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No Gas Coming Into The House
Nothing gas-fired will run — no hob, no fire, no boiler — and the problem is upstream of the appliances.
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What's happening?
When every gas appliance stops at once the fault is almost never in the appliances. It is at or before the meter: a prepayment credit that has run out, an emergency control valve someone has closed, a meter that has isolated itself after a supply interruption, a tripped safety device inside a smart meter, or an outage on the supplier's network. Distinguishing them is mostly a matter of looking. A prepayment meter will show a message. A closed emergency control valve is visible at a glance — the handle sits across the pipe rather than along it. A network outage will usually be affecting neighbours too, and the emergency service will already know about it.
What usually causes it?
- A prepayment meter out of credit, or with credit on the meter that has not been accepted
- The emergency control valve beside the meter left closed after work in the property
- A smart meter that has isolated the supply after a pressure event and needs re-energising
- An outage or planned interruption on the distribution network affecting the street
- An appliance isolation valve or a service valve turned off during a repair or a kitchen fit
- An empty LPG bulk tank or bottle on a property not on mains gas
- A meter regulator or governor fault at the meter installation
Is it dangerous?
Losing gas is not dangerous, but the return of gas can be, because every appliance in the house needs relighting and purging properly. The situation to take seriously is a supply that stopped on its own and then restored on its own, or an appliance that will not relight afterwards — that suggests a pressure or governor fault rather than a simple isolation. Never open the emergency control valve if you do not know why it was closed; someone may have shut it because of a leak.
Can I fix it myself?
Check the obvious. Look at the meter for a display message or an out-of-credit warning and top up if it is prepayment. Look at the emergency control valve: gas is on when the handle lies along the pipe and off when it is across it. Ask a neighbour whether they still have gas. Check that nobody has closed the appliance isolation valve behind a cooker. If you turn the supply back on, relight appliances one at a time following each manual. If you do not know why it was off, leave it off and ring 0800 111 999.
When should you call a gas engineer?
Ring the National Gas Emergency Service first if the supply is off for no reason you can identify, if neighbours are also without gas, or if there is any smell. Once the supply itself is confirmed good, a Gas Safe registered engineer is who you need to purge and relight the installation, prove working pressure at each appliance, and put right anything that will not restart. Prepayment and billing problems are for your energy supplier, who is a different organisation from the emergency service.
What will the gas engineer actually do?
- Check the meter installation, emergency control valve and governor and confirm standing pressure
- Carry out a tightness test before restoring gas to the installation
- Purge air out of the pipework safely and prove the supply at each appliance
- Relight and recommission every appliance, taking a combustion reading on each
- Check working pressure with all appliances running to spot an undersized or restricted supply pipe
- Report a meter, governor or network fault to the party responsible for it
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