LPG Gas Engineer in Suffolk

 

What is an LPG Gas Engineer in Suffolk?

A gas engineer who works in the Suffolk area of the united kingdom working on both LPG and natural gas domestic appliances.

Firstly, to work on LPG appliances, the engineer must be registered to work on natural gas appliances.

They cannot be gas safe registered for just LPG appliances alone.

 All gas engineers must have the natural gas qualifications first.

We get asked many times, can someone who is gas safe registered able to work on all gas appliances, No is the answer.

I’ll explain all gas engineers take exams every five years for the appliances they want to work on, IE, Cookers, fires and boilers etc.

Most kitchen installers, for instance, will have Gas Safe registration for hobs and cookers for Natural Gas only and not LPG.

If they want to fit LPG hobs and cookers, they will need to sit another set of exams. They will need the Cooker and hob LPG qualification.

Because they have the natural gas cookers and hobs certificate registration, they cannot work on anything else.

If they want to work on, let’s say, gas boilers, they have to sit the boiler exam first.

What people do not realise is to be LPG gas safe registered is expensive and time-consuming.

Each year the gas engineer has to re-register with the Gas Safe register.

Registration also comes at a cost.

They also may have a site inspection from a Gas safe inspector.

Gas safe inspections are at random you can never tell when you may have a Gas Safe Inspection visit.

All registered Gas engineers have to go through a site visit with a Gas Safe Inspector at some time.

The inspection takes around half a day to complete but will depend on the inspector in question.

Every five years, the gas engineer will have to resit all the gas exams for all of the appliances they work with, no ifs, no buts. 

These exams are mandatory and taken over five days for the natural gas registration and another five days for LPG.

If the gas engineer fails to resit these gas exams or fails an exam, they can no longer work on any gas appliance, LPG and Natural Gas appliances until they take the exams.

Each set of exams is expensive that the engineer has to pay for personally.

That’s around ten days in total loss of work, loss of earnings, cost of all the exams.

So you see, to be an LPG Gas Engineer in Suffolk comes at a cost.

It’s not easy to find an LPG gas engineer in Suffolk as you would with a natural gas engineer.

Your best place to find an LPG engineer is the Gas Safe Register, which has all the details of every gas engineer registered in the united kingdom.

The Gas Safe Register has a contact number (0800 408 5500) for you to use if you cannot find an LPG Engineer in your area.

Be aware of anyone claiming to be Gas Safe registered.

All gas engineers have an identity card issued from the Gas Safe Register.

Ask if you can see the engineers gas safe card when they arrive at your property.

If the engineer cannot show you their card, you should ask them to leave.

On the front of the card, you will see a long number like a credit card.

This number is the engineer’s unique Gas licence number.

Another check is to check the expiry date of the engineer’s card. All cards get renewed every year.

The expiry date is the 31st of March every year. All gas engineers cards will expire on this date unless they need to resit their five-year gas exams.

Always ensure you check the expiry date of their card.

While looking at the card, you will see the engineers gas safe registration number.

You can check these numbers on the Gas Safe website.

It’s always best to check this to ensure the gas engineer is who they say they are.

Another reason to check the register is to ensure they are still registered to work.

Some claim to be Gas Safe Registered when they are not. They may have been removed from the register but still have their gas safe card.

You can see how important it is to check the Gas Engineers Gas Safety card.

You will see when searching for an LPG Gas Engineer in Suffolk, not many LPG engineers are available.

One of the main reasons is the cost and time involved to become LPG registered, also the expense just for natural gas registration.

So what’s the difference between LPG and Natural Gas?

LPG appliances work on a higher pressure (37MB), Natural gas appliances work on 20MB pressure.

Let’s say you buy a new gas hob for your mobile home. Most mobile homes gas supply is propane (LPG).

You cannot remove the old hob and replace it with the new one unless it is an LPG supplied one.

Before swapping over, it needs the gas jets changed from Natural Gas to LPG.

