Natural Gas Line?

I currently have a natural gas line running to my patio but I have no idea how to tell if it's active or not? I know my water heater is running on natural gas. I have found the piping running through my attic but not sure how/what to test it with. I'm wanting to possibly get a Blichmann burner and want to ensure i can use my natural gas line!

connection on patio


water heater (pretty sure line is running from here)


line running in attic

Pressure test it with a threaded male end, a regulator, pressure gauge, and an air compressor.

Keep in mind that if you do get the Blichmann burner, and that line is active, that you'll need the natural gas conversion kit.

Your pics don't show much. Looks like just one line running to the water heater. If it tees off and goes outside, it's somewhere else. You need to track it and see for sure where it's coming from and if it's tied into an active line. Or get a male connector and hook it up. Hit it with the grill lighter and if your deck blows up, you're good to go

The copper lines in your attic are refrigerant lines for your air conditioning sysyem. The small line moves liquid refrigerant from the indoor coil to the outdoor condenser and the larger line with the insulation on it moves gas to the indoor coil.

de3isit said:

The copper lines in your attic are refrigerant lines for your air conditioning sysyem. The small line moves liquid refrigerant from the indoor coil to the outdoor condenser and the larger line with the insulation on it moves gas to the indoor coil.

Click to expand...

Actually, those could be water lines too. The hot side it insulated coming out of the water heater.

No, they are refrigerant lines. I am in the HVAC industry and the sticker under the bare copper line says refrigerant evaporator for R-22 refrigerant.

de3isit said:

No, they are refrigerant lines. I am in the HVAC industry and the sticker under the bare copper line says refrigerant evaporator for R-22 refrigerant.

Click to expand...

Ah, good eye.

I'd contact your gas supplier. They have all kinds of test equipment and will often check something for free. After all, it will increase your consumption.

It is most likely that the line runs through a valve just before the line exits the house. Follow the line back and find where it comes into the house. It's also unlikely that it would have been disconnected and more likely that when the gas grill was removed that they just shut the valve off. Maybe even not... those couplings have a valve in them that shuts when the plug is removed.


One thing to consider is that grills typically run 40kBTU and that 3/8" copper is significantly undersized for most brewing burners. I know you don't want to hear that but you won't get a very clean flame if the gas volume is restricted.

This might help a little. This is based on standard low pressure natural gas supply.

3/8"
10' 74k
20' 50k
20' 41k
30' 35k
40' 31k
50' 28k
60' 26k
70' 24k

The copper lines in your attic are refrigerant lines for your air conditioning sysyem. "The small line moves liquid refrigerant from the indoor coil to the outdoor condenser and the larger line with the insulation on it moves gas to the indoor coil."

Yes, you are somewhat correct, if the system is a heat pump, operating in the heat cycle. However, operating in the fashion that you mentioned, the outdoor unit isn't the condenser. Condensing takes place in the indoor coil, during the heat cycle of a heat pump. If the coil in the picture is used for cooling (Evaporator). The refrigerant flow direction is different.

It doesn't really matter what type of HVAC system those lines in the attic are for when the OP thought they were natural gas. They are not and it is irrelevant to the topic at hand.

Haha thanks guys. The line is very long and I understand the diameter being an issue. It's hard to follow the line because the entire thing is under the deck

Thanks for letting me know. Next time I need a lawyer or info on gas lines I'll call you.