I just pitted Florida City Gas for their crappy customer service, so I was considering converting to LP and just getting a couple of forty pounders for the house. I know that most appliances have conversion kits and need the orifices changed out to go to direct LP. My question is this. The service line to my house for NG can be between 1/4 to 60 psi. Mine is probably somewhere in the middle. I’d like to know why I couldn’t use a two stage system to drop my LP tank pressure to the equivalent of the NG lservice line pressure, and then use the NG regulator to drop the pressure to feed my house line to the same pressure I was getting from the NG line, therefor not needing to change the orifice on my appliances.
Thanks, Tom.
They pissed you off that badly???
It’s not just the pressure. Propane has 2.5 times the energy per volume (BTU wise) then Natural gas. Just reducing the pressure would still result in potential dangerous overheating situations.
the energy differences in the gases require different mixing at the appliance which requires the different orifices
Now it makes sense, Thanks Dopers!!!
Not only that but LP systems actually run at higher pressures than natural gas systems. I think 6" to 8" w.c. are normal for natural gas, and about 11" w.c. for LP.
Do Not Do This.
And do not do this yourself if you have no experience with these kind of things.
NG will operate at 3.5" w.c., and LP 10-13" w.c.
Not just the orifices, but a spring in the gas valve has to be changed.
And then adjusted with a manometer and a combustion analysis done.
This is not a DIY process.
I have moved 5 times since we came to Colombia. Each time, the gas has changed from LP to Natural and vice versa. I have always had the gas man do the change. Like raindog said, it is not a DIY job!