Your gas engineer will be able to carry out the conversion for you.

I have had customers in the past say, what’s the difference it is a gas appliance?

Yes, it is a gas appliance, but it needs to be for the correct type of gas IE LPG.

Fitting a Natural Gas Appliance on an LPG supply without converting will result in very high and dangerous flames.

LPG gas jets are half the size of Natural Gas jets.

If we came across an appliance like this on a Gas Safety Inspection, it would be deemed immediately dangerous.

The appliances would be disconnected from the gas supply and made safe.

Then, we issue a gas safe warning notice certificate, required by law. 

Issuing this certificate, the engineer is covering themselves as well as details of the faults found.

Every LPG Gas Engineer in Suffolk will do the same safety must always come first.

I hope you can see from above that an LPG Gas Engineer in Suffolk is not just a plumber but a Gas Safe Registered Gas Engineer.

Who is Registered to work on both LPG and natural gas domestic appliances?

I wrote this article to give you a small insight into what an LPG Gas engineer LPG goes through to work legally.

Last but not least, Gas in the wrong hands is dangerous.

Always use a registered gas engineer for whatever your gas work may be.

Never use a friend or neighbour unless they are gas safe registered.

Stay Gas Safe, Till the next time.

• LPG Boiler Engineer
• LPG Cooker Conversion
• Gas Safe
• LPG GAS SAFE ENGINEER
• Landlords Gas Safety Inspections

LPG Gas Safety Checks Suffolk

LPG Gas Safety Rules

Living in a rural area has its advantages, like the freedom of countryside and the wild animals roaming around, the disadvantages though is normally, no natural gas supply to your home.

Roughly around 80% of homes in England are connected to the mains natural gas grid, the other 20% use either oil or LPG to cook and heat their homes.

If you are one of the lucky people who live in the countryside, then you will know if you want to cook on gas, the only way would be to have LPG installed.

This would normally consist of 2 LPG gas bottles, a change over valve that the bottles connect to, and a cooking appliance that has been converted to work on LPG.

You could even run your central heating system on LPG, the set up would be a little different, but basically the same.

Having LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) is just like natural gas, the only difference is you store the gas in the garden in bottles or a storage tank.

LPG gas safety is just as important as natural gas.

Always have all your gas appliances checked over and serviced at least once a year, by a registered gas safe engineer.

All gas safe engineers carry a gas safe card with details of what gas and appliances they can work on.

Ask your engineer for his gas safe card and check all the details.

On the front of the card will be a picture of the person in question, an expiry date, which is normally the end of March every year, you should also see a licence number which is raised off the card, this is for people with impaired sight.

Now you have checked the front of the card, turn it over, you will see 2 columns, one for natural gas, and another for LPG, this is the one we are interested in.

Let's say you want your new cooker installed, look on the card for cookers in the LPG section, if you cannot see cookers then the engineer is not registered and cannot work on your cooker.

If any of the details on the card are not correct, you need to ask the engineer to leave your property.

One last check you could do is visit the gas safe register online, and check the engineer's details, this will verify if your engineer is fully registered or not. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

Should you let the engineer carry out the work required, you will leave yourself open for prosecution, punishable with big penalties. The engineer could also be prosecuted and removed from the gas safe register.

Gas Bottles

Most gas suppliers when they deliver your gas will normally change your empty bottles for you, but should you need to change a bottle over yourself it's a simple process.

This is where LPG gas safety comes in.

First, you need to have the correct size spanner to undo the hosepipe connected to the gas bottle.

Depending on what setup you have I would advise switching everything off before attempting to change the bottle, once off, isolate the bottle itself by closing the valve.

Now once everything is switched off you can start to undo the hose connection from the bottle.

Swap your bottle over, tighten the hose and you will be ready to go.

LPG gas safety should always come first, gas in the wrong hands is dangerous.

If you ever have any doubt about one of your gas appliances always isolate it, or switch the gas off completely on the bottles and call in the experts.