# secret, do not read! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2000, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365 "2000-06-14T17:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/1 "2000-06-14T17:33:24Z")
You have probably seen a news article about houses that blow up because they filled up with natural gas. You have probably said “Ick, I hope that never happens to me!”. Did you know that there are such things as “natural gas detectors”? Somehow this is a closely guarded secret. But here I go spilling the beans. I got mine at Home Depot. It cost $30. It was beside the smoke detectors. The clerks in the store never heard of a “natural gas detector”, so don’t ask them where it is. Ask for the location of the smoke detectors and go there. Mine is rated by UL to detect propane and methane, but the manual says it can detect other explosive gases. But, shhhhh! Don’t tell anyone else! We can’t have everyone protected from house explosions. And if you’re in the media, certainly don’t mention them in the same article as an explosion! This is a secret! ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/2 "2000-06-14T18:45:36Z")
We bought one of those a few months ago. But I don’t think it’s a natural gas detector. I think it’s a carbon monoxide detector. Maybe I’ll get the natural gas detector as well so we’ll be completely fortified with detectors. ---
**Author:** ![Argeable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Argeable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argeable)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/3 "2000-06-14T22:03:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > You have probably seen a news article about houses that blow up because they filled up with natural gas. \*\* That’s not why they blow up! They blow up because one becomes too obsessed with posessions and his secret second personallity blows up the appartement so he can form a huge conspiracy to destroy the world wide financial system. Now leave me alone, I have to go watch fight club again. ---
**Author:** ![Fanny\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3be4f8/32.png) [@Fanny\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fanny_May)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/4 "2000-06-14T23:13:22Z")
You don’t have to tell me it’s a secret, I’m so forgetful I went straight to the reply screen to say I can keep a secret, that I forgot to read the secret. Well, now I definitely won’t tell! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/5 "2000-06-14T23:17:47Z")
I’m going to keep your secret by hiding it over in MPSIMS! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/6 "2000-06-14T23:26:16Z")
Boy, think of the embarrassment one of these would have saved **Wally**. 'Course he would have had to have had it mounted outdoors! **Amy** – Think Father’s Day gift! ---
**Author:** ![aha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@aha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aha)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/7 "2000-06-14T23:56:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Did you know that there are such things as “natural gas detectors”? Don’t need them in my house. You can smell the natural gas just fine. Especially after a big meal. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/8 "2000-06-15T00:01:17Z")
Well, joking aside, these things are uncommon because every human is equiped with an excellent natural gas detector…their nose! Most of these explosions occur when no one is at whome, and are usually detonated by the pilot on the stove, or a spark in a thermostat. Having a annoying sound going off would just bring people closer to the explosion. Anyways, I guess for $30 it can’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/9 "2000-06-15T13:50:58Z")
Sheesh…sorry to waste your time folks. Omniscent, I will point out that most folks can smell smoke as well. Most of us have a smoke detector anyway. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/10 "2000-06-15T14:15:08Z")
But I don’t use either one now, because they don’t work. Before you are convinced of their value, turn on a little natural gas and give it a try. When I tested mine, it went off for no good reason, even when it was outdoors! When I tested it with gas, it didn’t go off at all! I know other people who have had the same experience. I stopped buying them until they get it right. I went around telling everyone when I first got mine, but was promptly put in my place by people who’ve had a similar experience. I wasn’t convinced, so I went straight home to test mine with the aforementioned results. So I returned it, waited a year or so, and purchased another brand (assured they were much better now) with exactly the same results. It’s a great idea, but your confidence may be misplaced. Test it, and if it works to your satisfaction be sure to let me know the brand name, so I can go and purchase one because I’ve been waiting patiently. ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-do-not-read/22365/11 "2000-06-15T14:38:48Z")
elbows, I have had it for months without any false alarms. It has been rated by Underwriters Labs for detection of methane and propane. Was yours rated by UL? I may try to devise a test involving a butane lighter or something. I’m not going to fill my kitchen with methane as a test. The instructions say it has a retest interval so it will not go off with the first whiff of explosive gases. I may be naive, but I do tend to trust UL.