When you buy a brand-new property like we did, there’s a good chance you’ll need to connect gas to your home.
The main steps you’ll need to take are contact Australian Gas Networks to see if you have a gas line connected; choose a provider to supply your gas; decide when you would like the provider to visit your house to connect a gas meter; and get the gas supply working.
It took us a lot of phone calls to get a clear answer about what we needed to do in order to get the gas hooked up, and working.
To save you the runaround, here is a step by step guide to follow to connect gas to your home.
Check if you have a service line
The most important first step is to ensure you have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate gas supply to your home.
If you’ve recently bought a brand-new home that hasn’t been lived in, like us, then a service line should have been installed during the building process.
To check that this has been done, contact Australian Gas Networks, which are the distributors of natural gas across the country.
The call centre operator will be able to tell you whether the service line is operational or not – the details you’ll need to provide them is your address (and most likely the lot number of your property, which you should’ve received on the building plans during the property handover process).
If for some reason a service line hasn’t been installed, the operator will help guide you through the steps needed to get this organised.
It could take up to a few days, or worse case weeks, to get this rectified so the earlier you start the process, the better.
Choose a gas provider
Once you’ve confirmed your service line is operational, the next step to connect gas to your home is to choose a provider.
Some of the most reputable gas companies in Australia are Origin, Simply Energy, and AGL.
We ended up going with AGL, and they’ve proven to be great, but as far as comparable prices to other providers, there really isn’t much difference.
I’ve been with both Origin and AGL and have found them both to be perfectly fine.
Once you’ve made your choice, call up the provider and speak to an operator and they’ll be able to start the process for setting up your account.
Get your meter installed
If you’re moving into a new home, it’s pretty likely that while the service line is connected, there won’t be a gas meter hooked up to the property.
You can check whether you have one by simply finding where the line is located, usually down the side of the house.
The operator will give you two choices on how you can get your meter installed, and complete the process to connect gas to your home: get the provider to do everything, or share the responsibilities between the provider and a private, certified plumber.
Here’s the pros and cons of both:
Provider does everything
This is the option we went with. Essentially, you will arrange a time for the provider to visit your home and connect the gas meter.
However, in order for them to complete the installation and check that the gas is running correctly to all the appliances, you will need to be home to let the technician into the house to do this.
It’s a pretty quick process, and for us the whole process was completed by the technician in no more than 30 minutes.
Should you not be home at the time they arrive, you’ll be charged a fee (usually around $60) by the provider.
They’ll still install your meter, but you’ll need to arrange for a plumber to come around separately to test the gas lines.
Getting the provider to do everything at once is far more cost effective (it’s free), and far less hassle.
Sharing duties between provider and plumber
If you can’t be home when the provider is scheduled to visit to install the gas meter, it’s not the end of the world.
They will still connect the meter, but, as mentioned above, they will not be able to test the lines and you’ll need to book a plumber (at a cost to you) to come over at a later date and ensure the gas has been connected to the appliances inside (e.g. the oven, stove top etc).
Check all the appliances yourself
Regardless of what option you choose, an important step is checking for yourself that the appliances are working before either the provider or plumber leave the house.
There’s nothing worse than being told everything is okay, and then going to use the oven for the first time and finding the gas isn’t connected properly.
The last thing you want to do is waste time getting another technician or plumber to your house to correct what should have already been completed.
Choose how to receive your bill
Once you’ve successfully ticked off all the above steps, you should have gas connected to your home.
It’s a good idea to decide how you want to receive your gas bill.
Login to your account online (through your providers website) and select if you’d like to get your quarterly bill sent to you in the post, or via email.
And that’s it! You should now have gas connected to your home.