Gas Not Working? No Gas in the House: What to Check

No gas to the hob, boiler or fire? Work out whether it's the meter, your credit, the emergency control valve, a street outage or one appliance, and who to call for each. Plus what to do if you can smell gas.

If your gas isn't working, the first thing to establish is whether every gas appliance has stopped or just one. If the hob, boiler and gas fire are all dead, the problem is the supply: the valve at the meter, your credit, the meter itself or the network in the street. If only one appliance has stopped, gas is reaching the house and that appliance has a fault. The checks below take a few minutes and tell you whether you need your energy supplier, the gas emergency line or a Gas Safe registered engineer.

First: can you smell gas?

If you can smell gas, stop here. Don't switch lights or appliances on or off, don't use a naked flame, and don't operate the doorbell. Open doors and windows, turn off the gas at the meter if you can reach it safely, leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 from outside. The line is free and open 24 hours.

A gas supply that suddenly stops can be the result of a network engineer isolating a leak nearby, so a smell of gas outside with no gas inside is still worth reporting. Our gas leak guide covers the full steps and what happens after you call.

Is it every appliance or just one?

Test each gas appliance you have:

Hob: does a burner light, or at least hiss when you turn the knob? No hiss at all points to no gas.
Boiler: is the display on? Is it showing a fault code, or simply not firing when you ask for hot water?
Gas fire: will the pilot or burner light?

If all of them fail, work through the next section. If one works and another doesn't, skip to only one appliance has stopped.

No gas to anything: what to check

Check the emergency control valve at the meter

Find your gas meter. In London it's often in a box on the front or side wall, under the stairs, in a kitchen cupboard or, in flats, in a communal meter cupboard. On the pipe going into the meter there is a lever, usually red or yellow. When the lever lines up with the pipe, the gas is on. When it sits across the pipe, it's off. Someone may have turned it off during building work, a leak scare or a meter change.

Only turn it back on if you know why it was off

If you know it was turned off for a simple reason, make sure every gas appliance is switched off first, including pilot lights, then turn the lever back in line with the pipe. If you don't know why it was off, leave it and call 0800 111 999. It may have been isolated because of a leak.

Check the meter display

On a prepayment or smart pay-as-you-go meter, look at the credit balance and any message such as OFF, valve closed or emergency credit available. See the next section if it shows no credit or a closed valve.

Ask the neighbours

If next door has lost gas too, it's almost certainly a network problem. Supply interruptions happen when mains are being repaired or after water gets into gas pipes in the street. Report it on 0800 111 999 so the gas network knows your address is affected.

Still no gas? Report it

If the valve is open, you have credit and your neighbours have gas, call 0800 111 999 and report no gas. The gas network is responsible for the supply up to and including the emergency control valve. In London that's Cadent north of the river and SGN south of it, but the same emergency number covers both.

After a network outage the supply can't simply be switched back on in the street. Engineers usually need to get into each property to restore the supply safely, so make sure someone can let them in. Once the gas is back, older appliances with permanent pilot lights may need relighting, and your boiler may show a lockout. Our guide to resetting a boiler covers that.

Prepayment and smart meters

Running out of credit is one of the most common reasons for a sudden loss of gas, and it isn't always obvious that it has happened.

Emergency credit: most prepayment meters offer a small amount of emergency credit you have to activate on the meter. If it's been used, the supply stops until you top up.
Smart pay-as-you-go: smart gas meters have a valve built into the meter. When credit runs out, the valve closes. Topping up doesn't always reopen it on its own. Many meters need you to accept the credit using the buttons on the meter and confirm that your gas appliances are off before the valve opens again. The steps vary by meter, so follow the on-screen prompts or your supplier's instructions.
Credit not arriving: an online or app top-up can take time to reach a smart meter. If the display still says off after a while, contact your supplier rather than pressing buttons repeatedly.
Standing charges and debt: some prepayment meters collect a daily standing charge or an old debt from the credit you add, so a small top-up can disappear faster than expected.

Credit, meter faults and meter replacement are your energy supplier's job, not a plumber's or the gas network's. Their number is on your bill or the meter card.

Only the boiler, hob or fire has stopped

If another gas appliance works, gas is reaching the house and the fault is in the one that's stopped.

