If your home has a mains gas supply, it will reach the property through an underground pipe from the gas main in the street. Depending on when it was installed, this pipe will be iron, copper, or yellow plastic. It runs to the gas meter, which is often under the stairs in older homes, or housed in a special cabinet in an outside wall of more recent buildings.
The flow of gas to the property is controlled by the main on-off lever on the supply pipe immediately before the meter. This lever is fully open when its handle is in line with the pipe, and fully closed when it is at 90° to it. It should be left fully open at all times but it is a sensible precaution to check, at least once a year, that it moves freely, so you are sure it can be operated in an emergency. If the supply pipe is metal, it should be fitted with a metal earth clamp which is connected to the main earthing point on your home's wiring system by a cross-bonding cable covered in green-and-yellow PVC insulation.
Iron or copper pipes run from the meter to wherever you need a gas supply within the home. Gas-fired boilers are connected directly to the supply pipework. Cookers are connected to a supply valve with a plug-in bayonet connector or, on older installations, with a screw-on hose fitting. Branch pipes supplying gas fires and room heaters are fitted with a small isolating valve, and a thinner pipe runs on from there to the fire itself.
How You're Charged For Gas
Gas is charged by unit of consumption, with a standing charge on top. You will normally be billed quarterly, for actual or estimated consumption, but you can opt to pay monthly, by direct debit. See Choosing Utility Deals.
Using LPG
Around 75,000 homes in the UK use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) because they have no mains gas supply. LPG is stored in an outside tank (provided and owned by the gas supplier) that is topped up with regular deliveries by road tanker. A gas pipe fitted with a safety valve and pressure regulator runs from the tank to the home. You may have to buy special appliances to run on LPG, though with minor modifications some mains gas appliances can use it. Your gas supplier will advise you. LPG is 50% more expensive than ordinary mains gas, once the annual tank rental is added to the fuel cost. Switching suppliers to save money is more difficult because the supplier owns the tank. You may need planning permission to have an LPG tank, which must be accessible to the delivery tanker.
