PNG at home: the meter, the valves and which ones you may touch

When a piped gas (PNG) connection is installed, most families are shown the meter once, told “yeh valve band karna hai”, and that is it. Months later, in a moment of panic, nobody remembers which valve does what. This article explains the parts of a typical PNG installation in a flat or house, which valves you are meant to operate, and which parts belong to the gas company and must never be touched. Read it once now, and show it to everyone who uses the kitchen.

If you smell gas now: do not switch anything on or off, not even a light or the chimney. Close the valve near the stove and, if you can reach it safely, the meter control valve. Open the doors and windows, get everyone out, and call your gas company’s emergency number from outside. The number is on your bill and usually on a sticker near the meter. Our first-minute checklist explains each step.

The path the gas takes

Details vary between gas companies and buildings, but a typical home connection looks like this, from the street to your burner:

1. The riser. A steel pipe running up the outside of the building or through a shaft, carrying gas to every floor. It belongs to the gas company.
2. The isolation valve on the riser branch. Where the pipe for your flat leaves the riser. It is for the gas company’s use.
3. The meter control valve (MCV). Just before your meter, usually with a lever handle. This one you may close in an emergency.
4. The meter. It measures what you use. It is sealed and belongs to the gas company.
5. The installation pipe. From the meter into the kitchen, usually a GI or copper pipe fixed to the wall.
6. The appliance valve. Near the stove or hob, at the end of the fixed pipe. This is the one you use every day.
7. The hose or connector from the appliance valve to the stove or hob.

How to read a valve handle

Most valves in a PNG installation are quarter-turn valves with a lever handle. The rule is simple:

• Handle in line with the pipe: open. Gas flows.
• Handle across the pipe, at a right angle: closed.

Go and look at your appliance valve and your meter control valve now, while nothing is wrong. Note where each one is and which way it turns. If a handle is stiff, hidden behind a cabinet, or you cannot tell whether it is open, that is worth fixing before the day you need it.

What you may do, and what you must not

You may:

• Close the appliance valve after cooking, before going away, and in any emergency.
• Close the meter control valve in an emergency, or when you leave home for several days.
• Read the meter and report a reading if your gas company asks for it.
• Keep the area around the meter and the valves clear, dry and reachable.

You must not:

• Open, loosen or adjust any joint, valve body, regulator or the meter.
• Move the pipe, extend it, or ask a plumber or carpenter to shift it.
• Hang clothes, bags or anything else on the pipe or the meter.
• Paint over the pipe joints or box the pipe inside cabinets without ventilation.
• Break or tamper with the meter’s seals.

Who looks after which part

The gas company is responsible for the riser, the meter and the parts up to the meter, and usually for any change to the fixed installation in your home, such as moving the gas point. Call them for a meter problem, a supply problem affecting the building, or to shift the gas line.

The stove or hob, the hose that connects it, and the burners are on your side. That is where most day-to-day problems happen: a hose past its life, a loose clamp, a burner set up for the wrong gas. These are what our technicians check on a gas line visit, along with a leak test of the connections in the kitchen.

Signs something needs attention

• A smell of gas near the meter, a valve or the stove, even a faint one that comes and goes.
• A hissing sound near a joint.
• The meter dial moving with every appliance switched off.
• A valve handle that is loose, broken or will not turn.
• Rust or green corrosion on the pipe or joints, especially near a sink or a damp wall.
• A hose that is hard, cracked or past the date printed on it.

For the first three, close the valves and call your gas company. For the others, book a check. A proper check includes a leak test of each joint; our article on how a gas pipeline leak test works explains what to expect.

LPG pipelines have valves too

Some homes keep LPG cylinders outside the kitchen with a fixed copper line to the stove. The same valve rules apply: a quarter-turn valve near the stove, and the regulator at the cylinder. Close the stove-end valve after cooking and the regulator in an emergency. The LPG emergency number is 1906.

Questions people ask

Gas meter ke paas wala valve roz band karna chahiye?

The appliance valve near the stove is the one to close every day after cooking. The meter control valve is for emergencies and long absences. Closing and opening it many times a day wears it for no benefit.

Meter chal raha hai jab sab band hai, kya matlab hai?

If the meter dial moves with every burner off and every appliance valve closed, gas may be escaping somewhere between the meter and the valves. Close the meter control valve, ventilate, and call your gas company.

Can I move the gas point myself during a kitchen change?

No. Moving the fixed pipe is done by, or with the approval of, your gas company, and it ends with a pressure test. Plan it before the carpenter starts.

If you want the valves, the hose and the connections in your kitchen checked and tested, book a gas line check. A visiting charge applies, and you are told the cost of any part before it is fitted.