Nylon pipes may cut gas installation cost
PA Wellington. Nylon gas pipes developed in New Zealand may cut natural gas installation costs in homes by as much as half, says the Ministry of Energy. The technical . breakthrough using flexible nylon piping instead of more expensive and rigid steel or copper makes gas as easy to install as electricity. The new system, called flexigas, developed by the Auckland Gas Company, has so far been fitted to only two homes in Auckland. Both a steel and flexigas system were fitted in each house.
In a two-storey woodenframe weatherboard house, the installation cost for flexigas was only $345 compared with $746 for steel. The big saving for the nylon pipe was in labour costs, which were a quarter of that for steel.
In a brick veneer house with concrete slab floor the flexigas cost was $BB6 against $1390 for steel. The Ministry’s chief inspecting engineer, Mr Jim Green, said approval for use of the new system so far had been given only to the Auckland Gas Company. The Hutt Valley Energy Board and the natural gas division of Petrocorp were expected to be given approval for trials by the end of the month, and other gas
. companies were likely to follow. He said the new system made it as easy to install gas appliances as electrical ones. The tubing, originally used in pneumatic brake systems, was flexible and had a slippery coating which made it easy to feed through holes drilled In building studs and up the interior of walls without ripping wallpaper. Because of the small tube diameter, natural gas is pushed through at a
higher pressure. Applb ances will need , slight modifications. But only those customers served with high pressure gas reticulation systems, mostly in newer subdivisions, can take advantage of the hew material. Older areas, such as
much of Wellington city, still, have a low pressure gas system and so will not be able to use the new pipes. However, most gas companies plan a gradual switch to high pressure. •
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Press, 21 February 1987, Page 33
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340Nylon pipes may cut gas installation cost Press, 21 February 1987, Page 33
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