When we had a gas leak a few months ago, the gas company rep shut off all gas appliances in the house, made a note of the gas meter reading, waited 10 minutes, and checked the meter reading again. That way he could tell if there was a leak inside the house somewhere, either in the gas lines or in one of the appliances. Such a test should single out a gas leak that's inside the house, which will almost definitely be your responsibility. In some communities, however, a gas line from the main to the meter is on the gas company's nickel. I would contact somebody in your Town to find out the rules. Don't ask the gas company because they'll only tell you that you have to pay for that, even if that's not the case. To find out exactly where the leak is, they use a device like a wand that they move around near the pipes and appliances. If there's a leak, the wand starts to make a loud clicking sound. Were you there when your gas rep found leaks? If not, I think it would be appropriate for you to ask how they found the leaks and exactly where they are. Since so much money is involved, it would not be unreasonable for them to come out again and show you where and how they found leaks. Your house may be 100 years old, but when was the gas line put in? How long do those things last? I think you should make sure that the company is not trying to pull a fast one on you and get you to pay for something they are responsible for.

The answer to your question all depends on the comparative energy rates in your area. Your contractor may best answer this. Some things to keep in mind are that natural gas could be a very good choice for backup, particularly if you plan to install gas for other household applications (stove, dryer, fireplace, BBQ). Keep in mind that ground source heat pumps have no defrost cycle and the gas backup will only activate to assist the GSHP - not instead of the GSHP. So in all likelihood very little gas will be used, comparatively speaking. The geothermal heat pump can be used in conjunction with a gas instantaneous water heater such that the hot water generated by the desuperheater is stored in a buffer tank, which then feeds the gas instantaneous water heater. This way the gas instantaneous water heater only has to make up the difference in temperature between its set point and the output of the buffer tank (about 110ðF), again resulting in reduced usage of gas. If I were choosing this type of configuration, I would install a geothermal split heat pump coupled to a Carrier Infinity gas furnace, appropriately sized. You would of course require the Carrier NIM module to interface the geo unit to the Carrier Infinity system. SR

The answer is typically yes. Ask the electrician what the upcost would be to do what you are asking for. Also make sure that you are talking with at least 3 different companies. 3 bids will give you a good idea if your guy is whack or on track! Good luck

RE: solar potential in the Midwest. We can actually get very little sunshine in the winter and early spring and sometimes can go a month at a time without hardly seeing the sun. The upper Midwest is the second worst place for solar potential after the Pacific Northwest. Even so, apparently with photovoltaics becoming more affordable and efficient and the amount of sun that we do have, it's becoming more viable to use them as an alternative energy source. I'm seeing slightly different statistics than David on electrical and natural gas home fires. It looks like there could be as many as 500 deaths caused by electrical home fires each year, with over 50,000 total fires, meanwhile roughly 2500 home fires are started by natural gas. The number of at home natural gas related deaths was a little less clear. I saw the 10 per year number, but that seemed to include all natural gas fire, not just in homes, and that wouldn't account for other natural gas deaths. Though in either case while the probability may not be as little as 1000:1, the chances of a natural gas fire as compared to the total number of dwelling units in the United States is about .002% each year. Also another factor in the sustainability equation: currently most of the power in our area is produced with coal. Until that changes, which is hopefully in the near future, it could be considered more environmentally friendly to continue heating with natural gas.