Powerco's part and yours
| Who looks after it | Who to call | |
|---|---|---|
| Gas main in the street, up to the meter | Powerco, which also installs a new meter on the side of the house or on the section | A gas smell or damaged pipe: Powerco, 0800 111 848 |
| Pipes and appliances from the meter in | You, the owner | An authorised gasfitter |
| Moving the meter | Requested through your energy retailer | Your gas retailer |
Gas in Palmerston North
Gas heating at twice the national rate
At the 2023 Census, 24.4% of Palmerston North dwellings used a fixed gas heater as a main type of heating, more than double the national 9.5%. Wood burners were almost as common, at 24.7%.
Powerco's network, branded The Gas Hub
Powerco's gas network flows through Manawatū as well as Wellington, Taranaki, Horowhenua and Hawke's Bay. Its connection arm, The Gas Hub, handles new connections.
A no-go zone round the meter
By law, no fixed ignition source may sit in the exclusion zone around a gas meter: no electrical boxes, gas appliances, flues or heat pump units. Meters generally go along the front of the house or up to three metres down a side.
Connecting a home
The Gas Hub says a home generally needs to be within 20 metres of a gas main to connect, and you sign up with a gas retailer before applying. A gasfitter then installs the appliances once the meter is in.
Servicing, flues and unflued heaters
The Gas Hub recommends having gas appliances serviced every 1 to 2 years, much like a warrant of fitness, so flues stay clear and appliances run as they should. Many gasfitters service appliances as well as installing them.
It also steers people away from unflued heaters. An unflued gas appliance adds moisture and dampness to the house, should only be used in a well-ventilated room, and must be kept at least one metre from anything that could catch fire. Flued heaters, which most natural gas heating systems now are, remove pollutants and water vapour to the outside.
Who may connect your appliance
All gasfitting is restricted work. A certifying gasfitter can do it unsupervised and certify it, while someone in the Gasfitter class works under a named certifying supervisor and can't certify. A restricted gasfitter can do gasfitting but can't connect an appliance to the supply. Look up both the gasfitter and any supervisor by name on the PGDB register.
Whoever connects the work, or their supervisor, issues a Gas Safety Certificate if they're satisfied it's safe. If they aren't satisfied, the regulations say they must disconnect it from the gas supply immediately. New installations and alterations also need a certificate of compliance before they count as finished.
Questions for a Palmerston North gasfitter
- Is our meter's exclusion zone clear, given where the heat pump went?
- Will the pipe from the meter carry another heater?
- Is this heater flued, and where will the flue come out?
- When is our next service due, and what does it cover?
What we would do
Treat everything past the meter as yours to look after: book a service every year or two, and replace an unflued heater with a flued one if you can. Before adding a heat pump or anything electrical near the meter, ask a gasfitter where the exclusion zone runs. And keep Powerco's leak number, 0800 111 848, somewhere you'll find it in a hurry.