Gas line to the shop

[todd]

I'm trying to get the finishing touches on the shop, and it's starting to get cold here in Chicago. When the shop was in the building process, I inquired with one of the city building inspectors about the proper way of running a line for natural gas. He oh-so-subtlely suggested that I wait until they were gone, and put it in after the fact. So, before the ground gets frozen, I need to get this puppy in. I need to go about 50' to get into the shop, then about another 35' to where the heater is. I'm wondering what is typical as far as the gas line goes. From what I read, it seems that some use polyethylene tubing, and others use regular black pipe. I've even read about special galvanized "gas pipe". Any thoughts or suggestions?

todd

[Toller]

Call your utility and ask them what their requirements are. Some will allow galvanized or copper; others won't. Polyethylene?! Well, it won't rust.

[todd]

I'll see what I can find out from the gas utility. BTW, polyethylene pipe is (as I understand it) used in 90% of the natural gas distributions systems in North America.

todd

[Lew Hodgett]

Old way was to black iron from the street valve to the regulator at the house, then black iron for the inside distribution.

When the iron developed leaks, a plumbing contractor pulls the orange plastic line inside the black iron and you are good for life.

I had to have this done once and it was not that expensive considering it was done on an emergency basis.

Today, I'd talk to a plumber first, especially considering the permit headaches.

Don't want to get a permit?

Have a fire and the first thing insurance company is going to check is that everything was according to permits.

Lew

[Toller]

I learn something new everyday! Local utility says it is used on all mains and services. Last time I looked into it, maybe 10 years ago, it didn't even come up.

[Toller]

A current "crisis" is people installing NG generators and finding their pipes aren't big enough to supply everything. I would think there would be a similar problem with filling the pipe with a PE liner. No?

[Lew Hodgett]

Probably depends on pressure of the NG, but shouldn't be a problem.

As far as I know, one size fits all when it comes to orange gas line for a user feed line.

Lew

[Greg O]

I work for a HVAC company and ALL we put in the ground is poly. As far as I am concerned there is no other option! Black and galvanized pipe, no mater how well it is covered and protected will fail eventually, sometimes fairly soon. I replaced an underground gas line that was done in coated black pipe that was underground for about 10 years. It failed at a fitting because the protective tape and sealant did not hold up. Plus any where there was a nick in the coating it was rusting badly and was due to fail. The house I live in has black pipe going to the garage and I am getting ready to rip it out before it fails!

I would look for a company that installs poly underground gas, dig the trench yourself, and have them install the pipe. The worst part is digging the trench! It would take less than one hour for them to lay the pipe and risers. Greg

[Jon]

Todd,

I live just outside of Madison, WI. My shop is 100' away, actually an old converted barn. They ran poly line the entire route, they placed it 48" below the grade.

Jon

[Steve Wolfe]

Normal for most places is 0.25 PSI - just a quarter of a PSI. At that low of pressure, you need a decent size of pipe in order to supply large volumes. Depending on the length of run, you need 3/4" pipe somewhere between a 2.5KW and a 7.5KW generator, and by the time you're at a 12KW generator, it doesn't take a terribly long run before you're looking at a

1.25" line.

Take a look at the NG supplies outside some restaurants. They're often quite substantial.

steve

[Lew Hodgett]

My info is definitely dated, but when I lived in Cleveland, East Ohio Gas had a low pressure system (about 12"-15" of water column) and Columbia gas used a higher pressure distribution (about 15PSIG) along with a pressure regulator at the service entrance point of the building.

Assume not much has changed since I left.

Lew

[Greg O]

Around here it is getting pretty standard to run 2 PSI gas pressure into the home, and regulate it down at each appliance. The installers get by running everything in 1/2" stainless steel flex tubing that way. It also helps on those long runs out to the shop. We bury 1" poly and at 2 PSI.....well, it will run about anything a normal person can find to hook up to the gas line! Greg

[badger.badger]

Here the supplies run at 100+psi to local sub's, then down to 15psi and final reg on arrival at the premises to inches of water level, even the higher pressure mains (6" and below + possibly larger) are being replaced in poly.