New home owner... Is this a gas line outside?

I recently purchased a new home, and I have natural gas as one of my utilities. I know it heats my pool and spa.

What I am REALLY wondering though:

1. Do I have a gas line outside I can tap into for a natural gas BBQ? (attached are pictures of what I think might be gas line)
2. If this is a gas line how can I safely test it?

Thanks for looking!

 

While the valve looks like a gas valve, it's in the open position and the pipe doesn't seem to be capped properly at the end. The guys that know more than me should be along later.

 

Yes, that is a natural gas line. As Mark pointed out, the valve is open (the handle should be at 90[SUP]o[/SUP] to the valve) when closed. It does have a self-closing quick connect fitting at the end of the pipe so no gas is flowing at present.

You should be able to get the matching quick connect nipple at a big box mega-mart homecenter as well as a connecting hose to the barbecue. Remember, if your barbecue is currently fired by propane you will need a conversion kit to use natural gas.

As far as testing...what do you want to test? Can you see this piping from the basement or crawlspace?

 

I do not currently have a grill... I was looking to purchase a new one, probably a weber genesis, and was thinking of going the natural gas route.

However before dropping $700 on new grill, I wanted to make sure I had a gas line, and that gas was flowing to it.

So I guess that is what I meant in terms of testing... Its one thing to have the line, but is the line functional, and when I hook grill up is it going to work!?

Thank you for the replies.

 

Not my area of expertise but I assume there is a gauge you could screw on the end of the pipe. You'd first shut the valve off [should be shut off anyway when disconnected], remove the plug and screw on the gauge before opening the valve.

 

The pressure is so low that you need a special type of gauge to measure it. It is highly unlikely that the pipe, valve and quick connect would be left in place if the pipe were disconnected inside the structure. They MAY be another valve inside where this piping connects to the main gas piping in the house and that is why I asked if you had a basement or crawl space.

You could turn off the outside valve, remove the quick connect coupler and then briefly open and close the valve and smell for the gas. Or you could add a hose to the end of the valve after removing the quick connect and then submerge the hose in a bucket of water. Continuous bubbles would indicate a flow of gas and how far down in the bucket you need to push the hose to stop the bubbles would determine the pressure. Normal residential natural gas pressure is about 7 inches of water column so if you push the hose down so the open end is about 7 inches deep and the bubbles slow significantly or stop that is the pressure. The pressure could range as high as 9 inches or as low as 5 inches and still be normal. If the pressure is in excess of 14 inches then you may need a special regulator on the grille.

IF you remove the quick connect coupler take it with you to the store to get a matching nipple for the gas hose to the grille.

 

Excellent info... Thank you for taking the time to write a thoroughly helpful response!