# Why is it difficult to get a short gas line buried in the yard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-difficult-to-get-a-short-gas-line-buried-in-the-yard/698752 "2014-09-17T18:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-difficult-to-get-a-short-gas-line-buried-in-the-yard/698752/21 "2014-09-18T12:58:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You can get bottled gas which would be propane. For natural gas the pipeline has to be there already out on the street, so natural gas usage is limited everywhere. I wish there was a gas line on my street, heating with natural gas costs much less than oil these days, and cooking with gas is much better than electric, and natural gas much better than propane, and Cooking With Gas is a Doper who obsesses about eggs. I’ve never actually seen bottled gas here in the urban area - everyone who has gas appliances has natural gas, and then an oil burner for heat. Lots of people are switching to gas furnaces when their oil burner needs replacing, but thousands and thousands of houses still use oil. I guess what I’m trying to say is: In New England oil heat is still super common, but many people also have a natural gas line and use the gas for other appliances. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-difficult-to-get-a-short-gas-line-buried-in-the-yard/698752/22 "2014-09-18T13:03:09Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > I’ve never actually seen bottled gas here in the urban area - everyone who has gas appliances has natural gas, and then an oil burner for heat. Lots of people are switching to gas furnaces when their oil burner needs replacing, but thousands and thousands of houses still use oil. I guess what I’m trying to say is: In New England oil heat is still super common, but many people also have a natural gas line and use the gas for other appliances. Yeah, the cities have the lines available. Out here in the hinterlands not so much. In my town there are gas lines in the older streets (except mine), and rarer in new developments. Because of the cost advantage people are switching to gas when they can, though the problem the OP had might slow this down. My house is over 100 feet from the road so even if the gas line was there it might be very costly to have the line run up to my house. Just getting connected to the sewer was expensive enough, and I got lucky when they extended the sewer line past my house for some new construction. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-difficult-to-get-a-short-gas-line-buried-in-the-yard/698752/23 "2014-09-18T13:40:30Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > I’ve never actually seen bottled gas here in the urban area - everyone who has gas appliances has natural gas, and then an oil burner for heat. Lots of people are switching to gas furnaces when their oil burner needs replacing, but thousands and thousands of houses still use oil. I guess what I’m trying to say is: In New England oil heat is still super common, but many people also have a natural gas line and use the gas for other appliances. Propane boils at -44F. It is butane that boils at 31F, unsuitable for New England. Thus my confusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-difficult-to-get-a-short-gas-line-buried-in-the-yard/698752.md?page=1)