No gas: the ladder. Episode forty-three of the Gas Service Animated series.

No gas is the most common call there is, and the first move isn't a tool — it's a question. Is the whole house out, or just one appliance? That single answer splits the call in two, and tells you whether you're working the street side or the appliance side.

If everything's out — every appliance, no pilots, nothing — the problem is at or upstream of the meter set. That's the curb valve at the street, the meter valve, a failed or frozen regulator, a tripped safety shutoff or excess-flow valve, water or ice in the service, or a utility outage. Tell-tale for an outage: the neighbors are out too, and there's zero pressure at the meter inlet. And most of that side is utility property — you confirm the symptom and hand it off.

If it's one appliance while the rest of the house runs, the problem is downstream of that branch: the appliance's own shutoff valve, its flexible connector — kinked, or a connector with a safety device that tripped or got installed backward — a plugged orifice, or the appliance itself. One dead appliance is almost never the meter.

Two measurements split the whole thing. First: is the meter registering? Run a known load and watch the smallest test dial — no movement means the meter isn't passing or counting gas. Second: what's the pressure? Inlet pressure at the meter but low or nothing at the outlet points at the regulator, the overpressure device, or an excess-flow valve — not the meter's diaphragm. And remember the difference: a partly-closed valve or a kink gives you low gas and a weak flame; a hard blockage gives you none.

So you climb the ladder in order. At the appliance: is its valve open, does it call for heat, does it try to light? At the branch: any tripped connector device? At the meter: is the valve on, is it registering, what's the outlet pressure? At the street: curb valve, service, outage. You don't guess — you eliminate, one rung at a time, from where you're standing toward the gas.

And here's the rule that turns a no-gas call into a safe one. After any interruption of service, the code says you leak-check the piping the moment gas is turned back on, and you do not put a single appliance back in service until that check is done. Air trapped in a line that was worked reads as no gas until it's purged — the burner clicks but won't catch. So the turn-on is never just reopening a valve: it's purge, leak-check, wait, and relight every pilot.

Two safety lines run under every no-gas call. If you ever smell gas or find a leak while chasing no gas, that stops being a no-gas call and becomes a make-safe call — protect life first. And the meter, the service valve, and the regulator belong to the utility: confirming the symptom is your job; operating or changing that equipment is theirs.

Put it together. Whole house cold, no pilots. Neighbors have gas, so it's not an outage. Meter inlet has pressure, the meter valve's on — but the outlet's dead and the dial won't move on a load. That's not the appliance and not the street. That's the regulator or a safety device between them — exactly where the next few episodes live.

The ladder in one breath. Whole-house or one appliance — that splits the call. Is the meter registering, and where's the pressure. Climb from the appliance toward the street, eliminating each rung. After any interruption: purge, leak-check, relight. And hand the utility's equipment back to the utility. Next: the meter itself.