Staying Safe with Natural Gas | Ask This Old House
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2019
- Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey and host Kevin O’Connor discuss how gas regulators work and how their malfunction caused gas explosions in Lawrence, MA.
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Steps:
1. Natural gas is delivered through massive pipelines across the country that reduce pressure as they approach municipalities.
2. A device called a gas regulator is used to lower the pressure of gas coming into the house without disrupting the gas service of neighbors.
3. If you ever smell gas in your home, evacuate immediately and call 9-1-1.
4. In the rare event that city officials instruct homeowners to shut off their own gas, like what happened in Lawrence, go to the gas meter and look for a shutoff valve. Typically, it’s to the left of the meter on the pipe coming up out of the ground from the street.
5. Using a wrench, turn the shut off valve so that it is perpendicular to the gas pipe. Then, evacuate the building.
6. In all other circumstances, do not touch the gas meter. Only allow a licensed professional to do anything involving gas lines and appliances in your home.
Resources:
Circumstances like what happened in Lawrence, MA are extremely rare, and Richard stresses that only a licensed professional should handle any gas appliances or gas work in a home. However, in case of a suspected gas emergency, evacuate the house immediately and call 9-1-1. Follow the instructions in the video above only if instructed to do so by an official.
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Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers-and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.
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Staying Safe with Natural Gas | Ask This Old House
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I have worked for the natural gas utility in St Louis Missouri for 35 years and now retired and consult from time to time. As a matter of fact I consulted with your NBC affiliate in Boston on the very subject of your over pressurization in Andover and North Andover areas. To correct Richard these areas were on low pressure, no regulators would have been located at meter sets in these particular neighborhoods. The gas company Regulators for this particular system would be located in pits throughout these neighborhoods. The gas pressure being delivery to these homes and businesses would be approximately 1/4 of a pound ( 7 inchs water column). The only regulators at the homes would be the ones equipped on the appliances referred to as Appliance regulators. Apparently and inexperienced subcontractor with very little knowledge on how low pressure systems work , decommissioned an old gas main that still had the sensing lines connected for the pit regulators ( regulator station regulators). The second the sensing lines lost pressure the regulators would have opened sending a devastating amount of gas pressure to these low pressure gas mains , causing the explosions and gas leaks we all saw on the news. Since then the gas utilities across the Nation came to help Columbia Gas with the massive undertaking of installing a state-of-the-art system ( new polyethylene mains, new polyethylene services, excessive flow valves, regulators, meter sets, new fuel runs throughout the homes and businesses , not to mention every single gas Appliance had to be replaced. In addition Richard I like to mention you used the wrong tool to turn your gas cock off at the meter.Please use an adjustable wrench to turn gas cocks; slip joint pliers just mars the brass on the gas cocks causing sharp edges and more problems than I care to mention. Please feel free to leave comments (one of the best ways to learn from one another).
Problem was. The main gas lines. Some of which are up to 40" have 300-1500 psi. When I worked on them. They would sound like and look like a Jet Engine when you bleed them. As there are shut off valves every 1 mile.. So you can make repairs. These lines are regulated as well. If the Utilities Company does not check their service feeds. Where they tap off this line. They will get unregulated gas pressure..And no home check valve can handle 300-1500 psi.. It will blow right on by it.
Why I would just cut the main electrical feed. Then get out. As once the house is full of gas. Just one spark at the right ratio. Your house will explode..
@@MasterChief-sl9ro I am assuming you work for one of the transmission companies ? In the incident in Massachusetts ,Columbia Gas was receiving City Gate pressure at 75 PSI and supposed to be delivering pressure to the homes at 1/4 pound( PSI) or 7" water column on the low pressure services & mains(per the NTSB).
Where's the MEME for getting owned by an Elder's Knowledge.
@@sorphin . No quite contrary ; they wanted me to stay . After 35 years of twisting pipe and running emergency calls ,sometimes in wind chill factors of 40 below zero at 2 in the morning, I felt it was time to retire. Unlike Columbia Gas I feel Spire is one of the best Gas Utilities in the country ,if not the best ( best trained, best equipped and some of the most knowledgeable employees in the industry , from the CEO down to the lowest echelon employee ). The CEO was just 18 years old when she started as a co-op engineer in the gas utility industry. And I assure you she is not afraid to put her work boots on and go out in the field. Our service department are all HVAC technicians from the superintendent down to the man that just got hired into the department. I would say 98% of our work is all done in-house. By doing it this way the communication between the Departments is concise & ran like a symphony orchestra.
