BENGALURU: Rising power costs and frequent power cuts are prompting most families to shift from electric water heaters to instant gas heaters.
Gas geysers are popular as their energy cost is almost 60-70 per cent lower. “Also, there are many families in the city who don’t get access to hot water from rooftop solar heaters as they stay in rented houses,” said Manohar P V, a gas geyser dealer in Nagarabhavi.
According to him, many people install gas geysers by themselves, which is not advisable. To top this, many people are using gas geysers made in China which are not of good quality. Many are not even certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
He added that there have been a lot of complaints about carbon monoxide leakage from Chinese gas geysers, and that there have been a few deaths due to this as well.
Dr Shashidhar Buggi, director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, said the partial combustion in gas geyser leads to carbon monoxide accumulation, especially in badly ventilated areas. Carbon monoxide is an odourless, colourless gas that makes anyone who inhales it feel dizzy and eventually, unconscious. If inhaled in large quantities, death is inevitable, Buggi said.
Manohar said people installing gas geysers should ensure that their house has proper cross ventilation. He added that it is important to use quality geysers fitted with a flame failure system and an overheat protection device. “Many gas geysers also come with oxygen sensors, but people are not aware of this and they end up putting their life in danger by going for cheap Chinese geysers,” Manohar said.