Boiler not working, hob fine

This is the most common version. Check the boiler display for a fault code, the system pressure (usually 1 to 1.5 bar when cold), the timer and thermostat, and whether the condensate pipe outside has frozen in cold weather. A boiler that tries to light and locks out is often reporting an ignition fault. Our guides to a boiler that won't work and boiler error codes go through the checks. If the display is completely blank, it's an electrical problem rather than gas; see boiler has no power.

Hob not lighting, boiler fine

Try another burner. If none light but you can hear gas, the ignition may have failed and some hobs can be lit carefully with a match; check the manufacturer's instructions first. If only one burner fails, the burner cap may be misaligned or blocked with spilled food. If a burner lights but goes out when you let go of the knob, the flame failure device on that burner is likely at fault. If there's no gas to any burner, the hob's isolation valve may be off, or the appliance has a fault.

Gas fire won't light

Gas fires usually have a pilot and a flame supervision device, and older fires often have their own isolation valve behind a cover. A fire that won't stay lit, burns with a yellow sooty flame or leaves black marks on the wall needs switching off and checking before it's used again.

Don't take the casing off a gas appliance. Beyond simple checks like the ones above, repairs and adjustments on gas appliances are legally restricted to Gas Safe registered engineers. If there's any sign of a yellow flame, soot or a headache and nausea when an appliance is running, switch it off, ventilate the room and get it checked, as these can be signs of carbon monoxide. Our carbon monoxide guide explains the symptoms.

Gas boiler not working in a power cut

A modern gas boiler needs electricity for its controls, fan, ignition and pump. In a power cut it stops, even though the gas supply is fine and your gas hob may still work. When the power comes back:

check whether the timer or programmer has reset to midnight and lost its settings;
check the room thermostat has power, particularly wireless ones with batteries;
if the boiler shows a lockout, reset it once;
if the display stays blank after the rest of the house has power, the boiler's fuse or supply is the next thing to look at.

Who to call

What you've found	Who to call
Smell of gas, inside or outside	National Gas Emergency Service, 0800 111 999
Valve open, credit fine, no gas to any appliance	National Gas Emergency Service, 0800 111 999 (report no gas)
Neighbours have lost gas too	National Gas Emergency Service, 0800 111 999
No credit, smart meter valve closed, meter display fault	Your energy supplier
Gas reaching the house, one appliance not working	A Gas Safe registered engineer

If the gas is reaching your meter and your boiler, hob or fire still won't work, we can help. Our Gas Safe registered engineers handle boiler repairs, hob faults and gas pipe leaks across London. Tell us which appliance has stopped, what it's showing and when it last worked. Our labour is £95 an hour, the £60 call-out is waived when the job runs over 2 hours, and we confirm the price before any work starts.

Gas on at the meter but the appliance won't work?

Tell us what's happening and we'll arrange a Gas Safe registered engineer. The price is confirmed before we start.

📞 Call 020 7870 3200

Or see our boiler repair service and pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my gas not working in the house?

If every gas appliance has stopped, the usual causes are the emergency control valve at the meter being turned off, a prepayment or smart meter out of credit or with its valve closed, or a supply problem in the street. If only one appliance has stopped, the supply is fine and the fault is in that boiler, hob or fire.

Who do I call if I have no gas?

If you smell gas, or the meter valve is open, you have credit and nothing is getting through, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. For credit or smart meter problems, call your energy supplier. If gas is reaching the meter but one appliance won't work, call a Gas Safe registered engineer.

How do I know if the gas is turned off at the meter?

Find the lever on the pipe going into the meter, called the emergency control valve. When the lever lines up with the pipe, the gas is on. When it sits across the pipe at a right angle, the gas is off. Only turn it back on if you know why it was turned off and all appliances are switched off.

I've topped up my gas meter but still have no gas. Why?

Smart pay-as-you-go meters can close an internal valve when credit runs out. After topping up, the meter may need you to accept the credit and confirm your appliances are off using the buttons on the meter before the valve opens. Credit can also take a while to reach the meter. If it still says off, contact your supplier.

Does a gas boiler work in a power cut?

No. A modern gas boiler needs electricity for its controls, fan, ignition and pump, so it stops during a power cut even though the gas supply is fine. When power returns, check the timer, and reset the boiler if it shows a lockout.

Gas Not Working in the House? What to Check and Who to Call

Key Takeaways