Lesson 2
Emergencies & Shutoffs
Find the stopcock, the gas emergency valve and the consumer unit before you need them, and know which taps keep running when the mains is off.
Builds on
Emergencies are won in a calm minute
Water dripping through a ceiling at two in the morning is the worst time to discover you don’t know where the stopcock is. Spend ten minutes this week finding three things:
- the stopcock, the valve that shuts off the mains water to your home;
- the gas emergency control valve (ECV), a lever on the pipe beside the gas meter;
- the consumer unit, the box of switches that controls your electricity.
Keep the way to each one clear. If you can’t find one, ask your landlord or your water or gas supplier now, not during a leak. Learn which way the ECV handle turns, but don’t operate it as a practice run.