Gas line too small

Yes. or to contact the utility and ask them. part of the requirements of their mechanical permit to install it. don't pay the contractor until it is working and they have fixed the damage from the new gas line. you will have to pay the utility to install the larger line and meter. or maybe the contractor will suddenly figure out that they can install a smaller boiler and melt it more slowly with the existing gas supply.

a different regulator isn't gong to solve the problem of the service lateral being too small to supply the needed amount of gas at the pressure in the main.

Oh come now Ed 😅I'm sure there can be frustrations, but Massachusetts is:

• Ranked #3 in education with a high school graduation rate over 90%
• Ranked #2 or #3 in per capita income
• Ranked #8 in overal economy
• Ranked #2 in health care
• Ranked 4th or 5th lowest in crime rate
• Has been ranked as the best state to live in many times including the last two years

That doesn't just happen by accident my friend!

It appears that you have high pressure (relatively speaking) natural gas gas lines. Until about fifteen years ago there were few homes in the area of NJ we service with high pressure gas lines. Thankfully, the utilities (with the help of the government I suspect) decided to update the antiquated underground pipe network and installed high pressure lines.

That being said, we have done and still continue to to oil to gas conversions on a regular basis. When we visit the site (residential, commercial or industrial) we always try to look at the incoming gas line to the meter, the meter, the gas pressure regulator and the house gas line. In most cases the gas line from the street is adequately sized, but often the meter is too small. I suppose the gas company knew most customers would eventually heat with natural gas.

In your case, you mentioned Utah, I'm guessing the northern part of the state as you mentioned frozen ground and snow. I think your contractor may have forgotten how much energy (natural gas) it takes to heat the great outdoors to prevent "the greatest snow on earth" from accumulating. Based on your posts, I'm guessing the load for snowmelt may be double or triple what is required to heat your house.

Have been in MA all my life. One of the most restricted states as far as regulations. New gas installations are not allowed in some areas. If my situation was different, I would have been out of her 5 1/2 years ago when I retired.

But then again, we do have Cape Cod.

One thing I do strongly agree with MA on is the "letter of availability" required to add a larger load to an existing gas system. If the building owner wants to add a substantial load it's up to the plumber/gasfitter to notify the gas utility. The utility does the engineering (meter size & pipe size) up to the meter and says yea or ney. They then furnish the letter of availability because you can't get a permit without it.

It avoids the situation we have above. And if it doesn't it surely shows where the responsibility falls.

We also have no HP gas inside any house, up to the meter yes. MA considers HP anything over 12" of wc. We also cannot have natural and propane in the same building without special permission. Commercial and industrial can have HP gas in the building but you have to have a drawing by a PE and stamped and signed off on by the inspector. That's bad enough, but you used to have to go to Boston to the plumbing Board to get HP gas approved.

The other issue is that ALL gas and plumbing products regardless of when, where or who made them are not supposed to be installed in MA unless they are listed on the MA web site. This sometimes gets overlooked.

But I had a job in an industrial plant where they put on an addition and wanted to relocate some existing gas equipment that had been previously installed and permitted and was in use for 20 years or more.

The inspector would not approve the install because this old equipment was not listed on the MA web site. (MA had no listing requirement when it was originally installed)

But there was a work around that required the building owner to hire a PE to certify that the old equipment was OK to install. More $$$$$

So, see what I mean about regulations?

And by the way. There are no Homeowner permits for gas or plumbing

So if you like MA by all means give it a try!!

that’s a tough one, and we’ve all been there. The contractor has a hard lesson on his hands.

(Massachusetts: snap—-we have forum rules 😌)

@Claz Go with the 1-1/4", This way if you need to add anything in the future you will not need to go through this again.

@ethicalpaul

Outside meter are good. With an inside meter and the utility outside digging they would sometimes hit the gas pipe and it would leak. The gas can follow the outside of the pipe and leak into the house.

Doesn't sound logical but it happens. That is the big reason they went with outside meters

Yeah I think it is a good change. My old meter connection was a little leaky too which wasn't great. And now there's just very low pressure gas coming into the house, no more regulator except on my boiler, so that's all good.

But it's a lot freaking harder to clock my boiler now LOL

If they break or damage the gas line underground and it is an outside meter the gas shouldn't have a path into the house , less likely but anything is possible.