Do you have a gas stove installed in your kitchen or have you moved into a new building and are just waiting for it to be connected? Agree, fumes and a lack of oxygen in the kitchen are not the best aspects of using it, and an open fire creates a danger, especially if there are children in the house.
When buying an apartment, you get a ready-made solution - either a gas or an electric stove, and it seems that this cannot be changed. But this is not so, it is quite possible to abandon gasification, and we will help you with this.
In this article, we will look at the reasons for refusing gas supply, how to turn off the gas in an apartment, what documents and authorities need to be involved, whether it is worth doing, and also how to switch from a gas stove to an electric one.
Is it possible to switch from gas to electricity?
It is possible to refuse gas and switch to electricity in the entire house only after a unanimous decision has been made by all its residents. But even if such a decision is made, it should be taken into account that in order to turn off the gas in the entire house, it will be necessary to reconstruct the in-house power supply and hot water supply systems (if gas water heaters are installed in the building). Replacing the power supply system is necessary due to increased loads. If an electric stove with an oven is installed in every apartment in a gasified building, the load on the networks will increase, and the system may simply not be able to withstand it.
Question answer
How often should gas stoves be serviced?
Is it legal
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The installation of a gas stove is regulated by Decree of the Russian Federation No. 410, which stipulates all aspects and rules that must be observed when assembling gas equipment. In accordance with the law, a specialist trained as a mechanic, gas worker or engineer has the right to disconnect devices from the pipeline. Any operations with gas equipment are carried out through the appropriate department, otherwise the violator will be charged a fine of up to 3,000 rubles.
Routine inspections are carried out annually by gas workers. The integrity of the equipment and the quality of the operation of the devices are inspected. If traces of self-disconnection are detected by management employees, an administrative violation is approved. This is punishable by disconnecting the subscriber from the supply or by a fine. It will not be possible to agree on mitigating penalties. To temporarily shut off the gas supply to the furnace, you must seek help from “specially trained people.”
At whose expense is the power cable in the house replaced?
According to Art. 39 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, owners of premises in an apartment building bear the costs of maintaining common property. The power cable also belongs to the common property of the residents. Therefore, it must be changed at the expense of the common funds of the owners. As a rule, these are funds for major repairs.
Replacement of electrical wiring can only be carried out by licensed organizations. The owners will have to negotiate with power engineers so that specialists will replace the power cable throughout the entire house and draw up a report on this. The cost of the work is determined by its complexity and labor intensity.
Safety regulations
In such work, negligence and neglect of the rules, even the simplest ones, which, at first glance, do not represent any importance, are unacceptable. However, if you follow them all, you can avoid a lot of troubles and problems.
Several points noted below will help protect yourself from troubles.
- Complete shutdown of any electrical appliances, including lighting. Even a small spark can be dangerous, so all devices are turned off, and equipment such as phones and tablets are taken to other rooms. It is best, of course, to turn off the general power supply.
- High-quality ventilation of the room, preventing the accumulation of gas. This means open windows, interior doors and a working standard home exhaust system. Remember that electrical appliances must be turned off! There should be a draft moving around the apartment or house.
- Using the right tool. The keys must be the same size (gas keys numbers 1 and 2 are suitable here). Never use steel keys (only protective ones: brass and plastic).
- Before starting work, you must turn off the valves on the riser and turn off the power to the stove completely.
- Each pipe is closed with a plug until the next operations begin.
- Checking for leaks. This can be done by applying a thick soap solution and then applying gas.
Attention! If strange noises, a strong smell of gas or hissing suddenly appear, then you must urgently call the gas service to prevent unexpected incidents from occurring.
Is it possible to change a gas stove to an electric one in a separate apartment?
It is possible, but such changes relate to redevelopment and must be approved by the relevant authorities with the issuance of official permission.
To install an electric stove in an apartment, several conditions must be met:
- write an application to the management company about changing the device;
- contact the power grid (in Moscow JSC Mosenergosbyt) to agree on the possibility of installation and connection (clause 1.7.1. Rules and regulations for the technical operation of the housing stock).
If it turns out that the house’s electrical network may not be able to withstand the load from the operation of the electric stove, it will be necessary to install new wiring to the apartment. As a rule, in houses where gas stoves are installed, the permissible load on the electrical network is limited. When replacing a gas stove with an electric one, even the connected power may not be enough to install a standard four-burner stove. Therefore, the owner can install a stove with lower energy consumption (for example, a two-burner stove (2-2.5 kW each).
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How does it happen in reality?
