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I just moved into a house this year with gas heat-I've not had gas before. I did have the cooking stove gas line and the dryer line capped off and now just use it for the furnace. I was nervous at first but am comfortable with it now. My furnace does not have a pilot light-it sparks itself-so I don't have to worry about the pilot going out and gas running. We also placed CO and fire detectors on every floor and the basement.
Several years ago, my dh and I were awakened by a rumble. Turns out a house 5 miles away had blown sky-high. It was newly constructed and the closing was the next day so it was unoccupied thank goodness! It had propane heat and a worker had left the gas running somehow the night before (didn't light the pilot or something) and the house blew. It caused several nearby houses to shift off their foundations. That was crazy, but again that was propane and not NG.
Pilot lights these days are designed with a device so that if the flame goes out, the gas stops flowing. Almost everything however uses electronic ignition. Exceptions are probably hot water and fire logs.
I live in a neighborhood that has gas and in the 15 years that I have been here there has never been a problem as far as I know with anyone that has it. On the other hand, there is a house here that burned to the ground that was one of the few without gas installed. The fire dept. determined that it was due to a faulty electric dryer installation.
I've got a gas cooktop, gas furnaces, fireplace, clothes dryer and hotwater. It's great and can't dream of going back to an all electric house.
During Hurricane Sandy I know of at least one house which blew up due to a severed natural gas connection. A tree had been uprooted, and the street gas line was under the roots of the tree. When the tree came out, it pulled on the gas line which broke the connection at the house and the house filled with gas and exploded. Not a common situation but it is possible.
It is more than 100 homes actually mdorovich. Breezy point and Mantoloking NJ.
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