My first service call to their three-story row home in the Avenues area of my hometown York, Pennsylvania was for no heat. Parking is always a challenge, and the only available space was halfway down the block. Exiting the truck, I could smell the Mercaptan odor from a natural gas leak. Note to self: contact the gas company ASAP. Taking along my standard flashlight, 4-way screwdriver, adjustable water-pump pliers, and multimeter for the initial start of all HVAC related service calls, I walked to the home and rang the doorbell.
They showed me to the basement stairway and as I descended the stairs, an acrid odor from several cat litter boxes made my eyes tear up! All three had been unchanged for a long period of time, and as cats will do, they had moved on to leave their cat diamonds behind the boiler and water heater! The boiler’s pilot was out and the automatic gas valve had failed — in the open position! 150,000-Btu/h of raw natural gas was spewing forth, and, fortunately for them, up the chimney. Note to self: no need to call the gas company because I had found the gas odor source. I was glad the gas water heater was not firing as the flues both joined up with the chimney. Fortunately, I carried several automatic gas valves on my truck and could provide repairs and restoration of their heat.