One of the first things that they recommend you do after a natural disaster is to go around and check your house to make sure you don’t have gas or water leaks, or other damage that can cause additional emergencies if they aren’t caught early and taken care of. Knowing how to turn off your gas, water or electricity could save lives, but it will also prevent additional damage to your home and property.
It’s not that often that you need to turn your utilities on or off, the last time for me personally was a couple of years ago when I had to turn my water off due to a leaking pipe. I needed to turn the water off at the street level, and I wanted to make sure I was doing it right so I pulled up a video on youtube and quickly verified how to do it. With the help of modern technology people often feel that they don’t need to learn how to do things now, since they can always look it up if they need it. In terms of being prepared for emergencies, what we’re really expecting you to do here is be prepared for not having internet access during an emergency and learning how to handle the emergency before the emergency hits.
Natural Gas:
The most dangerous utility left unchecked is your gas line. Not everybody has a gas line, about 60 % of American households use natural gas to heat their home, and additional households use it for cooking as well. If you’re paying a gas bill every month then you’re using it as well, and knowing how to shut it off is something you can learn very quickly.
Your first step to knowing how to shut off the valve is to find the gas meter around your house. The gas meter typically has a metal pipe coming up from the ground that flows into a meter box, which has dials the utility companies can use to check usage, with a metal pipe flowing from the meter box into the house. The shut off valve is typically located on the pipe coming out of the ground and before the meter box. See the image below and notice that the valve is a 90 degree turn, with the gas being on if the wing on the valve is in line with the pipe, and the gas flow would be off if the wing is perpendicular. To operate the valve you can use a traditional adjustable wrench, they also sell gas shut-off wrenches that are specifically designed to turn off this valve. One thing to remember is that these valves are oftentimes untouched for years outside and can be a little tough to turn.
Most individual appliances also have their own shut off valves. So if you happen to know the leak is occurring after that valve you can shut off the power to just the one appliance. The most common appliances are furnaces, water heaters, and stoves, but gas powered clothes dryers and gas powered fireplaces are also somewhat common. There are devices you can get that can capture whether or not there is a gas leak in your house, but you can also just do a sniff test.
If you do turn off the gas to your house it is recommended that a professional turn the gas back on. For this reason it is also recommended that you don’t shut off your gas unless you can detect a leak, either by smell or sound. Natural gas has additives that give it a rotten eggs type of smell, and this is likely going to be the indicator that you’re most likely to encounter that would suggest you have a gas leak. Another common method people take to check for problems after earthquakes is to go outside and check the meter itself and watch to see if the gas dials are spinning, indicating that gas is flowing. So after an earthquake has passed, and if it’s safe to enter your home, do a quick check of all your gas appliances (furnace, water heater, stove, etc) and do a sniff test and a hearing test, listening for any hissing sounds. If you detect that rotten eggs smell, or hear hissing coming from the pipes you should probably shut off your gas to prevent the possibility of fires, which under the wrong conditions can easily be sparked by things as simple as static electricity, or electronic devices.
The primary reason that they recommend having a professional turn the gas back in is to ensure that there aren’t leaks, and ensure that all of your pilot lights are on. There are articles talking about problems caused by differences in pressure between the pressurized inline and the now unpressurized interior of the house, and if you don’t know what you are doing it can cause damage to the meter, or even potential explosions.
If you do happen to live in an earthquake zone you can look into getting automatic shut off valves for gas, which can detect an earthquake and shut the gas off automatically. There are earthquake specific shut off valves, which detect large ground movements, and excess flow valves, which detect high gas flow. I found an interesting article on those here.
Flooding is also a concern with gas appliances. If flooding occurs to the point where your furnace or water heater are flooded, which can mean just a few inches in the basement, this can cause the pilot lights to go out, as well as cause potential damage to the valves that regulate the flow of gas to the appliance. If you have gas appliances that get flooded it is a good idea to turn off the gas to your home. It’s also advised that you have a professional turn your gas back on, as well as inspect the appliances and valves for damage that can lead to malfunctions.
Electricity:
For most natural emergencies shutting off your power probably won’t be necessary. Unless you have evidence of a problem, like flickering lights, smoke, or the smell of something burning there’s a good chance you don’t need to turn off your electricity. Flooding is an exception. Always turn off the electricity before entering a flooded basement. Water conducts electricity, and if the water level is up to where it’s in contact with any outlets, or you have any electrical cords that run along the ground (also any cords that weren’t on the ground initially could move), the water could give you a dangerous shock.
