The Advantages of an Earthquake Safety Valve

CONCORD — Due to high levels of seismic activity, earthquake safety is no small matter in the Bay Area. If you’re a homeowner, this means ensuring your home is structurally reinforced with supplementary measures like bolting and bracing. It’s also a good idea to have a family exit strategy laid out in advance. However, there are additional ways to augment earthquake safety for your home and family.

One worthwhile measure is installing an earthquake safety valve onto your home’s gas line. When a major earthquake occurs, a home’s gas supply can become damaged, which can cause a leak that leads to fires or explosions. An earthquake safety valve guards against such catastrophes by sensing substantial seismic shifts and subsequently shutting off gas service to the home.

Earthquake safety valves aren’t very expensive to install, but they do vary in quality, so it’s important to do your research and invest in a good product. Cheaper valves are more liable to be triggered accidently, which means you could shut off gas to your home if you bump against your valve while taking out the garbage. Worse still, cheap valves aren’t easy to reset—typically, it has to be done by a professional plumber, which results in an expensive service call.

In contrast, high-quality earthquake safety valves are more precise in their sensitivity, so they’re less likely to be triggered accidently. Additionally, high-quality models are equipped with easy reset buttons, with no need for professional assistance. So, while a high-quality earthquake safety valve may be more expensive at first, it’s a more economical choice in the long run.