Just wondered what it might take. And if you think it is worth it? I know it would be nice to have an unlimited supply of gas and to not have to worry about getting tanks refilled, etc.
A friend converted his Sabco over to NG. A kit is available from Sabco. It seems that the boil just isn’t as vigorous as LPG. This is with standard cast burner.
I would go with a Wok burner make for NG my self.
I changed my morebeer 3 tier stand to N. Gas from porpane - Morebeer just sent me some different parts to insert into the burners I had.
Would never go back to propane. Natural gas is just to simple and handy. Plus, you never run out halfway through a boil. One less thing to deal with.
I love it. There was NG out back near where I brew so it was a no-brainer. You will need different orifices than propane. I use the wok burners and love them.
I just converted to NG with one similar to this:
At about half throttle my gas meter clocks around 60K BTU, works out to less than 50 cents an hour.
Nice to hear people’s thought, I’m planning to have natural gas run to my brewing area (ie - my garage) so that I can run my Blichmann burners off of natural gas. Will be nice to not have to buy tanks all the time. :cheers:
I never used propane at my place but I did at a brew buds house and it is a PITA not to mention the expense. If you have the impinging jet burners, they are easy to convert. Just drill out the orifice on each jet. I did a couple of mine that were propane when I got them.
NG sucks when you want to go brew somewhere for teach a friend to brew day.
I was wondering this too, aside from the hardware needed to convert my burner over to natural gas, my biggest expense would be running a new gas line outside. I live in an older home (1929) and have a garage that sits on an alley. I have no idea what the gas line would cost, anyone do this?
As a side note; I have two LP tanks, one is always full and the other is in use, this way I never run out mid-boil.
[quote=“AverageJoe”]I was wondering this too, aside from the hardware needed to convert my burner over to natural gas, my biggest expense would be running a new gas line outside. I live in an older home (1929) and have a garage that sits on an alley. I have no idea what the gas line would cost, anyone do this?
As a side note; I have two LP tanks, one is always full and the other is in use, this way I never run out mid-boil.[/quote]
I also employ the two (or more) tank method to ensure that you don’t run out. When performed correctly it is fail-safe.
A gas line could be free if the gas utility installs them or a grand plus if you need to hire an excavation contractor to dig the ditch. Contact your utility to see what they say. Around here a lic. plumber would be $100/hr. so even if it can be done in a few hours its will probably cost at least several hundreds dollars.
I needto do this as well.
For those who have converted, are you using some sort of a quick connect on your supply line?
[quote=“Baratone Brewer”]I needto do this as well.
For those who have converted, are you using some sort of a quick connect on your supply line?[/quote]Yes, a NG QD and a BBQ hose. See below grey hose:
Thanks Greg.
Interesting to see you have used copper tubing with the NG on your brew cart. Are you at all concerned about Copper Sulfide issues?
[quote=“Baratone Brewer”]Thanks Greg.
Interesting to see you have used copper tubing with the NG on your brew cart. Are you at all concerned about Copper Sulfide issues?[/quote]
Never heard of it. What is it and should I worry?
A lot of jurisdictions won’t allow copper pipe to be used on NG pipe systems per local code. It has to due with potential corrosion caused by sulfides that are added to the gas as an odorant as NG is odorless. Some jurisdictions will allow it and it is accepted by the Uniform Plumbing Code:
[i]1210.1 All piping used for the installation, extension,
alteration, or repair of any gas piping shall be standard
weight wrought iron or steel (galvanized or black), yellow
brass (containing not more than seventy-five (75) percent
copper), or copper tube or Types K, L or ACR. Approved
PE pipe may be used in exterior buried piping systems.
1210.1.1 Copper alloy tubing shall not be used if the
gas contains more than an average of 0.3 grains of
hydrogen sulfide per 100 standard cubic feet of gas (0.7
milligrams per 100 liters).[/i]
Even if Greg’s NG had higher amounts of sulfides than code allows, there’s not much risk since his tubing isn’t exposed constantly to NG.
How can I find out if I have enough pressure to switch to NG? All of the appliances in my house that can be NG already are (e.g., stove, furnace, dryer, hot water tank, etc.). Does that suggest that I’ll have enough pressure to run a couple burners on my outdoor system? My system has two burners similar to these http://www.tejassmokers.com/images/lpcastcvoa.jpg
I’d like to switch to NG, and it would be a short run (maybe 10-12’) of black pipe in my basement from the gas line by my furnace to the outside wall where I brew.
[quote=“yugamrap”]How can I find out if I have enough pressure to switch to NG? [/quote]It depends on the total length and size of the pipe system and also where you’ll be tapping in. If you’re tapping in near the end of the longest run you may have problems, if you’re tapping in close to meter you’ll probably be alright. No more than you’d be using it for brewing it would probably work out if you didn’t use the stove and dryer while brewing.
[quote=“Glug Master”]
Even if Greg’s NG had higher amounts of sulfides than code allows, there’s not much risk since his tubing isn’t exposed constantly to NG.[/quote]
But since its crystalline, build up in the orifices would be a PIA.
[quote=“yugamrap”]How can I find out if I have enough pressure to switch to NG? All of the appliances in my house that can be NG already are (e.g., stove, furnace, dryer, hot water tank, etc.). Does that suggest that I’ll have enough pressure to run a couple burners on my outdoor system? My system has two burners similar to these http://www.tejassmokers.com/images/lpcastcvoa.jpg
I’d like to switch to NG, and it would be a short run (maybe 10-12’) of black pipe in my basement from the gas line by my furnace to the outside wall where I brew.[/quote]
Pressure is not the issue in sizing natural gas piping, because pretty much all household natural gas appliances are designed to use gas supplied as a certain, constant pressure (typically 5 to 7 inches of water column). Flow is the issue. Under a constant pressure, flow is a function of pipe diameter and length. This is a good web site to determine if your existing natural gas piping system can handle the additional demands of a brewing set-up:
http://www.propane-generators.com/natural-gas-chart.htmAdditionally, natural gas piping needs to be sized for ALL appliances to be operating at the same time, becaue if you under supply an appliance it could malfunction and fail (not a good thing). For example, the appliances you mentioned:
Stove 65 CFH
Furnace 125
Water Heater 50
Clothes dryer 30
Total: 270 CFH
If you added in the demand from your two burners (40 CFH x2 = 80 CFH) you get 350 CFH total for the five appliances.
The length of the run and any bends in the line further reduce the available flow, and these flow reductions need to be calculated.
In summary, the demand/flow calculations are fairly straight forward, but there and many part of that calculation and they all have to be correctly considered.