Luckily shutting off your electricity is generally the easiest of your utilities to turn off. All homes should have a main circuit breaker or fuse box. Some homes have multiple circuit breaker panels, but each home should have one primary circuit breaker box that has a main breaker. Turning the power on and off to your home doesn’t cause problems by default, but some of your electronics may not handle it well, so it’s usually advised that you turn off most electronics before turning off the power. There are two main types of electrical panels, the circuit breaker box and the fuse box. Circuit breaker boxes are newer, and most likely what you have.
When accessing your electrical panel it’s important to not have wet hands, and to not be standing in water. Other than that conditions are generally safe for you to access your circuit breaker and turn the power off or on.
The main circuit breaker is usually located above or below all of the other circuit breakers, and is typically labeled 100. To turn off to the power to your house you would simply switch the breaker into the off position. To turn it back on is just as easy, just flip it back to the on position. You don’t need to contact a professional to turn your power on or off, just make your own assessment as to whether or not it’s a good idea.
If you do have a fuse box what you are looking for is the fuse that has the highest number on it. Some older houses didn’t have 100 amp fuses, so the number may be 60 or even 30, but it should be the highest number of any fuses, or it may also say “main” on the fuse. The fuse is a physical object that you would remove, rather than turn to an off position.
Water:
Water leaks are probably the least physically dangerous to people, but overall probably cause the most financial damages. Knowing how to shut your water off can save you tens of thousands of dollars in damages resulting from flooding and water damage. It can also be the hardest to find, so you want to find it when there isn’t an emergency and know how to shut the water off. Also keep in mind that you may have multiple water sources that you need to be aware of. Pretty much every home in the US has one water line to their property, providing the water that comes out of the faucets in the home, but if you’ve got a sprinkler system, or even just outdoor water spigots it’s possible you have a second water line, typically an irrigation water line, and knowing how to shut that is important as well.
If you aren’t already familiar with where your water valve(s) are there are a few main places to check. The first location is out at the edge of your property near the street. These are often buried and have a metal cover that needs to be removed to access the valve, and in some cases a special tool is required to remove the cover. This is where the city, or utility provider, can access your water, and often times there are two shut off valves, one closer to the house for the homeowner and one further from the house for the city. These valves are often several feet deep, particularly in colder climates to protect against freezing, and require a special tool to use. Before you buy your tool you might want to check how deep the valve is and buy a tool deep enough to reach the valve. Searching on Amazon I see several Water Meter Keys with lengths around 17”, and I know that wouldn’t be long enough to reach my valve, so getting the right length matters.
You will generally have a shut off valve at the house level as well as the street level. This valve will oftentimes be located along an interior wall, most often built into the wall and accessible by a panel. In warmer climates the valve might be located on the exterior of the house as well, usually close to the front of the house. If you’ve got a basement start your search there, and look for something about eye level along the wall closest to where your outdoor faucets are located, check laundry rooms, closets, etc. If you don’t have a basement you’ll be looking for something lower down on your bottom floor, again start by checking near the wall where you have an outdoor faucet, and expand the search to include utility rooms, closets, etc.
There are two main types of valves, gate valves and ball valves. A gate valve typically has a circular wheel that you turn that raises / lowers a gate to block the water, and a ball valve is typically a lever style valve that you turn 90 degrees to open close. Your valves can get stuck, and often times require a little force if they haven’t been used in a long time. Gate valves in particular can often get stuck, and can require some additional force to close if they haven’t been used in a while. You can grab a pipe wrench, but remember that you’re dealing with destructible pipes and before you exert too much force you may want to call in a plumber to replace the valve (Something you don’t want to find out during an emergency).
If you have a secondary water supply, typically for your water sprinklers or irrigation, you may need to locate the water shut off valve for it as well. Again there is usually a valve at the property line near the street that is used for the city or utility company, and you can generally shut the water off there, but there may also be a second valve similar to your home water supply located near your sprinkler controls, or your outdoor water faucets.
Knowing how to shut off their utilities is something every homeowner should know, and it’s also something that should be taught to others in the house so they can respond during emergencies as well.
Just a quick recap of some of the important things to remember:
- Know how to turn off all your utilities before an emergency happens.
- Don’t turn off the gas line unless you suspect a gas leak (rotten egg smell, hissing from pipes)
- Call your utility provider or a professional to turn your gas back on.
- Never enter a flooded basement without turning off your electricity.
- Be smart, be safe.