Gas line pipe too small?

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Dhoerl

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The gas company (natural gas) just replaced a 30 year old meter with a new one - the location is quite out of the way, so I took a good look at it after the installer left. I really don't remember the old setup.

What I see now is that on the outlet side of the meter - the low pressure side - is a 2" - 3" 1/2" "stub" connecting the meter to the inside plumbing. There is some sort of "yoke" that this connects into above the meter - a metal bar that has connections on either side that bridge pipes to the meter.

The low pressure (regulated) side of the meter has a reducer stuck in it (probably a 3/4" to 1/2", then there is a 2" or 3" piece of 1/2" pipe, which is threaded into the "yoke". The yoke has a reducer in it - guessing 1" to 1/2", but to be truthful it looks old. The other side of the "yoke" goes to a 1" (or larger) main line that runs across the basement (and has taps into it).

Obviously this 1/2" stub is going to reduce the potential amount of gas the meter can deliver. How can I compute what that amount is?

Should I call the gas company and have it replaced with a 1" stub?

David
 

hj

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gas

A short section of small pipe is usually irrelevent because the flow velocity can increase to compensate for it. It only becomes an issue with a longer section of pipe when friction loss starts to become an issue because of the higher velocity.
 
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