gas service with 1/2" line?!

[Vintage Veloce]

I live in an old home in San Diego. We called dig alert before starting the garage project and I met the guy who came today.

To my surprise, the gas company runs one line onto my property and then it splits to serve both my and my neighbor's meters. Even more interesting I think he said it is a 1/2" line. I was shocked it was that small for one home, let alone two...
He said the line was plastic and installed in 2010, and probably just run inside the old original metal pipe.

But then I realized, maybe it is under higher pressure and is regulated down at the meter? Is that how it works? It does look like there is some regulator on the meter. We have a tankless water heater, a gas range and a gas furnace, and all seem to work fine...

View media item 60471

 

[brewchief]

Yes it's at higher pressure and reduced at the meter.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[readhead]

The thing on the left is the pressure regulator.

 

[mizzoutrover]

Yep, pressure regulator to the left of the meter. The service line typically operates at about 30 psi and the pressure delivered inside your house is about 0.25 psi....the service has the capacity to serve several times more gas than you and your neighbor use

 

[Vintage Veloce]

Ah, so when people talk about having a "big enough line" for a tankless heater, they are only talking about the pipe house side of the meter?
C

 

[birmingham]

that meter is good for about 500,000btu. a tankless hot water heater is about 200,000. its by far the largest gas drawing appliance you have. street pressure may exceed 100 psi, the max I usually see going to the meter is 14psi.

Thats a white face meter, area behind the dials is white. its a 1/2lbs system. If it was red its a 2 lbs system. thats it for residential. some commercial very very rare can be on a 5 lbs system in the building but the meter looks much much different the local hospital that i service is on 5 lbs. only one that I'm aware of.

 

[mizzoutrover]

In the Midwest it would be very unusual for the service line to the meter on a home to be too small to provide sufficient gas to all of the typical gas appliances.

 

[rlitman]

In the Midwest it would be very unusual for the service line to the meter on a home to be too small to provide sufficient gas to all of the typical gas appliances.

I could see that. In my area, it depends on when the gas was installed at the street.

My parents have no pressure regulator at all (yeah, it's an OLD service). 1 1/4" coming into the basement from the street to an indoor meter at 7" WC IIRC. I could see that if a smaller pipe was installed they could run into trouble.

My own house has 3/4" coming in from the street at 60 PSI (the meter and regulator are both outdoors). My original meter was rated for 175kBTU, but when I installed new gas appliances the utility gave me an upgraded meter.

 

[birmingham]

I have never seen a meter or regulator indoor, is this done for snow load and making it easier on the meter reader? seems like a real pain to try to get inside to read the meter.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have never seen a meter or regulator indoor, is this done for snow load and making it easier on the meter reader? seems like a real pain to try to get inside to read the meter.

I think it used to be an old practice, we don't see many in basement anymore. I belive when they used to do it was the period of time the wife stayed home and didn't work.

If you weren't at home when they came by, they would leave a tag on the door saying they would return on this date/time.

 

[vtcat]

I have been told some of the new high efficiency residential equipment likes to trip if line is to small.I work as a Boiler Plant Operator for a University.We are 30psi in the building with what looks like a 4" line.

 

[rlitman]

I think it used to be an old practice, we don't see many in basement anymore. I belive when they used to do it was the period of time the wife stayed home and didn't work.

If you weren't at home when they came by, they would leave a tag on the door saying they would return on this date/time.

By me, the tag they leave comes with a card where you can enter your own reading. They require entry for a company meter man a minimum of once per year to maintain service.

A friend has a meter in the basement, WITH a regulator inside too. There is a pipe leading from the regulator to the outdoors so that a failure cannot fill the house with gas.

 

[sberry]

I like the explanation about regulators here, there are charts for real math but the same applies to compressed air systems to some extent. The size of the main on 2 stage systems is often fussed over endlessly when it really doesn't have much to do with actual performance.

 

[nh_yota]

Yeah that looks similar to the gas meter on the outside of my house. The lines down the street run at a much higher pressure than the lines inside your house. It's similar to power transmission except that you and your neighbors may share a transformer on the pole.

 

[Beemer533]

By me, the tag they leave comes with a card where you can enter your own reading. They require entry for a company meter man a minimum of once per year to maintain service.

A friend has a meter in the basement, WITH a regulator inside too. There is a pipe leading from the regulator to the outdoors so that a failure cannot fill the house with gas.

This is exactly how it is in my house as well...

I'd love to have mine moved outside to get the wall space, but it probably isn't really worth it...

 

[pmiranda]

Yeah, my house has what the plumber called a medium pressure system... There's a meter and regulator outside, and another regulator and manifold in the attic. Came in handy when we got a tankless.

 

[dave*99]

I have never seen a meter or regulator indoor, is this done for snow load and making it easier on the meter reader? seems like a real pain to try to get inside to read the meter.

I lived in a house with the meter indoors. There was a clear glass block in the basement wall so the meter reader could see the dials.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

This is exactly how it is in my house as well...

I'd love to have mine moved outside to get the wall space, but it probably isn't really worth it...

That's nuts. Every house I have lived in I can smell gas around the meter. I would not want that inside.

 

[Beemer533]

I don't smell anything, hopefully I'm not just used to it

My mom's house is identical actually, I never really thought about it that much..

This post edited by the NSA

 

[aslack99]

This is what I do for a living, the pressure on the main/service can be up to 60#MAOP, before it becomes a HP transmission line. The regulator typically cuts it to 5.3-6.0 oz. That is why the line in the ground can be much smaller(more gas molecules crammed into a tighter space).

 

[naturalgas]

I'm retired gas service tech. Right probably 60psi service from main to regulator. Plenty of gas. That meter is rated for 250 or 275k btu. Two or more service lines off one branch is common. Also pool heater use is like an average home. If you smell gas at a meter set. Something is leaking. Also very common. Should be soap tested on occasion.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk