Webber is really the sweet spot between crappy models you’ll have to replace after a few years and pretentious models costing an arm and a leg. Built like a tank and affordable.
Regarding converting a grill from LP to NG, Weber does not sell a conversion kit (most likely for liability reasons), though they may have in the past and you may be able to find a third-party kit. I’ve known people to buy a second-hand Weber LP grill that’s in good condition and expect to be able to convert it to NG, only to be thwarted by that lack of available parts.
I’ve got a Napoleon Rogue 425 with the sear burner. Every bit as nice and well-built as a Weber, but built in Canada. Didn’t cost any more that I recall than a propane one, or if it did, it was on the order of a trivial $15 on a $900 grill.
Natural gas is the bomb. No worrying about tanks, charcoal, starting ahead of time, etc… Just turn the valve, and turn the grill on. Easy peasy. Charcoal is fine, but it involves quite a bit more preparation and planning ahead- you have to start it, fiddle with it a little, and so on.
Most propane grills have a conversion kit associated with them if you can’t get a NG-specific model.
I’ve got a Weber and I love it. I had some other cheaper grill beforehand and the burners broke within about 8 months of ownership. I’ve had my Weber way longer than that and it still works perfectly.
Interesting comment. In Canada, it’s very different. Webers here are the “pretentious models costing an arm and a leg”. I’m not saying they’re not good grills, but here you pay 25% to 50% premium purely for their name (not features or quality).
Last time I bought, I asked the store rep why it was so much more money vs a comparable (+$1000) grill I was looking at and the only response he could articulate was “because it’s a Weber”.
My house came with an outdoor NG port for a grill. I bought a cheap gas grill from Lowes and it has worked great. I don’t cook on top of the grills though, I use the grill mats to cook on. Easy clean up and no grease fires. I also have a Big Green Egg that has been used less and less. The food cooked in it is great but is is a real PITA to clean. I was thinking about converting it over to gas and use it as a pizza oven, pizzas cooked in the Egg are wonderful, even those that are frozen.
Anyone have experience using their grill as a smoker? Is it worth it or not?
Never tried it. Smokers can be had fairly affordable and it seemed like a better idea to get a tool designed for the job instead of trying to use a butter knife as a screwdriver
You mean, you don’t own both a charcoal grill and a gas grill?
I do it all the time. Running the burners offset (indirect heat at low temps) and swapping smoker boxes is a minor PITA and my only problem is making sure I have enough propane (because running out at 5 PM in the last few hours of smoking a 12 hr brisket sucks…), which is certainly a strong argument for a NG line. I want to do the conversion but I’m planning on extending my deck first. That being said I’d like to have a Big Green Egg or a Traeger pellet smoker to supplement my Napoleon grill but budget considerations make that a no go right now. Of course I’d also love to get one of the grill stations I linked to upthread but I could do all of the above if I had the budget to buy one of those… 
I’ll also affirm what GMAN said; Weber grills in Canada are ridiculously overpriced and the Napoleons are at least as good.
I have… both the gas one, and the charcoal one, and I’d say it’s not worth it, unless you’re just aiming to give it a very mild smoke flavor. They work fine for that- like if you’re cooking a chicken on the grill for a couple of hours, you could put some wood chunks in there and get some smoke on it, and it would be good.
But it’s really unlikely that you’re going to make any of the big 3 (ribs, pulled pork or brisket) well on a grill-as-a-smoker, because they’re not really made for that. Those foods take very long periods with very low indirect heat and a fair amount of smoke. That’s hard to pull off on a grill, especially with something large like a rack of ribs or entire brisket- you tend to get direct heat whether you want it or not.
Weber. Kinda like some folks will only buy a Ford. Me, only a weber. I can probably hit the lottery, and I would simply buy a fancier Weber. Note: Make sure the model runs on natural gas and not propane. These are not the same. i have the Weber Spirit with 3 burners.
I have a Weber charcoal kettle that is rusting. It’s so much more of an event to use.
During this lockdown, I have been baking bread. My wife is bothered by the smell for the indoor oven heating the cast iron pot for an hour to 500 degrees. So, I kinda hacked that in the Weber with a giant pizza steel and a cast iron pioneer pot (the kind with 3 legs). I get it up to about 600F for the first rise.
She’s back? Congratulations!
A couple of years ago I was in the market for a grill, and found that Napoleon was just as high quality as Weber, and competitive price-wise.
What sold it for me was that the mid-range Napoleon grills can have a “sizzle zone” burner, which is a fancy term for an infrared searing burner that gets up around 1800 degrees. Weber just has the “sear station”, which is some closer together burners that kick out some more heat, but not as hot or predominantly radiant heat like the Napoleon one.
Damn. I just got back from shopping around at the big 3 hardware stores, because I’m in the same boat as the OP. I’ve now run my 2nd Weber charcoal into the ground (lasted me 8 years). Now I have kids, and getting the grill going for dinner is too much of an ordeal to juggle, so I’m considering going to a gas grill. I’ve had good luck with Weber, but $1000 but for a gas grill right now is a little crazy (size-wise, I’d need to go with the Genesis II). The cast iron is a huge selling point, but it’s certainly a cost point as well.
On the other hand, the crazy-expensive models they sell at bbqguys.com and other retailers seem to be stainless steel - so maybe the material isn’t the end-all be-all, but rather construction quality? The Webers are certainly built like a tank, but I’ve encountered some Char-Grill and Monument Grill models that seem very well made. I think if I can get 5 years out a gas grill, I’ll know what I want to really invest my money into going forward.
What are you doing to these grills? My Webber kettle lasted 20 years so far.
I honestly have no idea. I use lump charcoal, start it in a chimney starter, put the coals into 2 Weber-brand coal boxes that sit on the side of the bottom kettle. My grill is on a covered patio, so it’s not getting direct weather, either. I could probably clean it more often, but that wouldn’t explain how the handle has burned out of its weld on the top kettle. Everything else is in pretty decent shape. I have to replace the vent fins every other year or so - they definitely rust out and bend beyond usefulness.
Gas is the only way to go. Unless I’m using the smoker. But charcoal? Bah. The “perceived by some but not by me” flavor “improvement” is so far outweighed by convenience/cost/cleanliness as to be a blow-out.
Huh. I cover mine with one of these and keep it in the garage - water plays absolute havoc on them and when the ashes get wet they’re a real problem.
Oddly, I’ve kept both my Weber Smokey Mountain and kettle grill out in the elements with no cover for over a decade (WSM is coming on 15 years now) and, while with the WSM I did have to replace the dampers and the charcoal grate on the bottom, the WSM itself, while not looking brand new, still is structurally sound and works fine (wet ashes and all). The kettle, meanwhile, still looks like it’s only been used for a season or so.