Gas Meter Removal and Musings on Preservation

While it may not seem connected to the library expansion... old house work is a little bit of a cross between a domino rally and "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." I have a gas pipe that used to feed the boiler WAY back when this house still had radiators (far before my time). It's been capped and not causing any issues...  Except it runs right where the bookshelves need to be. So, I set out to remove it.

Since it's a pipe without a separate valve and only the main service valve remaining, it wasn't something I felt comfortable messing with. Nor did the fellow facilities folks in my circle: we all seem to share the same two-valve-rule when working with things that can explode. In hindsight, I could've asked the plumbers to remove it back when we did the water heater or the HVAC, but I didn't.

So, I went into removing this one pipe with two thoughts:

1. Call the local plumber. They're fantastic, and as far as I can tell, the only licensed plumbers to have worked on my house in the 103 years it's been here. A few years ago, that was a $250 item on the budget. As a stand alone two years later, I'm sure it'd be a little more.
2. Call the power company and figure out what it takes to remove the gas meter. I figured digging up the road and capping the pipe would be cost-prohibitive, which was why I didn't push too hard on this one sooner.

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It turns out, adding a service is the expensive part, and each month we were paying around $20 to maintain our gas service. That is partially why removal with our gas company was free. Granted, it took a little digging on my end to figure out how to get the right paperwork to the right people. I worked with the building department and wound up filling out the forms for a service demolition. I didn't have to do anything, since it is their equipment.  They coordinated with excavation, public works, and permitting.  It was probably the most hands-off I've ever been with a project here.  

​Now it's official: our house is truly gas-free.  

On Balance

So much of this process has been the long road to balancing sustainability and preservation. It's almost like that's what this space is dedicated to. I think a lot about how to bring our little house into the future, and what our neighborhoods will look like in 20, 50, and 100 years. At its core, preservation, adaptive reuse, and salvage are some of the most sustainable choices we can make with our homes.

The debate over new technologies vs. old technologies is always a comparison of pro and con lists. While turning my bungalow into a passive house with perfect sealing and packed in insulation isn't practical, demolition to install a passive house isn't practical either. Beyond the historical integrity and connection to the past, the embodied energy and quality of materials in this house would be nearly impossible to replicate today and it would be cost-prohibitive.

So, we adapt. Someday, our replacement windows will become single pane replicas with interior and exterior storms, and we'll continue happily cooking with our induction stove on energy provided by the sun. The cracks in our walls and spots of air leakage get sealed, and we'll continue installing technology where it matters to keep us warm in winter, and cool in summer.

This century is going to demand we do things differently. It'll demand that we make our own energy, that we burn less, and that we recognize that being in it together really means all of us. I may be on the front edge of a lot of these changes -gas-free in MN is basically unheard of- but sometimes demolishing the pieces that don't work for us is what makes way for what can.  Coal-fired furnaces from the beginning of the last century have gave way to natural gas.  This is what's next.  Saving $20 a month for service maintenance isn't bad either.

There is sentiment among old house folks and preservationists that our houses don't belong to us: they belong to the people who came before us. They are an important part of our homes, but really they belong to those who come after us. Eventually, we are all going to be part of this historic fabric. We are torch-bearers: and our responsibility is to honor those who came before us and respect those coming after us.