Water Heater Choices & Maintenance
Shutting off gas to your whole house
Anyone who may be home alone should know how to shut the gas off to the home. This is especially important in the event of an earthquake or other problem that would require the gas to be shut off for safety reasons. We recommend buying a gas meter wrench at your local hardware store - a wrench like the red one shown hanging near the gas meter in the photo to the right. This simple inexpensive device should be kept in a convenient location so that it can be used in an emergency.
An adjustable wrench will work also, but the end of the gas meter wrench is slotted to fit perfectly over the shut off valve on your gas meter.
To turn off the gas, simply engage the shut off valve with the wrench, and turn it ¼ turn so that your wrench is now perpendicular or “cross ways” with the pipe.
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Shut off valve open, wrench parallel to pipe |
Shut off valve closed, wrench perpendicular to pipe |
Note that the lock out flange is aligned when the gas is OFF. These holes come together and allow the gas company to lock out the meter, as shown below:
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Closed shut off valve with holes on right side of lock out flange aligned. |