Gas lines are necessary for use in home and business settings. As an essential component of home heating and cooking, gas is fast becoming a core essential in many homes. Though gas lines are slowly becoming common place and poised to replace coals for heating, there still remains a lot of work that needs to be done to make gas as common place as coal especially in the rural areas. However, gas lines are risky infrastructure projects to undertake because they can cause undue stress, damage and frustrations.
Benefits of Gas Lines
- Convenient and available
As the world slowly transitions towards renewable energy, safer gas is becoming more readily available for other uses other than industrial and automotive use. This means there will be more gas companies ready to offer piped gas to households and businesses in order to make their bottom line. Since gas lines are installed below ground they are more reliable and less prone to supply disruption.
- Cost effective
In comparison to electricity, gas lines are easier to install and repair. They require less equipment and personnel and will be less likely to cause disruption to your daily activities or those of your neighbours when doing an installation.
- Environmentally friendly
Natural gas burns cleanly as compared to coal and this provides immense benefit to the users since they will be less prone to carcinogens and other bi-products of carbonation. You tend to breathe easier around natural gas as compared to other forms of energy produced from burning carbon dioxide. The fact that the entire infrastructure is underground also makes the entire technology quite carbon friendly.
There are many other advantages of using gas lines as compared to other forms of energy use around the home or business. However, installation of a gas line requires a more structured approach.
Reasons for new gas line installation
There is reason for installing gas lines because over time, these lines become obsolete and broken down, therefore, they require replacement, repair and augmentation to fit into existing lines or new ones. Over time, Gas lines will continue to become more popular because no other source of heat has proven more reliable than piped gas.
As with any other infrastructure, gas lines require constant monitoring and updating to ensure they conform to the current building plans and regulations in place. Other infrastructure changes will necessitate a change or installation of a new gas line. The primary reasons for building a new gas line are:
- Installing new gas appliances
- Building an addition onto an already existing home
- Switching appliances from oil to gas-based appliances
- Replacing old and worn out pipes and infrastructure
- Updating old gas appliances and lines
These changes can occur in a small scale whereby the individual home owner is overhauling their entire gas system or just certain parts or it can involve entire municipal areas and zones where the entire infrastructure involves several houses. Whether it’s a residential block or an entire residential block, there are some common issues that affect gas lines.
Issue Affecting Gas Lines
There are three common issues that affect gas lines. These issues all relate to the materials that most gas lines are made of and the circumstances they are exposed to. Some of these issues are:
- Cracked seals-Bell joints and spigot seals; common in gas lines erode over time. The rate of erosion depends on the volume and level of usage. Gas lines are heavily dependent on these seals and therefore where a seal is cracked, it should be repaired immediately. A professional gas line repairman should be able to diagnose whether a problem arises from a cracked seal or any other issue.
- Wrongly-sized fittings- in some instances, new systems replace old lines and there is a difference in fittings. These differences are only easy to address where there is a seamless transition from one fitting to another, however if a complete overhaul occurred, then some fittings might be wrongly sized and create problems.
- Corroded joints- joints tend to have protective layers to prevent them from day-to-day wear and tear. These damages are normal and expected, however, some corroded joints may go unnoticed and later result in expensive repairs and overhauls.
Installing a gas line or even conducting repairs on it will require the assistance of a professional. A professional gas installation expert must have the required stare-certified licences and certifications to undertake the project. An expert would undoubtedly know the basic steps to setting up a gas installation, but it is also crucial for the client (You) to know the finite processes that are involved in gas installation. These processes are:
- The first step a professional gas installer will do is to determine where to tap the gas line. A professional installer will find the closest place where the line can be attached to the mains connected to the house. From this connection, all the necessary connections to the house can take place.
- The next step is to install a t-fitting. A t-fitting provides the correct junction towards the house or premise and this t-fitting can also shut off the main pipe from any errors or issues that might arise from the new line. It is common for new connections to have some issues during installation and therefore the main line has to be protected from the new connection.
- The final step after all other corrections, repairs and augmentations have occurred is to make a final inspected. There are many levels to which repairs can take place but an inspections should always be a part of every step in order to ensure everything is up to state and municipal code.
In essence, a gas installation project can either be a personal or municipal project but, they require the same level of professionalism to install. Whichever approach one takes, it is important to ensure that your new home is gas line ready and capable of adopting new changes to its gas line systems.