@@boby115 Still didn't answer the question.. Whom was responsible for monitoring the gas pressure. The feeder company or the utilities. As this has to checked every 30 days. They walk the lines as well for failures. Fly over them etc...
And yes I worked for United Gas. As an electrical engineer for 1 year. As they changed over from them old chart based monitoring stations. To the 21st century. Which now monitors the lines 24/7 for problems..
I love learning stuff like this. I always wondered how a gas regulator worked.
Wow, these guys make a great team. Richard does an excellent job explaining and Kevin interjects with some summary points and questions.
My dad always taught us if there is a fire and you can to always shut the gas off to the house. Then the electricity if you can safely. These two things can always make a fire worse. Both always have turn offs on the outside of the house. He would take us around the house and make sure we knew how and that we were capable of turning off the gas and electricity. Families should also always practice what to do in a fire or any other natural disaster. You should not wait until something happens to figure out what to do. It may seem silly but just as they have fire drills in school, you should have a fire drill at your house. Kids should know what to do, how to get out of the house, where to meet, etc. If you have a two or more story house, always provide a ladder in each bedroom so people can get out safe if there is a fire. Check your smoke detector batteries and replace if needed. Keep you and your family safe!!!
Outdoor electrical shut offs are not universal and are quite uncommon in some areas.
@@mike93lx Yep, this is why everyone needs to know about their property and what works for them. Biggest thing is to stay safe!!!
For anyone reading these comments, I wouldn’t go anywhere near the indoor electrical panel if there’s a gas fire (not saying OP said to do that). Gas will accumulate near electrical currents and can become trapped inside the panel. Any minor spark from turning breakers on/off can cause an explosion.
@fancythisgirl3 My whole thing is get out of the house and call the fire department!
Helpful information !! Thank you for sharing !!
Thanks for the info.
Another very educational video - thanks!
That was fascinating finding out how a regulator actually works inside.
Thank You!!!!
Always enjoy this tips and demos from this old house.
My question is do you guys recommend a natural gas sensor for home use?
Good info guys
My favorite channel
I feel like Kevin is the best in these segments he's genuinely interested in the topic and seems to have a limited script he's running off of
instablaster...
Bob explains it well down below. It was a regulator sensor issue while switching from old to new. Problem was that the sensors weren't switched over to read pressure at the same time as the gas. Human error but maybe also computer related to some extent. I don't have the regulator on my gas line that Richard shows here.
Actually, in the Lawrence and Andover fires there were no regulators on the individual meters. That area was a "low pressure" system, where a larger regulator covered an entire area. The problem was that the small 'sensor' line on the larger regulator was cut during construction. This small sensor line travels some distance from the downstream gas pipeline back to the larger regulator, which then tells the regulator how to adjust the pressure for the whole system. When the line was accidentally cut, the regulator interpreted that as extremely low downstream pressure and increased the pressure to a very high level. Since there were no regulators at the individual meters, that high pressure blew directly into the appliances in the house. It seems that the utility didn't have backup procedures in place to monitor the pressure during maintenance, in case this specific situation occurred.
Basic engineering, always fail to a safe condition. I would be loathe to believe that the failure mode was to add gas. I'll keep looking for confirmation of your explanation. The depth of stupidity for that failure mode to be true is astronomical.
Yep, the line was cut during a pipeline replacement upgrade. They were trying to replace all their old cast iron distribution lines.
Interesting to read what actually happened with the gas main. Yes, low pressure systems usually are only around 3"-3.5" on the water column whereas with the regulator getting a false signal the system could have been pressurized to several pounds depending on how high the pressure of the system the regulators are connected to. I'm retired from the gas utility in Baltimore and familiar with what you're describing. I was a field inspector on several regulator installations on our system and know about the sensing lines that run between regulators. First time I've ever heard of an accident like that caused by a sensing line being cut. Sure hope nobody was injured or killed by the resulting fires.
So, how often should these regulators be changed? And is it done automatically by the gas company? Or do I need to request it?
EDIT: Called my gas company (So Cal Gas) and they said they last 20 to 30 years and they take care of replacement automatically (meter itself as well)
Thank you for the information. Could you do a follow up video on whether you recommend pressure testing your gas lines annually. Some persons recommend it while others say the the pressure testing creates leaks. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
1 time I had a strong odor, called 911, they shut off the gas. PSE&G then come down, found no gas leak
Turned out that my neigh was cooking eggs. The smell was coming through the wall.
Those must have been rotten eggs.
Richard is an expert in all things gassy.
Safety first. I love my natural gas.
My energy supplier in mid Atlantic severely misdiagnosed my leak and ended up replacing unnecessary parts
Inlet pressure isn’t why we put regulators on the meter. It’s the load your house draws is why it needs to adjust. One water heater requires certain cf of gas well you turn on the stove and furnace now that load increases therefor the regulator needs to open more to maintain 7”WC or 4oz or .25 PSI. It’s true the lower the inlet pressure the more the regulator needs to open to get the correct flow rate but it’s not the reason for the regulators.
For those interested merrimack valley gas explosions:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrimack_Valley_gas_explosions
Should taper valves be removed?
I grew up in Bowie MD, in the late 60, houses seeming randomly blowing up. It was traced back to leaks in the underground pipes. The soil in the area, striped out the Smell chemical, and the now oderless, colorless gas would travel along the outside of the pipe, and was finding it's way into houses. A friend of my older brother was the sole surviving member of his family when his mother lit a cigarette, and the gas ignited and boom went the house. Everyone was scared, and the gas company spent months tracing every leak and fixing them.
Joe, I started working for BG&E back around that time and remember two problems that had caused homes to blow up in our service territory. Not sure if you were serviced by BG&E or Washington Gaslight as the territory boundary ran through your area. The first was the switch to copper service tubing which was considered non-corroding and would last a long time. Come to find out that soil conditions would indeed cause it to corrode, leak underground, and the odorless gas would then seep through foundation walls. The second was a fitting issue at the meter installation. As the ground settled on new home construction sometimes the tubing would pull loose from a connection fitting at the meter as the weight of the settling ground caused the service tubing to be pulled downward. I believe a different type of connection setup was then used which eliminated that problem.
Oil cans on the heater?
4 some reason you the people are Awesome .Why ? Because you all are 😍
I wonder if they make an overpressure auto shutoff ? Something like the seismic shutoff for earthquakes thats outside and has to be manually reset.
The industry standard is quickly moving to 2 levels of protection. Most utilities use a regulator that will relieve the excess pressure through a built in relief valve. Benefit of this system is you don’t lose gas and the releasing gas is a signal to call your utility to alert them to the problem. The industry is moving to have 2 levels so you would have a relief and auto shut off that is set alittle higher that way it’s there for extreme problems not just nuisance problems like daytime heating can cause. Gas trapped inside the pipes in your house will actually expand with daytime heating and cause it to raise in pressure especially if no gas is being used.
Hello all! I live in North Andover (the town next to Lawrence). Over 300 houses and businesses were destroyed across Lawrence, North Andover, and Andover. Columbia Gas (the gas company that caused the problem) lost approximately 30 million dollars while fixing about 50 miles of pipeline. Reply to me if you have questions or would like to learn more and I will reply!
I remember this haping as I am in the next town over (methuen) and my family and all our neighbors where scrambling to turn our gas of I am pretty sure we actually did have a leak because when the utility company came to check all of the new gas meters they had installed and they tightened one of the fittings on ours.
That's seriously frightening
It was pretty crazy there are still people around here who lost there homes living in hotels and such
I keep an old wrench on the outside of my house right near the gas shut off. If you need to turn off the gas, you're going to need a wrench in a hurry.
Hi
Unfortunately the New York and the New England area have recently favored the expansion of natural gas use. Pipeline construction has greatly increased over the last few years. At the same time, some of their safe, reliable, cheap nuclear power plants have been, or are set to prematurely retire in the near future (i.e. Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim, Indian Point 1 & 2). The lost generation is always offset with predominately natural gas - which during cold snaps that were recently experienced - send energy spot prices in the market sky high due to supply constrains. Safety and reliability are being exchanged for greater hazards and price volatility.
In Canada not a lot of people have gas
Not even after a plate of poutine?
Oh Kevin, you’ll learn one day
Is there a sudden-high-pressure block valve?
Is there a time-based (say > 2 hours of continuous use) block valve?
Is there an earthquake automatic block valve?
Is there a gas sensor that starts buzzing loudly when there's a gas leak?
Does the gas company replace them all every five years?
*How common is natural gas in houses in US?*
Very common. It's a great source for our furnaces, fireplaces and hot water tanks.
It is highly dependent on region and electricity cost. In the northeast US it is very common, but where I used to live in Idaho (northwest US) almost no one had it since electric is much cheaper there.
More than half of all homes in the U.S. have it.
Very rare in rural areas of New England. We truck in oil or propane.
This article from the US energy reporting agency breaks down total US home energy use by fuel type. (i.e. natural gas, electricity, propane, fuel oil)
www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37433
Always have a tested and working Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector on every floor in your home.
And a natural gas detector too.
