 * content from Melanie at planforawesome.com/utilities (and Melanie's blog really is awesome!) We are going to start small. Well, maybe small is the wrong word. We are going to start with the basics. And by basics, I mean basic household knowledge that everyone should know, and most people probably don’t. GAS SHUT-OFF Do you know where and how to shut off your gas if there is a gas leak? When to shut your gas off:
Do you know where and how to shut off your gas? WHERE IS THE GAS SHUT-OFF? Ours is a PG&E SmartMeter in front of our side gate.   HOW DO YOU SHUT YOUR GAS OFF? These will do the job. To shut it off, you need a crescent wrench, a pair of heavy-duty pliers, or a shut-off tool, to turn the little knob (valve where the RED arrow is pointing). This tool will do the job. Turn the valve a quarter turn, until it is perpendicular to the pipe (holes will line up on ours). If the valve is parallel to the pipe, the gas is on. It is off when the valve is perpendicular to the pipe. WATER SHUT-OFF: If there were some sort of contamination in the water, do you know where and how to shut it off? Where is the water shut-off?  WARM CLIMATE If you live in a warm climate, the water shut off is under that big cement rectangle in your front yard. COLD CLIMATE If you live in colder climates, the water shut off is probably either in your crawl space or your basement (if your basement is finished, check the closets in the bedrooms). If it’s in the basement, it will probably be either in the wall or on the water pipe leading to the water heater. How do you shut your water off? To turn it off, lift up the cement block, and twist the valve clockwise until it won’t turn anymore. It may have a little handle already that you just turn, or it may look like ours, very similar to the gas shut off, in which case you would need pliers or a shut-off tool to turn it clockwise. ELECTRICITY SHUT-OFF There are usually two places that provide a way to turn off the electricity. 1. Electrical Circuit Box WHERE IS THE ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT BOX? You’re probably already familiar with the electrical circuit box. It’s where you go when you need to flip a breaker switch, when you have tripped a circuit by running too much electricity in a certain place in your house. These switches are located in the electrical circuit box, usually either in your basement, laundry room or mudroom, garage, or even outside your home. I was shocked to find it on the outside wall of our home, accessible to anyone! If this is the case, I would strongly recommend putting a lock on it.
 HOW DO YOU SHUT YOUR ELECTRICITY OFF FROM THE ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT BOX?
The breakers will either be switches or pushmatic. Most newer units are switches, that switch from left to right. If you have pushmatic circuit breakers, you just push on them and they pop out and then pop in when pushed again. To turn off electricity to your home, it is recommended to first turn off each individual breaker and then the main one, usually located at the top. ***If any of your circuit breakers are not labeled, contact an electrician to come out and label everything for you, BEFORE you need the information!*** HOW DO YOU TURN ELECTRICITY BACK ON FROM THE ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT BOX? When turning electricity back on, make sure all of the individual breakers are switched to off. Turn on the main one at the top first, and then turn on the individual breakers, a few at a time. 2. Electrical Service Panel. The Electrical Service Panel is different from your electrical circuit box. The Electrical Service Panel has a meter on it. WHERE IS THE ELECTRICAL SERVICE PANEL? It is usually located on the outside of your home, either in the back or the side yard. HOW DO YOU SHUT YOUR ELECTRICITY OFF FROM THE ELECTRICAL SERVICE PANEL? This has individual breakers for each 220 Volt circuit, as well as the 110 Volt circuits on the outside of your home. In addition to these, there is a main switch, usually labeled “Emergency Disconnect,” “Service Panel Disconnect,” or “Main Shutoff.” By switching this, you will cut off ALL power to your home. In an emergency, this is the quickest way to cut all power to your home. GARAGE DOOR MANUAL OPERATION How to disconnect the garage door from the automatic features, and manually pull it up. ***Do not disconnect power while the door is up. If you happen to have a broken spring, the full weight of the door could come crashing down, smashing anything in its path, as well as ruining your garage door (and those aren’t cheap…I would know…eh-em. A story for another day)*** How do you disconnect the garage door and operate it manually? Pull on the red cord hanging down from the trolley (the piece that carries the garage door on the upper track). Pull the rope down and toward the motor (toward your house). The trolley disconnects from the attachment point, and the door will stay disconnected. How do you reconnect the garage door to the power? To reconnect the power, you have two options. MANUALLY: Pull the red rope down and toward the door itself. This will free the lever to attach to the attachment point. Then lift the garage door until it attaches. WAIT UNTIL THE POWER COMES BACK ON: Press your remote control to activate the motor To get a pdf of this handy guide, check out planforawesome.com/utilities and subscribe.
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