Clearing Snow From Gas Meters

The growing piles of snow may be a pain to clear from your driveway, but as you take the time to ...  More »

The growing piles of snow may be a pain to clear from your driveway, but as you take the time to do so, there's also another area that should be tended to. If your house uses a gas heating system, you should pay close attention to your external gas meter. This area can easily become covered with snow, which creates several safety concerns. Floyd Hanson with andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/montanaandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;Montanaandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt;-Dakota Utilities says it's not uncommon for ice to form on your gas pipes and create stress. He says it doesn't take long to clear them of snow before that happens, and it's definitely worth the small amount of effort. (Floyd Hanson, Montana-Dakota Utilities) andamp;quot;Basically, the weight of the snow is one concern, and the other concern is that the snow might blow underneath the regulator and block the vent from operating, which would turn the gas off, and you'd lose your heat.andamp;quot; Hanson says they have around 17 thousand gas customers in the greater-andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/minot-ndandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;Minotandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt; area, and so far, people have been doing a pretty good job of clearing their meter areas. He hopes that trend continues.  « Less