CO detectors will do nothing for natural gas leaks
Hmmm it looks like the gas co's do have a high pressure cutoff that has to be manually reset. The old type only has the incoming regulator - I've only seen the old type around here in dallas pa
Id think these should be used everywhere. But id image they cost more.
m.ua-cam.com/video/xUg7CJiX_qs/v-deo.html
👍🏻👊🏻
Richard, Isn’t that pressure regulator part of the city/county equipment at a home in NC? If so, how do we get them to change it just to be safe? If not, must the city/county install it after we purchase one?
Its the Utility Company responsibility, anything before the meter is them. In NC its like PSNC or Piedmont Natural Gas who have to maintain the regulator at the meter and the meter itself. Anything after the meter is the owner, usually the regulator, appliances, etc has to be installed before the county building standard dept will final the inspection and allow the gas company to set the meter.
Depends on your municipality. Usually everything before the meter belongs to the provider (Gas company/city/whatever) and the regulator is theirs.
Great question ! Probably should call your town hall, maybe they can give you some answers ? If they do end up installing a new one, paint the hell out of it and keep up with it, just don't use something that makes sparks to clean it. I see so many that are rusted to hell and often wondered why people don't use some rust preventive paint every couple of years ? Would literally take 15-20 minutes to paint the pipe portions of it.
august Thanks
TheOtherBill Thanks
I accidentally shut off gas to my house when trying to shut off water, I know better now...
Here in the UK our governors allow approx 21mbar working pressure through. Richard mentioned a pound pressure, not sure what that is. I believe the term was used in Medieval times during the Black Plague. However we fit a a device downstream of the meter that automatically cuts off the gas supply when it senses an increase in pressure out with the limits of the governor, unfortunately they are not fitted as part of the installation but an extra. I have fitted a few but so far only to commercial premises. I have just returned from Houston and am delighted to inform you that you can now purchase metric tapes in Lowes and Home Depot. This will go a long way to eliminate all the mistakes made when measuring in the USA.
A pound of pressure is about 70mbar. Imagine not being able to competently use two systems of measurement lmao
engineer’s rule best of both worlds
measure ft. and 1/10
Am I gonna die?
Where’s Bob Vila?
Tf was that 1:09
Annnnddd that's why I am going with all electric appliances...
Electric appliances suck. Also, gas prices are going down while electric prices are going up.
@@acommentator69 this comment didn't age well. lol
@@justayoutuber1906 Sure it did. My electric bill has gone up more than my natural gas bill over the past two years. Show me evidence to the contrary. A lot of electricity is generated with natural gas anyway.
Hahahaha most people I know know how to shut the main valve off on a gas line.
most people I know don't
I have school tomorrow but I think theres natural gas in our house. I think I'm gonna die because google says natural gas doesn't smell and I have this pain in my chest and I'm afraid to go to sleep because I think I might die in my sleep. Also I cant go outside it's too late at night. Can someone tell me if I'm gonna die or not
Edit: No worries, I'm still alive and well 👍
The gas provider puts smell in the gas.
I don't think he made it. RIP
@@jackhan1 Its okay I'm alive
Burning natural gas doesn't kill people with particulate emissions like coal does.
Huh
What the hell does this video have to do with this?
Has anyone ever figured out what’s going on with Richards eyes?
solar doesn't blow up.
The solar panels might not, but assuming you store that power in lithium batteries, those batteries can surely catch fire if something with the management system goes bad. I think solar is great, BTW, however anytime we store large amounts of energy we take a risk that if not managed properly something could go very wrong.
Lithium batteries actually can explode/catch fire. Solar is also very unreliable and expensive to start up with.
U guys know could build a mansion 😀
well that is backwards lol
here they are ALL ball valve shut off and the line pressure is far more than 1PSI lol
i got to say though
america does seem backwards
your hot water cylinders only last a few years and need anode pipes put in them to make them not rot out
where here out hot water cylinders last from 30 years to 60 years hell mine is from 1982 and only gets a paint brush over the gas holes to unblock them every 10 years lol
and we done have anode rods in our cylinders
Gas is useless just buy electric appliances it’s safer and will save you money in the long run cuz you don’t have to pay for gas
Electricity is WAY more expensive than gas
electric cost WAY more to run than gas...there are no more pilot lights on gas appliances anymore and they are efficient.....
Restaurants love operating with electric appliances. Says no restaurants.
Gas is far cheaper per BTU.
First
Hi
Fortnite Pro ....Danny P
Hi
Nathan Golenski hi nathan
@@tmacfan927, Hey Nathan, tmacfan927 !
august hi August