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Inspection of Natural Gas Meters for Home Inspectors & Owners
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
Gas meters in homes: inspection, troubleshooting, leaks, reporting: This article explains how to visually inspect natural or piped-in gas meters for defects and safety concerns. This document provides free sample draft home inspection report language for reporting defects in oil and gas piping at residential properties. Here we provide descriptions and photographs of unsafe gas piping, indications of unsafe or improperly operating gas appliances, gas meters, and other gas installation defects are provided.
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Safety & Inspection of Natural Gas Meters for Home Inspectors & Home Owners
 Immediate LP or natural gas safety hazards: if there is evidence of an LP or natural gas leak at a building, gas odors, for example, you should:
- Do not do anything that is likely to cause a gas explosion, such as lighting a match, operating an electrical switch, or even using a telephone in the building
- Leave the building immediately
- Notify other building occupants of the safety concern
- Contact the local gas company and/or fire department
Indoor Gas Meter Inspection, Defects, & Recommendations
Gas meter location: gas meters are located outdoors except when special permission is given by the gas company. Indoor gas meters increase the risk of an indoor gas leak, require special venting, and can make it more dangerous to shut off gas in an emergency.
If your gas meter is located indoors you should discuss this matter with your gas company. In this photo the gas meter shown is an obsolete model (so perhaps at higher risk of dangerous natural gas leaks into the building (an explosion hazard), and we saw no gas regulator and no vent from the meter to outside. This meter needs to be inspected by the local gas company. It may need to be relocated outside or vented to outside for safety.
Readers whose homes are served by bottled or LP gas should see LP Gas Tanks and can read about LP gas tank gauges at LP Gas Tank Gauges. Also see the US DOE publication "How to Read Residential Electric and Natural Gas Meters".
Natural gas or piped-in gas safety warning: improper installation and even improper inspection and testing methods involving natural or "LP" gas can involve
dangerous conditions and risk fire or explosion. If you smell gas you should leave the building immediately and should do so without doing anything that could create a spark such as operating a light switch or telephone. From a safe location, call your gas company's
emergency line and/or your fire department. The text provided here is a working draft and may be incomplete or inaccurate. |
If the gas meter is located close to a heating system, such as in this photograph where the piped-in natural gas meter and its control valve were
located next to and nearly touching a hot air furnace, you should review the safety and building code compliance installation with your gas company. Gas
piping or meters which could leak gas into a heating system or duct system are dangerous.
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If the gas meter is close to or touching the ground outdoors or touching a building surface indoors, such as in the photographs above
where the piped-in natural gas meter is outside partly buried and inside the gas meter resting on and touching brick in a wet basement, there is a danger of gas meter corrosion
and dangerous gas leaks.
Outside the soil needs to be removed so that the meter is not touching dirt. If this corrective measure means that we've created a low area by the foundation it's important to keep roof spillage out of the low spot or we may invite building foundation leaks and basement water entry. A window well can be installed around such an excavation to help keep surface runoff away from the building.
You should review the safety and building code compliance installation with your gas company as soon as possible. Gas
piping or meters which could leak gas are dangerous. In this photograph (click the photograph to enlarge it) corrosion is visible on the bottom
of the gas meter where it's supported by wet brick. |
Gas Meter Capacity or Adequacy
Safety Suggestion: gas meter adequacy: If additional gas equipment has been added to this building since the installation of the original gas service meter, it is possible that the added demand can result in low gas pressure or unsafe operation. The meter itself may need to be replaced with a higher capacity unit for safety. Please review this question with your gas supplier.
Gas Meter Venting Requirements
When a gas meter is used indoors good practice and plumbing codes require that the meter regulator be connected to a vent pipe extending to the
outdoors so that in the unlikely event of a leak-failure of the gas pressure regulator, leaking gas will not accumulate in the building where it
would form an explosion hazard.
Safety Recommendation: gas regulator vent: We did not find a vent pipe venting the gas regulator (located inside the building) to outside. Such vents are recommended and may be required by local or state codes for safety. Please review this question with your gas supplier.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration - eia.doe.gov/
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - epa.gov/solar/energy-and-you/affect/natural-gas.html
- At Natural Gas.Org www.naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas.asp#emission you’ll find a table of combustion products
- At geocities.com/rainforest/6847/report1.html is an interesting and detailed though not “neutral” report on the components and contaminants in the combustion of natural gas. You’ll see a long long list of emissions products, but look again – most of the contaminant levels listed are in the picograms.
- apvgn.pt/documentacao/iangv_rep_part1.pdf lists the components in natural gas exhaust from vehicles
- The Need Project, Manassas, VA: need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/SecInfo/NGasS.pdf
- Kroschwitz, Jacqueline I., and Mary Howe-Grant (eds.). "Gas, Natural." In Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. 4th ed., vol. 12. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1993.
- Tussing, Arlon R., & Bob Tippee. The Natural Gas Industry: Evolution, Structure, and Economics. 2nd ed. Tulsa, OK: PennWell Publishing, 1995.
- "How to Read Electric and Natural Gas Meters", U.S. DOE original source: www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13120?print
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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