Thread: Natural gas supply worthwhile? What for?

What are your inner blacksmith skills like?[emoji16]


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I'll stand corrected, but I don't think there are any problems with gas heating and dust (assuming reasonable dust extraction means that lumps of dust won't fall on the heater). There may be problems with an unflued gas heater anyway, but it surely is the cheapest heating you'll get (as long as you nail the energy b*st*rds down to a good plan......which can be done...)

If it's that cheap. I'll suggest that you rub a supply to the shed and have it terminated. I.e., blanked until you sort out what you want it for. Perhaps pick up pyrography

I have NG in my shed and it primarily runs an instantaeous hot water heater. Think shower, washing hands etc.

For $100 I would certainly do it - you never know what the future holds.

Originally Posted by Cal

What are your inner blacksmith skills like?[emoji16]

I have a natural gas forge in the MW end of my shed.
see Building a natural gas forge - WIP
Unlike LPG, to get metals like steel hot enough to work it needs to be turbo charged which can lead to serious safety issues.
While it's significantly cheaper to run than LPG the safety issues means legal implementations can be expensive to setup and if you are only going to use one a few times a year for small blade work I reckon you are far safer to use simple small LPG powered forge.

There should be no problem using natural gas for heating even with WW dust around.

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

But, I guess the real question is - what might one use natural gas in a woodworking shop for?

BBQ lunch?

Originally Posted by justonething

If it's that cheap. I'll suggest that you rub a supply to the shed and have it terminated. I.e., blanked until you sort out what you want it for.

Originally Posted by cava

I have NG in my shed and it primarily runs an instantaeous hot water heater. Think shower, washing hands etc.

For $100 I would certainly do it - you never know what the future holds.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

BBQ lunch?

Thanks one and all!

I'm hearing little to no safety concerns at a capped supply - I am tempted to add an isolation valve at the far end of the pipe (pure logic tells me two points of closure are better than one). This is reassuring, and thank you all for that!

Pyrography is something I didn't think about - thank you Blacksmithing? I think I'll pass, but it's a very valid use!

I am very tempted, as suggested, to run it anyway - the opportunity came up this afternoon, and my initial reaction was "Why would I want it?"... thinking it through, it's become more along the lines suggested by many - given the small cost, "Why wouldn't I do it?" - it's a great future proof, and I'll never then sit down and say "Why didn't I do it?".

FenceFurniture raises a valid point, a gas heater needs to be flued? There are no safe "portable" ones?

Originally Posted by cava

I have NG in my shed and it primarily runs an instantaeous hot water heater. Think shower, washing hands etc.

For $100 I would certainly do it - you never know what the future holds.

I hear you - this opportunity came up because I want cold water in the shed, and the discussion with the plumber became "If we're running cold, why not run hot water and gas from the house supply too?". Hence the opportunity. The hot water is a no-brainer, the gas was initially a "Oh really?" moment.

Many thanks to all indeed for your perspectives on this!

May I suggest that you NOT run hot water from the house supply. Getting hot water from the tap will take forever and over time cost a bomb if you do.

Far better IMO to run gas and mount an instantaneous gas hot water heater on the outside of the shed.

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

I hear you - this opportunity came up because I want cold water in the shed, and the discussion with the plumber became "If we're running cold, why not run hot water and gas from the house supply too?". Hence the opportunity. The hot water is a no-brainer, the gas was initially a "Oh really?" moment.

Forget the hot water from the house. By the time it gets to the shed you will have finished washing your hands etc.

Much better to get an instant gas hot water unit in the shed.

Edit: Ian you beat me by seconds.

You might want to have a gas powered BBQ area along side the shed at a later stage.

Is the gas company going to hit you for a quarterly fee, connected or not?

I.e. one of those corporate acts of billing bastardry... To "keep you on the system"...

Different climate of course but my house is heated with a gas furnace, vented out the wall. Hot water from a demand/instantaneous heater that also doubles to supply hot water to a radiator in the shop, vented out the wall. Natural gas stove and oven in the kitchen. The garage has it's own ceiling hung gas furnace that direct vents out the wall. I have a gas line to where the deck will go when I get to making that for a barbecue. I'd love to have a NG powered car but the conversion and compressing filling station is out of my price range.

For occasional heat you could use the hot water from the water heater circulating through a radiator and circulation fan. A good heating/plumbing contractor could help you set up up.

Pete

One other thing

make sure the plumber puts in the right size gas pipe.
From when we did the conversion (electric storage to instant gas) the gas line is supposed to be a minimum size. Don't recall if the minimum is 3/4" or 1"