The short answer
- Start with the utility for your town. It decides whether gas is available at your address and installs the service line and meter.
- Everything from the meter to the appliances is house piping, run by a licensed gas contractor under a permit.
- Size the house piping for every gas appliance you might ever want, not just the first one.
- Past the end of the gas mains, propane is the alternative, and the propane supplier sets the tank.
Is gas available on your street?
A gas meter on a neighbor's house is a good sign, but not proof. The only reliable answer comes from the utility that serves your area. Which one that is depends on where you live:
- Most of Spartanburg County, and Gaffney and the rest of Cherokee County south of the Broad River: Piedmont Natural Gas. Piedmont's line for new residential gas service is 877-279-3636.
- Duncan, Lyman, Wellford, Reidville and the area toward Landrum: Greer CPW.
The utility's part: service line and meter
If gas is available, the utility installs the service line from the main to a meter on your house. Piedmont describes the steps plainly: a representative helps decide where the meter goes and completes a service agreement with you, the service line is trenched in from the street, and a technician sets the meter.
Meter location deserves a few minutes of thought. It sets where the house piping starts, and a meter on the far side of the house from the kitchen and laundry means longer runs. Ask the utility what locations it will accept, and tell your contractor before the meter goes in.
Some utilities tie a service line extension to how much gas the house will use, such as whether you heat with gas. Ask what applies at your address.
On Piedmont's system, it helps to have a contractor in the loop early. Gas Guys is a Piedmont Natural Gas Advantage Partner: we can help you through the new service request, and financing through Piedmont is available for qualifying gas work, on terms Piedmont sets.
Our part: the house piping
From the meter in, the piping is yours, and it is licensed, permitted work. It is sized for the total load of every appliance on the system and the length of the run, using black iron, CSST or both, with CSST bonded to the electrical grounding system.
Each appliance gets its own shutoff valve within reach, and appliances that require one get a sediment trap. Before anything is connected, the system is pressure-tested and inspected, and the inspection is what lets the utility turn on the meter.
The best time to size the house piping is now. If a gas water heater or furnace might come later, sizing the trunk line for it today costs far less than replacing an undersized line in a few years.
Which appliances to convert first
Most people start with the range, for the cooking, and the water heater, which uses gas steadily all year. The dryer is an easy add on the same run if the laundry is near the kitchen. A gas furnace is a bigger change involving heating equipment and ductwork, and is a separate decision.
Each conversion has its own details. A gas range still needs a standard 120-volt outlet for the igniter and controls. A gas dryer runs on a 120-volt outlet instead of the large 240-volt dryer outlet, and needs a metal vent to the outside. A gas water heater needs a flue or a vent route, and a tankless unit needs a much larger gas supply and its own venting.
Permits and the order of work
The house piping needs a gas permit from the city or county that covers your address. Inside the City of Spartanburg that is the city's Building Inspections office; in unincorporated Spartanburg County it is Spartanburg County Building Codes. Gaffney and other towns have their own arrangements, and the contractor pulls the permit. Electrical changes for new outlets are a separate permit.
A typical sequence: confirm gas with the utility, plan the meter location and appliance list, have the house piping installed and pressure-tested, pass inspection, have the utility set or turn on the meter, then connect, purge, light and check each appliance.
Past the end of the gas main
In much of rural Cherokee County and the edges of Spartanburg County there is no main to tap. Propane is the usual alternative. The propane supplier sets and fills the tank and the regulator; the piping inside the house and the appliance setup follow the same code rules, and propane appliances need propane orifices and settings, not natural gas ones.
If a main reaches your road later, a propane house can switch to natural gas. The house piping is checked for size, each appliance is converted or replaced, and the propane supplier removes the tank.
When to call a pro
Call the gas utility for your town first to confirm gas is available and start the service line. Then call a licensed gas contractor to plan the house piping for every appliance you want, before the meter location is set.