Carbon monoxide

Faulty gas appliances can produce carbon monoxide. You cannot smell it, taste it or see it but it can kill.

Carbon monoxide

important

If you think you have a carbon monoxide leak, immediately phone the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. Line open 24 hours a day.
  • stop using all appliances, switch them off, and open doors and windows to ventilate the property
  • leave the property immediately – stay calm and avoid raising your heart rate
  • do not go back into the property
  • seek immediate medical help

Faulty gas appliances can produce carbon monoxide. You cannot smell it, taste it or see it but it can kill. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include sleepiness, headaches, chest pains, erratic behaviour, diarrhoea and feeling sick, particularly when gas appliances are being used.

Other warning signs to look out for:

  • sooty marks, or yellow or brown stains around the appliance
  • an appliance burning with a yellow or orange lazy flame and not a crisp blue flame
  • smoke in one room – this could show that a chimney or flue is blocked

We have completed the installation of carbon monoxide detectors to all dwellings where there is a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers).

Information

Homes for Somerset residents

This service is provided by Homes in Somerset, which provides council-owned housing on behalf of Somerset Council. We will continue to invest in council housing across Somerset as a whole in the future. Please visit the Homes in Somerset website for more information.

Apply for housing

If you have a local connection to Somerset, you can register your interest to rent both council housing and housing association managed properties in the area. For information on how to apply, please read the Homefinder Somerset web page.

Last updated: August 13, 2026

Next review due: February 13, 2027

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