[DugCave]

Yoda, I was assigned to the 17th TAS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. We flew on 130-D models, A models with skis. The picture was taken at a radar site on the greenland ice cap in 1969.

[punkpup]

Originally Posted by chuckster

Why not shut off the gas at the meter, which is above ground by the house. Only takes 1/4 turn. Same place where gas company shuts it off for inhouse repairs or to lock it off for non-payment. Check it out if you have gas just so that you know where to shut it off in an emergency. All you need is a crescent wrench or large pliers.

Seems as though newest homes are all-electric and do not have gas available. Is this true?

I work for the Natural Gas Division of nationalgrid in Massachusetts. We generally use Pipe Wrenches to turn off/on gas meters but you can use a crescent wrench, channel locks or pliers. There is also a wonderful 4 in 1 Emergency Tool by On Duty which you may find at the Hardware Store or at this site: http://tools2you.com/store/merchant....id=2362&step=4 which I believe may be the one Linwood refers to in his post.

If you're interested in learning how to turn off the gas at the meter you may find these links helpful:
http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/edusaf...ic/turngasoff/
http://www.earthquakesolutions.com/id82.html
http://www.pse.com/SAFETYRELIABILITY...s/ShutOff.aspx
http://www.seattle.gov/html/CITIZEN/...tyShut-Off.PDF

Something you may want to consider if you spend any length of time away from your home is to call the gas company to have them shut off the gas and install a lock on your gas meter. Obviously you can just shut the gas off yourself but you will continue to receive a monthly gas bill from the Gas Company if you do.

NOTE: Once the gas is shut off at the meter, do not try to turn it back on yourself. (Unless of course you are a qualified professional.) If the gas service shutoff valve is closed a qualified professional should perform a safety inspection before the gas service is restored and the appliance pilots are lit.

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by punkpup

I work for the Natural Gas Division of nationalgrid in Massachusetts. We generally use Pipe Wrenches to turn off/on gas meters but you can use a crescent wrench, channel locks or pliers. There is also a wonderful 4 in 1 Emergency Tool by On Duty which you may find at the Hardware Store or at this site: http://tools2you.com/store/merchant....id=2362&step=4 which I believe may be the one Linwood refers to in his post.

If you're interested in learning how to turn off the gas at the meter you may find these links helpful:
http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/edusaf...ic/turngasoff/
http://www.earthquakesolutions.com/id82.html
http://www.pse.com/SAFETYRELIABILITY...s/ShutOff.aspx
http://www.seattle.gov/html/CITIZEN/...tyShut-Off.PDF

Something you may want to consider if you spend any length of time away from your home is to call the gas company to have them shut off the gas and install a lock on your gas meter. Obviously you can just shut the gas off yourself but you will continue to receive a monthly gas bill from the Gas Company if you do.

NOTE: Once the gas is shut off at the meter, do not try to turn it back on yourself. (Unless of course you are a qualified professional.) If the gas service shutoff valve is closed a qualified professional should perform a safety inspection before the gas service is restored and the appliance pilots are lit.

Thank you punkpup. It is always good to get input from a pro. A friend who retired from another major natural gas supplier had told me the same thing you advise.

[gfmucci]

Originally Posted by SteveFromNY

GMONEY - I found the following excerpt from the article to be extremely important.
"No lightning protection system can be relied upon to "contain" or "control" lightning completely (nor thus far, to prevent lightning strikes), but they do seem to help immensely on most occasions of lightning strikes"

A properly installed LPS will mitigate much of the damage potentially caused by lightning. A google of pictures of lightning strikes will show many pictures of tall buildings being directly struck by lightning. So structures do get hit, and all of these tall buildings are built with LPS. So you can draw the conclusion they do in fact work, although nothing is ever gauranteed. One site I found says the Empire State Building gets hit directly between 50 and 100 times per year. And I've not heard of it being dammaged.

I had a system installed on my home in TV last year right after the house in Sunset Pointe got destroyed. My system includes specific grounding for the gas lines in the attic and the gas main, as well as the normal "rods" on the roof. I hope to never be able to tell you it worked or it didn't - but on the off chance that it would work to mitigate damage, the investment seemed minor. Frankly, I can't understand why everyone in TV doesn't get one installed. In my entire life I've heard of a few trees being hit, maybe a neighborhood transformer, but since last year, I've seen 3 strikes that destroyed 1 home and severly damaged the others, and heard about 2 or 3 more. So the Lightning Capital of the World (as Central FL is sometimes called) lives up to its name.

Look around - the fire house on Buena Vista at Liberty Park, and most of the buildings in LSL have protection. All the airports have them. All the major municipal buildings have them. Why would they have them if they don't work?

Very wise, Steve. I agree 100%. I had a similar lightning system installed last year as well. There are about 7 or 8 rods at the various peaks of my roof, including on top of my satellite dishes, vent pipes, grounds to the gas line outside, grounds to the gas lines in the attic. It doesn't prevent strikes, but it greatly increases the odds of leading the lightning into the ground and not INTO the house.

Even at that, I have identified the location of my gas meter and the shutoff valve and the large pliers that will be required to turn it one quarter turn clockwise to shut it off quickly if I need to.

Below is a photo of my gas line shutoff, marked "1". "2" is a 3/4" thick copper ground cable attached to the gas line.