Dear1 Dear2

Liquified Petroleum Gas or simple LPG is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases stored in a pressurized steel cylinder that many households use to cook their food. Hehe… This applies to our house too.

Now, there are basically 2 types of gas in Singapore, crudely called govt gas and private gas. There are some infrastructure limitations to govt gas. That is, the gas company has got to run the gas pipes into ur neighbourhood, and from there it must be diverted to the various blocks in the vicinity. Meaning, if the pipe doesn’t run to ur block, then the whole block has no access to govt gas. There is simply no way to lay the gas pipe just to serve one household. That being said, our block sadly doesn’t have access to the govt gas pipe.

Since I’m on this topic, I’ll go on to talk a bit about the storage heater for toilets. The gas pipe doesn’t run to our estate becos it is too old and will cost too much to lay the pipes. But for newer estates, say Sengkang, the gas pipes are already part of the town plan so u can be pretty sure that all blocks there have pipe access. Now, the gas company also sells storage water heaters for the bathrooms. I got to know this becos I saw one in my friend’s place in Sengkang. The thing is, since it’s the gas company that run the storage heater service, they actually use gas to boil ur hot bathing water rather than electricity. That means u will be able to see some burning flames boiling ur bath water when u turn on ur water heater. Hmm… Just a little bit unnerving ya? But I’m sure it’s pretty safe.

For private gas, they come in these LPG cylinders that most people should have seen before. The advantage of govt gas is that there is no cylinder and u never have to order a new cylinder of gas becos govt gas is served via pipes, it never runs out. Private gas, on the other hand, needs to be ordered and delivered every time u run out of gas. But, their advantage is that they serve the whole Singapore, no dependence on infrastructure.

Sidetrack a bit, remember that when u buy ur gas stove for renovation, u must have already decided which type of gas u are using. The stoves themselves are different for the different gas types.

So, Dear1 and Dear2 ordered their gas recently from Union Gas. Normally, it costs $20-something for one cylinder. But! There are some initial costs since we’re ordering it for the first time. Let me summarize. First, there’s the steel cylinder deposit, $20. Then there’s the safety gas head to connect the stove to the cylinder opening, $60-something. One set of rubber tubings for connecting the gas, $10. And of course, the cost of the LPG itself. So upfront, we have to fork out more than $100. So expensive!!! After this, each gas order will cost the prevailing charges of the LPG, which is about $20-something.

The deliveryman will do all the installation, so there’s no worries. After connecting up all the tubings and seal up all the openings, the deliveryman conducted this soap bubble test which was quite interesting. The idea is that if u apply soapy water, say from ur dish washing detergent, to the entire tubing and connectors area, it is able to detect leakages. If the tubing is faulty or the connection points are not properly sealed up, the gas would leak from the openings and cause bubbles to form on the soapy surface. A simple yet effective idea. I think we may need to conduct this check every now and then on our own just to ensure the safety of our house too. So just take a soapy sponge and run it across all potential leakage surfaces. It’s that easy.

Back to the topic, we’ve never used govt gas before so can’t really offer any comparisons here. From the way I look at it, private gas has been serving families for decades now and I’m sure their service is pretty safe and reliable. I would think the two main disadvantage are (1) It takes up some kitchen space to place the cylinder, (2) It’s a hassle to order gas every few months. Alright, that’s all for our discussion on LPG. :D

-Dear1