Airbnb guest leaving gas on overnight

Neil408
Level 10
Sheffield, United Kingdom

Airbnb guest leaving gas on overnight

Hello all,

 

Not sure how to tackle this issue but had an Airbnb guest who left the gas on after making a meal in the kitchen around 1am-2am. 

 

I woke up around 7.30am with my phone ringing from a client but I felt so awful and tired I decided not to answer it and planned to call them back later in the day (which is not like me at all) I usually sleep very well and wake up feeling refreshed. I immediately fell back to sleep and woke up around 10.30am, MUCH later than I normally do. I still felt totally awful, as if I had a headache and a weird hangover but forced myself to get up. After entering the kitchen I found that the small burner on the hob was lit. I turned it off and then immediately went to open the guest bedroom as I was concerned that my guest might have had CO poisoning! Fortunately they had left for the day so I messaged them and they said they knew nothing about the gas being left on and claimed they didn't cook this morning or last night (however there were washed up pots and pans on the drainer - I have a dishwasher so never leave pots and pans on the drainer)

 

The guest who is staying has been here about a week now and often cooks very late at night (1am ish). I went to bed around 12 midnight and I last cooked at 8.30pm, however I stayed in the open plan kitchen / lounge until midnight watching TV. If I'd left the gas on I think I would have noticed in the 3.5 hours I stayed in that room. After I went to bed shortly after midnight I did hear my guest cooking in the kitchen but thought nothing of it.

 

What do I do? I don't want to treat my adult guests like children and put signs up saying 'turn gas off after use' but I feel after this incident I may have to. I do have CO detectors but not one in the kitchen and the one in my bedroom oddly failed to go off. After looking on google it appears that I did have mild symptoms of CO poisoning - dizziness, headache, extreme tiredness, lethargy (I rarely drink and I don't suffer with anything like extreme tiredness) however because the burner was left lit there was fortunately less CO in the air that if it had been left unlit. With the guest claiming no knowledge of anything and denying use of the kitchen despite there being obvious evidence of someone using pots and pans earlier today I don't know what to do. After they denied it I decided not to pursue it with the guest any further.

8 Replies 8

@Neil408  This could have turned out much, much worse, and I think it's important to convey to this guest the sheer gravity of that. If there was nobody else in the house who could have been the culprit, their denial is a pretty clear indication of how trustworthy they are. You're already at enough risk sharing a living space with this dishonest stranger during a pandemic, and now you've added the risk of a serious CO poisoning on top of that. So yeah, you have every right to sit this person down for a serious talk and be prepared to terminate the booking if they can't regain your trust. 

 

The sacrifice you'd make to do so is the rent for their unused nights and probably a retaliatory review. I'd personally consider that a small price to pay for peace of mind in my own home. Either way, though, you should definitely get a CO detector for your kitchen and make sure the others in your house are working properly before this day is over.

Jennie131
Level 10
Rapid City, SD

Wow! What a scary situation! I'm glad you are ok!
Just wanted to clear something up for you. Carbon Monoxide detectors do not detect and alarm to gas leaks. They detect carbon monoxide, which can be given off by faulty appliances that employ combusted materials, such as gas stoves and ovens, water heaters, heaters, and fireplaces.

Although it's a scary situation, if it is a one off thing, I would simply remind the guest verbally to turn off the gas. I would not post a sign unless this happens again.

This doesn't make sense. 

 

"however because the burner was left lit there was fortunately less CO in the air that if it had been left unlit. "

 

If the burner was unlit then hydrocarbons would have been present in the air, depending upon the type of gas this may or may not have been poisonous.  If for example propane is the gas used to fuel the cooker then it is possible to be asphyxiated by it if it is inhaled in sufficient quantities.  A carbon moxide detector would not respond to the gas being present in the air.

 

If the burner was lit then carbon monoxide would be present.

 

Usually gas installations require adequate ventilation in order to comply with building codes so it would probably be a good idea to ensure that the installation meets these requirements.  The location of carbon monoxide detectors is possibly also something that ought be reviewed.  A detector should be placed in every room that contains a fuel burning appliance which is the source of carbon monoxide.  Placing one in rooms where no fuel burning appliances are located will diminish the ability of the detector to provide early warning.

Neil408
Level 10
Sheffield, United Kingdom

I'm no expert but when it's unlit it's just pumping out gas. When it's lit it's burning that gas so figured it'd be less dangerous when lit.

 

We have mains natural gas here in the UK as a fuel source. 

 

As for the extraction I have an electric wall extractor which needs to be switch on and an overhead extractor, again this needs to be switched on. 

 

I've ordered two new detectors from Amazon that should be here tomorrow so if it happens again I'll know about it. I used to have one in the kitchen but it was removed when the flat was redecorated and subsequently lost (my fault I know!)

When people commit suicide by sticking their head in the oven, it's not lit- they are breathing the gas. There is no CO in that- they are poisoned by the gas itself. 

So there is poisoning by breathing gas, and poisoning by breathing carbon monoxide- those are 2 different things. 

 

If gas appliances are adjusted properly (flame should be blue, not orange or yellow), there is actually very little CO produced when they are in use. And a CO detector won't go off because a burner is left on and lit in that case.

 

Both propane itself and CO are colorless and odorless, but a smell is added to gas so you will be alerted to a leak or a burner turned on but not lit.

@Neil408

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Neil408   I would tell the guests that due to the fact that a burner was left on overnight and no one claims responsibility for it, that for the rest of the stay the stove is now off limits for guest use.  I would make sure that the entire episode is captured on the Airbnb platform and I would offer a 5% discount for the remaining stay and tell them you totally understand if they now wish to cancel.

 

@Anonymous  is right though, the type of person who is so irresponsible they leave a gas burner on and then lies about it is exactly the type who will seek to tank your rating by a revenge review.

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Neil408 

It happens to me a few times a guest left a gas burner on the stove lit. As long there is nothing on it (a pan etc..) it simply burns and the risk for CO emission is not high in a normal ventilated kitchen (CO issues  happens with closed devices like heaters, boilers, as a result of an faulty burning proces). But you must have a word with the guest about it, it is also for his/her own safety such a device not be left burning  unatended, especially not during the night. Also consider to add to  your houserules: no cooking in the "quiet hours:".

John5097
Level 10
Charleston, SC

Kiddie has a smoke and CO detector in one that are all connected to each other on their own, no wifi etc. When one goes off they all go off. (I got them from Home Depot.) There is a toggle switches on the back like a bike lock so you set your detectors to match each other, so if neighbors have the same model their's won't go off. Only one guest has set off smoke detector in guest apartment. Kind of freaked me out. I think they lied as well, and asked me to look at baseboard heaters that were fine, But when they checked out the ironing board was broken, so probably that's what happened.  As I recall a cook top burner can put out more CO than a ventless gas heater. CO detectors also have to be placed at the right location that's in the instructions. I see a lot of illegal listings that violate codes for gas ovens. I have one of those old school label makers and have little labels everywhere, clean the lint screen on the dryer, fan switches, light switches, the microwave etc.. Guest have even commented how helpful they were in the reviews.