference number which you can check by phoning the Gas Safe Register or by logging on to their website.

Be sure to check their qualifications, listed on the back of their Gas Safe Register ID card.

You can also check this by using the ‘check an engineer' service on the Gas Safe Register website.It is vital that you get all your gas appliances checked, and if necessary, serviced at least once a year by a Gas Safe registered engineer.Make sure you install an audible carbon monoxide alarm, which will sound when levels of the poison gas carbon monoxide, which is sometimes produced by faulty gas appliances, become dangerous.

Do not allow anyone to work on your gas appliances until after you have checked their Gas Safe Register ID card for authenticity.If you are in any doubt about the credentials of your engineer, call 0800 408 5500 and quote the licence number given by your engineer's ID card to check whether their license is genuine.If, after phoning this number and quoting the engineer's reference number, you are still in any doubt as to the legal registration of your engineer, you should report this to the Gas Safe Register via phone or email.

British Gas can help you to save money on a new boiler installation. By replacing your old boiler with one of our central heating boilers such as an energy efficient condensing boiler, you could save up to 40% on your bills.