The gas stove is usually connected to the pipe in the kitchen using a flexible hose, in front of which there is a shut-off valve. That is, to disconnect a gas-using household appliance from the gas pipeline, it is enough to close the valve and unscrew one nut on the outlet with a wrench.
To disconnect a gas stove from a gas pipe, you only need to know how to handle a wrench and have a head on your shoulders
The operations of temporarily disconnecting and then connecting back are extremely simple. However, before you turn off the gas stove yourself, you should think again. If everything is put back in place after the repair and the stove is properly reconnected, the gas guy won’t even notice anything. It is enough to tell him that no one touched the stove, it was simply moved to the side.
The inspector will not be able to make any claims against such a house owner for arbitrariness. The stove is in its old place, there are no gas leaks - everything works properly.
But every time the gas worker has to pay about 500–1000 rubles simply for the fact of coming. However, no one here wants to pay extra. How much such savings are justified - you will have to decide personally.
Yes, and we should not forget about the dangers of such manipulations. It’s one thing that this is illegal, and another thing is that by deciding to disconnect the stove from the gas pipe yourself, you are endangering your life and that of your household.
Often kitchen renovations go like this:
- the owner of the house unauthorizedly disconnects the gas stove from the pipe with a wrench;
- then repair work is carried out on the premises;
- then the owner again independently connects the stove back to the pipe.
No extra costs for calling a gas technician. And everything is basically completely illegal.
Then the master comes with an annual inspection, sees arbitrariness, but cannot do anything. There are no gas leaks, and it is impossible to prove unauthorized actions.
Seals are placed only on meters. Moreover, if problems are discovered during the inspection, then the employees of the inspection organization will certainly issue an invoice for disconnecting/connecting and correcting the identified deficiencies.
What is needed to turn off the gas not in a separate apartment, but in the entire house?
The procedure for turning off gas in an apartment building consists of several stages:
1. Obtaining the consent of all residents. The decision is made at a general meeting and is confirmed by a protocol in which all citizens registered in the house sign.
The minutes of the general meeting (starting from March 05, 2022) have a complicated form. The document should be provided to the resource supply company.
2. Next, you need to develop design documentation and obtain permission for redevelopment. Project documentation is developed by an organization with SRO approval (certificate of admission to construction or design work). The redevelopment project with the abandonment of gasification will also need to be pre-approved by the gas supply company.
3. The project will need to be shown to the company that supplies gas to the apartment, and permission must be obtained from them as well. Or you will need to attach Mosgaz’s consent to carry out such work to the package of documents.
4. If the allocated power is not enough, residents can contact the energy sales office at their place of residence and find out how much it is possible to increase the power output. If it turns out that a large load is impossible, then you will have to negotiate with power engineers about laying a new power cable.
6. After approval from the gas service and power engineers, gas appliances are dismantled. To disconnect an apartment from gas supply, you must leave a request on the Gorgaz website. Employees will draw up a sketch for cutting the gas pipeline, issue an invoice and conclude a contract for the work. The cost of work is calculated on the basis of territorial estimate standards.
7. After dismantling the gas equipment and installing electric stoves, it is necessary to conclude and sign an agreement with the management company and the resource supply company (energy sales) on payment, maintenance and servicing of the building, which has received a new status.
According to Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Valery Vasilyev, it is difficult today to transfer apartment buildings from gas supply to electricity, primarily for financial reasons. As the senator noted, in Khakassia alone, a region with a low population density, this will require 100 million rubles. According to Vasiliev, it is more expedient to upgrade gas networks and strengthen control over the operation of gas equipment.
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Expert advice
Experts in the field of energy and architecture recommend carefully approaching the issue of abandoning gasification. Omission of even a small nuance in calculations can cause major technical and administrative complications. In some cases, the competent authorities may refuse to issue a permit, and correcting the deficiencies will be too expensive.
Professionals advise not to dismantle gas pipes, but to put them into conservation mode. This will make it possible to return to the previously used method of obtaining energy.
In what cases is it impossible to switch from gas to electricity?
Switching from gas to electricity is problematic in dilapidated houses. Installing new electrical equipment may weaken the supporting structures. Difficulties with replacement may also arise if the local substation is unable to cope with the additional load that will arise if you turn off the gas and connect a house equipped with powerful electric stoves. In such cases, the project is simply not approved. To find out the allocated power, you need to contact the operating organization (in Moscow and the region - this is Mosenergosbyt OJSC).
Using the oven
After turning on the heat in the oven, it is best to set the heat to the maximum temperature to save time. But during this period it is necessary to carefully evaluate the smell that may appear as the temperature rises. In older stove models, you will have to check the uniformity of the fire visually.
