Tom The Great wrote:


IMHO:

You can check if your draft deflector is blocked, but other than that,
you should have a professional check your water heater.

Good luck,

tom @ www.FreelancingProjects.com


I may have to do that. I know that thermocouples aren't horrendously
expensive, but I don't have a clue as to how to get at it in the water
heater. From the little pilot light inspection window it appears to be
on the backside of the unit, but there is no access panel anywhere on
the bottom.

I had a feeling it was the thermocouple (last year our gas boiler was
serviced, and I asked lots of questions about how gas appliances work,
etc).

Something else I'm noting- Lately the part of the house that has all
the gas appliances (it's a small 900 sqft house) has had a very faint
smell of gas in the air. So very faint, but I'm so paranoid about
these things that I can always smell it.

My guess is that the water heater pilot light goes out for whatever
reason, but it takes the thermocouple something like 10 or 15 seconds
to cool down to the point where it actually shuts the gas off. Thus
releasing a small but barely detectable amount of gas into the place.

Sound reasonable? If you call the gas company, won't they come out
with a more sophisticated device than my nose and 'sniff' around the
place to find any potential leaks, even if they're very small?

Thanks again.

-phaeton