Really worried about my wife's sense of smell...

[weirdboy]

My wife goes to the empty apartment next door (we have a key) to clean up some stuff and get it ready for new tenants.

She comes back a while later saying the place "smells funny", so she had opened up the doors & windows to air it out. I go next door, and there's still an odor lingering in one of the bedrooms. A gas odor. I start sniffing around by the gas appliances and finally smell something by the bottom of the wall heater. I thought maybe the pilot light was out, but it was functioning perfectly.

We had a gas guy come out to check things out, and there was a leak. Apparently, one of the fittings in the heater had come a bit loose.

Now the thing that worries me is that my wife, while she could tell there was a strange smell, absolutely could not identify the smell as that of a gas leak. She could have literally blown up the entire building because of this. So, I dunno what to do. Maybe I can find a way to help her train her senses to recognize it somehow?

 

[Daddymem]

Describe "gas odor" because they add odor to natural gas which is odorless. Described as cabbage or rotten egg. Did she smell that and not think gas?

 

[weirdboy]

Right...that's the smell. The stuff they add to natural gas so that you don't die.

 

[Daddymem]

Hrmm, is it bad that this makes me think test involving New England boiled dinner and bed covers is in order?

 

[GRHunter]

I am not sure if it will help with your wife, but puppy treats worked well when I trained my retriever to sniff out Ruffed Grouse and Pheasants. I don't see why the same method wouldn't work with your wife on identifying natural gas.

 

[ChshreCat]

I don't really see a problem. She didn't know what gas smelled like. Now she does.

 

[jimmannering]

Call your local natural gas utility. They probably have some scratch and sniff cards for exactly this purpose, with some natural gas safety information printed on them, and they would probably be glad to drop a few in the mail for you.

 

[weirdboy]

I don't really see a problem. She didn't know what gas smelled like. Now she does.

But, she doesn't. That's the problem. She apparently cannot recognize it as a "this could be natural gas" thing.

 

[david_42]

Not much you can do if she cannot identify a specific odor, except check it out yourself. Some people cannot smell/taste certain things. I learned that when I took an off-flavor seminar for brewing; there's things I cannot detect except at very high levels and others I can identify at low levels. My GF can't smell skunk, even when she runs one over.

 

[malkore]

But, she doesn't. That's the problem. She apparently cannot recognize it as a "this could be natural gas" thing.

How many times in her life has she smelled a natural gas leak though?

until you really catch a whiff of it, most people won't recognize the odor as 'gas'...and would think 'dead mouse, something decaying...'

 

[weirdboy]

Yeah, that could be it. But I mean she's smelled gas before from e.g. the stove when it wouldn't light.

 

[ChshreCat]

How many times in her life has she smelled a natural gas leak though?

until you really catch a whiff of it, most people won't recognize the odor as 'gas'...and would think 'dead mouse, something decaying...'

That's what I was getting at. Now she knows what leaking gas smells like.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I like the idea of the scratch and sniff stickers.

 

[weirdboy]

Yeah they could do a whole series.

natural gas
dead body
fertilizer
vomit
cat pee