Natural Gas/Propane

Your Natural Gas Service

The natural gas service to your home is similar to the water service. The utility gathers up the natural gas from wells in distant places and transfers it to your home via another vast array of pressurized pipelines.

When the gas is first extracted from deep in the earth, it is completely colorless and has no smell at all. In order to detect that gas is present, it is “odorized” at the well before being sent out into the world and eventually to your home. This odorized gas has a very distinctive aroma. If you smell it, you won’t forget it. And if you smell it in, or around your home, you likely have a leak.

Unlike the water system, your gas utility company will usually bring their main lines right up to your house and place a meter there. This eliminates the need for a separate main underground gas line lateral and allows all, or most of the piping from the meter to the various gas appliances in the home to be made by a plumber using above ground piping and connections.

Gas Codes

Building codes for gas piping call for the use of different materials than those used for water. There are mandatory shut-offs on the gas lines near their connection point to each appliance that operates on gas. This is so the gas to each appliance can be safely turned off for service without affecting the rest of the home. A specialized shut off wrench needs to be kept handy in the event you need to shut the gas off to the house in an emergency. The gas to your house can automatically be turned off during an earthquake with a special seismic valve.

Propane

A great alternative when natural gas is not available is Propane.  Local propane companies deliver the gas to an above ground tank at your home via trucks.  From the tank, it is delivered to the home and distributed just like natural gas.

Propane fuel burns at a slightly cooler temperature than natural gas.  For that reason your gas fired appliances must be specifically designed for either propane or natural gas.

The first dial is turning counter-clockwise. It points between the “0” and the “1.”

• Read this dial as “0”.
• The second dial is between “1” and “2.” It might even look as though it is on the “2,” but you can see that the dial is to the left. Read the lower number.
• Read this dial as “1”.
• The third dial is turning counter-clockwise and is just after the “5.”
• Read this dial as “5”.
• The fourth dial is turning clockwise and is between the “1” and the “2.”
• Read this dial as “1.”

Remember to record the lower number if the dial is between two numbers. For this example, read from left to right. The correct reading for this meter is 0151.

 

 

Digital Meter

1. There are no dials, simply read the digital read out numbers from left to right directly as indicated.
2. Perform the same calculation exercise as for the analog version to get your daily use.

Digital “smart” meters transfer the information via radio waves, elimination the need for a site reading. You have the option to retain the old analog meter if you wish to eliminate the RF signals radiation from the smart meters.