Sudden Drop in Natural Gas Pressure? Here’s What’s Next.

Natural gas is a common heating element in many homes, giving your home heat, hot water, and sometimes even electricity. If you find that you have low natural gas pressure in your home, it can lead to a lot of problems, ranging from not being able to keep the heat on to a potential gas leak. Once the problem has been located, it can be repaired.

Here the necessary steps to take to maintain safety and functionality:

• First, check the natural gas pressure against what you’re supposed to have. A natural gas gauge can be found at your service line, or you can call your gas service provider and get an updated account of what your current gas pressure is. Often gas pressure issues come from the gas company; the gas company then has to fix the gas problem from its end.

If it’s not on the operator’s end, turn off all extraneous uses of natural gas. For instance, if you have a gas stove, hot water heater, fire place, and house heater all working at once, then that might result in low pressure. Leave on only one device at a time, and then check the pressure again to see if it rises. Overuse can cause the pressure to drop.

• Check for gas leaks in your home. Use a natural gas hand-held detector and go from room to room, checking to see if there are any levels. Additionally, examine the natural gas pipes and see if there are any smaller leaks at the joints or if there is a small hole or crack in the line.
• Next, shut off the gas. You may need a professional for the next few steps. Drain the system and replace the damaged part of the pipeline with a fresh section. Cut out the section of pipe where the hole is with a hacksaw and place a fresh section of pipe into the gap. Turn on your hand-held torch and melt a line of solder all around the connections, forming solid joints. Allow the joints to dry before restoring pressure.

After the professionals are done with repairs, they will check the natural gas levels again. If you notice a decrease in gas pressure, it’s probably best to reach out to the case company right away unless you have the proper experience working with natural gas.