Won't find that 'code' requirement for pipes to be in sleeves under streets or throroughfares in my state either. --------------- That said, whether the owner pays for the upgrades and piping necessary to serve the gas requirements of the dwelling, or whether the gas company pays, will often be determined by the calculated gas demand and whether or not the gas company can sufficiently recover its investment in a resonably short period of time. If when building an all gas home, for example, the gas utility will likely determine that despite the cost to them for the initial hookup, the payback in gas purchases over the life of the structure is more than enough to not charge any installation fee for the gas service. If, however, one has an existing all electric home, but wants to convert to gas just to run a back-up gas generator in the event of a power failure, the utility will likely want to charge the customer the full costs associated with installing the new gas service because there is little chance the company will ever recover their that investment. So it really depends on how much demand one will have that ultimately determines whether or not the utility charges for the service hook-up. ------------ It can also depend upon where the meter is located. Typically, the utility is responsible only for the gas lines up to the meter. Where metering is done at the street in a curb box, the cost to the utility to connect gas service can be negligible. But where metering is done at the dwelling (as it is in my state), the costs to the company for initial installation can be considerable...especially if the dwelling is many hundreds of feet from the street or they encounter things like bedrock. ----------- Bottom line: It is not unusual for the gas utility to charge for installations...especially when gas demand will be low or distances to connect are long or difficult to achieve.

cs That is the same in my area. There is really only 1 company that has been doing GT for a long time - something like 20 years. Everyone else - just a few - are newbies. And you have to factor all of that into your decision. For the install, you could have a company travel from a distance to do the job. But what happens when things go wrong - if (when) you need service? I have had a contoller board and a fan relay fail on one unit within the first 12 months - both of which seem to be related to a power surge. But when heat is out, and it is cold outside, I want it fixed right away! And I mentioned it before - put whole house surge protectors in your main panel to protect your HVAC equipment (see www.smarthome.com, Panamax Whole House Surge Protectors). Make sure you spend the money and get good equipment, read the warranty and post with the equipment recommendations to get second opinions. I also think that if your company is a distance away, having some guages on the system so you can trouble shoot with your HVAC guys over the phone will help. Some of the tools the HVAC guys use (like temperature probes) are not expensive, so you could do things like check loop input and ooutput temp, air input & output temp - the basic things they would do to trouble shoot a problem. Have them explain to you what to look for on the contoller board when there is an issue - and how to reset it if your compressor locks out. With mine (Econar GeoSource 2000) the lights on the board will tell you if the compressor is locked out or if there was a pressure alarm condition. In my last home, I had gas heat and electric A/C. I found a great HVAC company and never worried about the system - knew very little about it. When it broke, I just called my guys. With my new home, I want to know everything about my GT system - not just because I find it inetersting, but because I know that if that one company who installed it goes belly up, there are very few people around here that know anything about GT or how to maintain the system I have. I also recommend that you install some form of backup heat if you live in a cold place. I chose to install direct vent fireplaces that are rated as heaters. This decision has turned out to be one of the very best investments we made in the house. When power goes out - or the heat pumps break - I can fully heat the house with one wood burning fireplace and two gas fireplaces. All of the fireplace units units have blower fans and thermostats - so they can be set to operate just like a heating system. All fireplace electronics are connected to the backup generator. I can live without A/C on a hot day, but cannot live without heat on a very cold night. Just some ideas to think about.

Just want to chime in here for anybody else contemplating this in their remodel. We bought a Florida 1971 split-plan house on slab concrete and gutted the middle part, moving the kitchen about 10' over and added an island prep sink & gas range, and all the associated electrical needed for a 16.5' island (it's really a galley style kitchen but one side is an island). We were also pleasantly surprised how inexpensive it was to have the entire raised dining room removed and repoured along with all the trenches, especially thinking how many weeks it would have taken to DIY and haul away all the debris. (Just don't forget to have the dirt sprayed for termites before the pour! And keep the receipt. Don't ask how I know this.) When they jacked out the old plumbing, the drainpipe had completely rusted through under the slab, near the spot where the old sink was. If you could only smell the rancid grease that emanated from that section of pipe, you would never, ever, not even think about pouring grease/oil/fat/drippings/etc down a sink again - no matter how much hot water you waste after it. (If you ever watch "Dirty Jobs", you've possibly seen the one where he cleans out a rancid grease vat and was puking his guts out.) A relatively small amount of hardened grease allowed some water to pool behind it and rust out the pipe. Who knows how long the sink water had been actually draining out under the slab? Just keep in mind that this could happen to you!

Forget the conduit and go for a tunnel. We actually looked in to that. We get 10'x culverts buried for walk & bike tunnels (amazing how many more kids walk/bike to school when the dangerous crossing in front is eliminated) and it's not that expensive. We can get 8' sections of 6'x5' fairly cheap but by the time it was integrated in to the basement, stairs added on the garage end, moderately waterproofed, sealed and fie/weather doors added we were looking at about $40k. And realistically, even in winter, I'd probably often think it easier to put on a coat (or put up with the cold) and walk straight across rather than go down to the tunnel. Our builder did do a house on another nearby lake that has a basement 24' above water level. They have an elevator that goes down about 20' and then a culvert tunnel out to their dock. They apparently didn't want a rail style wheelchair lift like we're planning for (in the far distant future).