Just as snow and ice around electric and natural gas meters can lead to safety concerns, warming temperatures and falling ice create additional hazards.
We get about 30 reports every year of damaged meters caused by falling ice. There have even been fires sparked when ice fell and broke off a gas meter. Additionally, ice can fall on people, cars and air conditioning units.
Here are 5 tips to help prevent falling ice:
- Knock down icicles when they’re still small, if it is safe to do so, to keep them from getting big enough cause damage when they fall
- If ice gets to damaging size above meters, consider leaning a sheet of 3/4″ plywood against the wall and over the meters to deflect falling ice away from the meters. Act fast, to limit time spent in that potentially dangerous location under the ice
- Do not park or walk under icicles which may fall unexpectedly
- Keep down spouts unplugged before winter begins to help prevent the problem of ice forming over meters
- Ice dams on roofs/gutters also can be caused by improper insulation and ventilation.
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