Hi all,
Thinking of getting a portable generator that runs on natural gas for emergencies (hurricanes that take out power lines). I would need to add a gas line to the outside to do it. The meter supports 250 Cubic Feet. The total BTU load of the house - if every appliance is running full blast - is 238,000 BTU. Appliances: Water Heater (40,000 BTU), Oven (73,100 with EVERY burner and oven at full), Furnace (110,000 BTU - hardly ever used in Fl), and Dryer (15,000 BTU). The gas line runs from the meter into the attic (Metallic Pipe) and is 1" with branches of 3/4" to each appliance. The entire run to the last appliance is between about 70 feet. (Estimating) That is the dryer.
While the best thing to do would be to tee off the main line where it goes to the dryer and extend it to the back of the house - or - tee off the dryer branch itself which isn't too far from the back of the house, that would be very labor intensive since a lot of the work would be done in a hot florida attic. I'd rather have it back there, and use it for my grill as well, but...not sure that is feasible. I may look into it - not sure how much that would cost.
But a second option would be...
The water heater is in my garage and is the first appliance after the meter. If I teed it there, it would be a very short run to the outside and I can easily get to the connection. Really, it is just a matter of disconnecting the Water heater, removing the valve, adding a Tee, reconnecting the Water heater/valve, and just running a new pipe (with a shutoff valve) through the block garage wall to add a hookup for the generator. I like this cause I could leave the valve off unless needed and it would be in the garage. The Water Heater uses 40,000 BTU. I do not have the generator yet, but let's say it is it will use anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 BTU depending on what size I get. I wouldn't use the furnace at the same time, would not really be drying a lot of clothes regularly.
I wouldn't be using this as a whole house backup generator - but I may get one that would allow us to run the fridges, a few lights, and possibly the A/C if I get it big enough.
Does teeing off that water heater sound reasonable?
Thanks,
Greg
Thinking of getting a portable generator that runs on natural gas for emergencies (hurricanes that take out power lines). I would need to add a gas line to the outside to do it. The meter supports 250 Cubic Feet. The total BTU load of the house - if every appliance is running full blast - is 238,000 BTU. Appliances: Water Heater (40,000 BTU), Oven (73,100 with EVERY burner and oven at full), Furnace (110,000 BTU - hardly ever used in Fl), and Dryer (15,000 BTU). The gas line runs from the meter into the attic (Metallic Pipe) and is 1" with branches of 3/4" to each appliance. The entire run to the last appliance is between about 70 feet. (Estimating) That is the dryer.
While the best thing to do would be to tee off the main line where it goes to the dryer and extend it to the back of the house - or - tee off the dryer branch itself which isn't too far from the back of the house, that would be very labor intensive since a lot of the work would be done in a hot florida attic. I'd rather have it back there, and use it for my grill as well, but...not sure that is feasible. I may look into it - not sure how much that would cost.
But a second option would be...
The water heater is in my garage and is the first appliance after the meter. If I teed it there, it would be a very short run to the outside and I can easily get to the connection. Really, it is just a matter of disconnecting the Water heater, removing the valve, adding a Tee, reconnecting the Water heater/valve, and just running a new pipe (with a shutoff valve) through the block garage wall to add a hookup for the generator. I like this cause I could leave the valve off unless needed and it would be in the garage. The Water Heater uses 40,000 BTU. I do not have the generator yet, but let's say it is it will use anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 BTU depending on what size I get. I wouldn't use the furnace at the same time, would not really be drying a lot of clothes regularly.
I wouldn't be using this as a whole house backup generator - but I may get one that would allow us to run the fridges, a few lights, and possibly the A/C if I get it big enough.
Does teeing off that water heater sound reasonable?
Thanks,
Greg
