I used to move Houses [not just mobile homes I did that also] real full sizzzzz HOUSES, where I used all types of heavy machenry everything from a hand shovel to a motor grader even a 200 foot crane, I was also a forman plowing cable and house drops for the phone company among many other type construction jobs. The first and only ones you should ask this question to is your local Building Inspector, Fire Marshall and the Health Inspector,,, each of them will know the answer according to the codes in your area. It is not weather you place them in the same trench, ditch or what ever you want to call that hole you make in the ground,,,,, the real question should be, what is the legal spacing between them,, the depth and what other safety measures do you need as well, since you are placing the two of them together Id say that they will tell you at least 3 foot deep, and will also probably tell you that the electric will need to be piped with PVC etc. if that close to a gas line, and going into the ground from what ever box it goes into on each end. I will tell you this,, If you are cutting through roots rock and other debree, it is easy to cut through a gas line or electric wires with a machine and not even notice it. Even if they are 2 foot apart and some one comes in with a ditcher, trencher, cable plow, back hoe or what ever CROSSING them and cut them both, the gas will escape and when the power line is cut [and possably even after it is cut] I'll assure you that it will spark,,, now you will probably have a fire. It is nearly impossable to put out a natural or LP gas fire untill a shut off valve is closed... If that operator didn't know the utulites were there they more than likely will not know where to turn the gas off either. Even if they were spaced 10 foot apart. Gas has little limit of how far or how fast it spreads, the wind and confinement has a lot to do with that. If a gas line is cut by a cable plow and then 10 foot later it cuts the electric lines the gas is sorta confined in the small trench and follow the plow and now its like the gas line is laying beside the electric line only you have the whole trench full of gas plus what seaped out,,,,, now we are talking about explosion!!! I would rather be watching from a distance than operating either of those machines at that time Since you are talking about two items that you do not really want screwing up while laying beside the other,,,, The farther apart they are, the better,,, the deeper is even more better. BUT you do not want to get so deep that it is unsafe to be in the trench, OSHAs law states you have to have a cave in protector if over 4 foot deep or "if the ground is so week that cave in is possible". Now that I have you scared to [almost] death,,,, if you haven't made up your mind, get on the phone, all three numbers should be in the yellow pages. good luck - PS,,, I'll bet you would never even think trenching in gas and power to your shop would be this complex did you???

I am adding an addition and need to move my gas meter. The Gas company is being less that helpful and has instituted a new meter move policy that is proving to be inefficient. Also, we need to move the meter twice (to a temp location, then the new permanent location) and they want to charge 1k for each move. Can I just disconnect my gas and connect a CNG tank to my supply line for a week or two to supply my dryer, cooking, and hot water gas requirements? I know I could convert to Propane and get tanks, but I would rather ntot convert my equipemnt.

I've been talking to the natural gas company to find out if my existing gas meter is large enough to deal with everything I have planned for it and the response was that it needs to be upgraded. However, they want to charge me $1325 to upgrade the meter. Major OUCH! I asked what the BTUs are for the existing meter so I could gauge how much of what I have it supports and the response I got was 300,000 CFH. I did some Googling of converting CFH to BTUs and didn't understand the responses. Anyone know how to convert the 300,000 CFH figure the gas company gave me to see how many BTUs it will cover (from my list of BTUs above)? If I have to shell out $1325 to the gas company I'd guess switching the electric water heater to tankless is a "no go" based on way too expensive with tacking on the meter upgrade, just would make more sense to keep an electric water heater, I don't like it but it's hard to justify massive amounts of $$ to go tankless. But if my meter is close enough (the reality is only two people live in the house, all of the above things would not be running simultaneous) then perhaps it is a go and I skip the gas meter upgrade.0 Thanks!

Heat loss calculations look at the building envelope, not the load between floors. You could apply basic heat transfer principles and calculate each space on its' own and estimate heat loss and usage, but this would be a theoretical exercise and have very little legal standing. No one would or should pay utility allocations based on a unsubstantiated calculation. Where you really need to start is with the landlord/tenant laws for your state. Depending on what is allowed your options, best to worst, would be: 1) Split up utility services (gas, water, electric) by apartment and require tenants to have their own account. 2) Submeter utilities with additional gas/electric/water meters and chargeback tenant. That mean's one main feed to the building with separate in-line meters that you log and allocate a portion of the monthly utility bills based on the reading. 3) Remove the upstairs thermostat. You can replace the thermostat with a space sensor, and then remotely set the thermostat to an agreed temperature above the legal requirement. The most important part of all this is the state laws. Some states don't allow submetering. Regardless of what you choose you need to get the tenant to accept it in writing in their lease.