Turn Off Gas Supply at Meter

Locating Your Gas Meter Outside

In most Carlingford residences, the natural gas metre is located in a grey metal box outside near the front of the house. Typically, the meter which controls the gas to your house is situated along the wall or on the side of the garage closest to the street.

While searching for your meter, ensure to inspect your property’s front exterior walls, where a gas meter can often be installed, as well as the garage exterior. It may be partly obscured by bushes or other landscaping, but it’s important to keep it accessible to swiftly turn off gas supply to your home if needed. The metal box protecting the metre is often close to eye-level, but placement can vary.

If you still can’t locate your natural gas meter, reach out to your gas company for support. Providing the property’s address should help them identify the metre’s location on their diagrams, especially useful when you need to turn off the gas in an emergency. Failing that, a technician can visit to physically point out its placement for future reference.

Identifying the Gas Shutoff Valve

The gas shutoff valve is an essential feature for controlling the gas supply to your residence, allowing manual cutoff when I deem it necessary. It is normally located on the gas main coming into the property, situated between meter and the point where the line branches off to individual appliances, allowing you to turn off your gas flow when necessary.

The shut-off mechanism, or valve, is usually fashioned either as a lever-style or a turn-wheel design for ease of use. It will be labelled clearly as an "off valve" for gas with a clear on/off indicator. Turning the lever 90 degrees or wheel a quarter-turn until it reads "off" will cut the gas supply off to your home.

To discern where your home’s shut-off valve is located, trace the gas pipeline starting from the outside gas metre to your abode. Frequently, the shutoff will be placed just inside, such as on an external wall in the garage or laundry room.

Follow this gas pipe, which may run parallel to a water pipe, as it enters the structure. Valves are often, but not always, eye-level on the supply pipe.

If you cannot locate your gas shutoff valve located off the meter, contact your gas utility or a licensed technician who can identify and label its location for future safety and maintenance needs.

Safety Checks Before Turning Off Gas

It is a good idea to take safety precautions before manually shutting off the gas supply to your home. This prevents unintended consequences such as your appliances’ pilot lights extinguishing or incomplete combustion occurring.

The key steps are:

• Make certain that you turn off gas supply to your appliances, including your hot water system, initially. This includes water heater units, ovens, cooktops and any heating devices, as a precaution in turning gas off for maintenance or safety.
• Extinguish any active pilot lights on these gas appliances before shutting off the gas flow with the main gas supply valve.
• Learn how to turn your gas off and air out your living spaces by opening all windows and doors, this helps dissipate gas and water vapours.

Ventilating helps ensure there’s no gas residue, removes gas smells, and ensures the safety of your residence, similar to when you turn off the water supply during plumbing work. It also ensures there no risk if any pilot lights unexpectedly reignite due to residual low pressure gas flow.

Once the main shutoff valve is closed, be sure to turn and relight pilot lights one appliance at a time as needed, after confirming that turning off your gas and ventilation are complete. Contact your gas supplier if you have trouble when attempting to turn off your gas.

How to Turn Off the Main Gas Valve

Follow these steps when you need turn off your gas shutoff valves safely:

1. Ensure all gas appliances like cooktops, hot water systems and heating are switched off first.
2. Extinguish any pilot lights on these appliances.
3. Open doors and windows to ventilate the area to ensure residual gas supply can safely dissipate.
4. Locate the main gas shutoff valve on the incoming line.
5. To turn gas off, simply rotate the lever or wheel valve 90 degrees until the indicator reads "off".
6. Check your appliances nearby to confirm there is no further gas flow. Relight the pilot light once the gas is back on if needed.

Activating the manual shutoff valve, which puts it in the turned off position, isolates the gas flow to your property. You’ll know it’s fully closed when appliances stop functioning. Contact us if you’re unsure how to turn off my gas or restore your gas service.

Turning Off Individual Appliances

When performing maintenance or in an emergency, you may need turn off gas supply to specific appliances rather than your entire home. Follow these tips:

• Check the user manual for shutoff valve locations and instructions unique to that appliance.
• Many cooktops, ovens and hot water systems feature their own individual valve taps, ensuring safety and precise control. Simply turn tap clockwise to reach an off position.
• If you utilise your top cylinder of LPG gas, turn the cylinder valve clockwise to close it when not in use or before swapping over empty tanks.
• Do not attempt to turn individual appliances off if you smell a potential gas leak, but rather shut off gas at the main supply immediately. Immediately shut off supply at the main valve and call the gas emergency line.

Learning more about your appliance shutoff valves ahead of time allows you to safely perform isolated gas supply shutdowns when required.

When to Call a Professional Plumber

You should turn to a registered gas fitter in scenarios that pertain to your gas supply and appliances. The expert technicians at Carlingford Plumbing are available to provide assistance in Carlingford and surrounding suburbs with the following:

• Difficulty locating your external gas metre or interior meter box
• Uncertainty shutting off main gas supply valve or appliances
• Restoring gas supply and relighting pilot lights after manual shutdown
• Suspected gas leaks, often indicated when you smell gas with a rotten egg scent or hear a hissing sound
• Damaged gas pipes, appliances or metre box
• Scheduled servicing of gas hot water systems
• Installation, repairs or maintenance of any gas appliances
• General gas fitting services and certification

With over time of a decade of experience, our skilled gas fitter professionals can swiftly diagnose issues and get your gas running safely once more. For more detailed guidance, pay a visit to our website or contact our team.

Phone: 1300 349 338

Email: [email protected]

Restoring Gas Supply After a Shutoff

After manually turning off your gas supply, follow these safety steps before restoring service:

1. Confirm all gas appliances like your hot water system, cooktops and ovens are switched off.
2. Open exterior doors and windows to ventilate.
3. Check for gas smells or leaks throughout the property before restoring supply.
4. Return the main gas shutoff valve lever to the open "on" position.
5. Wait 10-15 minutes for gas to fully pressurise the lines.
6. Relight appliance pilot lights one by one following manufacturer instructions.
7. Contact your gas utility if issues arise restoring supply or relighting appliances.

There may be a delay before appliances ignite after gas restoration due to line depressurization. Be patient, ensure proper ventilation, and call a professional if issues arise when you’re coming home to restore your gas service.