You can watch the flames in the oven through a special window.
If signs of a specific gas composition appear, you must immediately turn off the device, ventilate the room and repeat heating after a while. If after a couple of minutes of heating there is a trace of burning, this means that the walls have not been properly cleaned after previous use. It is better to turn off the stove and wash the walls, otherwise the new dish will absorb burnt particles and spoil its aroma.
Some models from previous releases have design flaws that lead to burning of food. If it is not possible to replace the equipment, then folk remedies can come to the rescue: placing silicate bricks at the bottom, containers with water, salt or sand.
How much power is needed to install an electric stove?
Each apartment in a multi-storey building is allocated a certain power, in the presence of a gas pipeline - 5 kW, and in a house without gas supply - up to 10 kW. Accordingly, due to the increase in electricity consumption, it will be necessary to install new wiring and install a special socket for the electric stove (Resolution of the State Construction Committee of the Russian Federation dated September 27, 2003 N 170 “On approval of the Rules and Standards for the Technical Operation of the Housing Stock” clause 5.6.19). If this is not done, the wiring will catch fire due to the increased load.
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Procedure for restoring fuel supply
Since all cases of shutdowns are carried out according to the standard scheme, to fully understand the issue, let’s consider the process of stopping supply using the example of how gas is turned off in an apartment for non-payment:
- Incurrence of debt. The law does not talk about amounts - the period for full or partial non-payment is at least two months in a row from the date of the last payment.
- The supplier sends the debtor a notice of the upcoming sealing with a mandatory indication of the planned date, reason and amount of the debt.
- A second notification is sent no earlier than 20 days later. It can be sent later. Only after 20 days have passed after sending the second reminder, the service organization can cut off the gas.
- If there is no response, the installation team of the service organization or the emergency dispatch service of the gas distribution company goes to the address. Only they can perform technological pruning operations.
- After disconnection, an act is drawn up in two copies.
- No later than one day after pruning, the service organization is obliged to notify the supplier of the fact of the shutdown and its reasons.
Types of penalties for heating with stoves
Our country periodically experiences all sorts of crises and disasters, which affects the quality of service. As a result, ordinary people have come up with a lot of options for using gas stoves for other purposes.
For example, stoves are used not only for heating air, but also for heating bricks, salt in the oven, and other things. All of these devices are then moved to living quarters and used to increase the temperature. You can also get information about a method such as heating a large container of water to a boil. After which the gas is turned off, and the water gives off heat to the air in the living room for a long time.
Incorrect use of a gas stove. Immediately after receiving the relevant information upon receiving a message about such a violation, for example, after a neighbor calls the gas service, a procedure can be initiated to disconnect the consumer from the centralized gas supply system
Don't deceive yourself and risk your lives. Since there are no completely safe options for heating a room using a stove. The reason is that it is not gas that causes accidents, but ignorance of safe use rules. Consumers simply leave the stoves without control (which in itself is prohibited), forget about them, and fall asleep. Which leads to incidents.
This feature has been taken into account by legislators, therefore any method of heating is considered prohibited, since this is not the intended use of the stove.
Violators of fire safety measures should remember that the law provides for various fines for their actions. For example, the Code of Administrative Offenses has more than a dozen articles under which sanctions may be imposed on them.
But the most severe types of punishment for heating with stoves and its consequences are prescribed in the domestic Criminal Code. Thus, Article 168 of which states that for a violation that led to damage to property, sanctions may be imposed in the form of a fine of up to 120 thousand rubles. In addition, the offender is allowed to restrict his freedom for a period of one year.
And in Art. 219 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation talks about penalties for violating fire safety measures that cause harm to human health. For such an act, a large fine is provided (up to 80 thousand rubles), and, if the case is serious, then the person who likes to warm himself with a stove may be deprived of his freedom. And not for the shortest period of time (up to 3 years). When the actions of a violator lead to the death of people, he may be subject to many years of forced labor (up to 5 years) or imprisoned for an impressive period (up to 7 years).
. valve
To open a cast iron or brass valve, you need to rotate the handwheel on the stem “counterclockwise”, and close it “clockwise” (Photo 9). Before closing, make sure that there is no rust on the rod, especially the steel one. Otherwise, you need to clean the rod and apply a little lubricant to it.
If the valve stem does not turn at all or with great difficulty, then you can loosen the packing nut a little and try again. And if there is no liquid in the pipeline, you can do this: remove the flywheel, completely unscrew the stuffing box nut, remove the bushing, then remove the old stuffing box and replace it with a new one. And assemble everything in reverse order (Photo 10).
