Propane in garage

Out of pure curiosity: how many people here have the fortitude to run propane burners in the garage (with the door cracked)? I'm so tired of not being able to brew in the colder weather. But I'm deathly afraid of running propane indoors!

Thanks in advance,
JP

I do it year round. 3+ stall garage. Lots of "natural" air flow (i.e. drafts). CO monitor never cracked 0.

I do it, I keep it ventilated. haven't yet but I will be purchasing a couple of detectors, there was one time I felt dizzy (could've been the 6 beers) when the big burner was roaring full blast and I got busy doing something else and didn't open both the door and window. I opened the garage door and went outside for fresh air.

There was a thread somewhere a firefighter explained the dangers of doing this. there is a reason you use well ventilated areas. Some say not to do it at all.

Not very comforting but it is do at your own risk. I use a fan in the window for exhaust and open a door at the other end for fresh air.

I do. I have a 3 car garage. I put the burner on the 2 car side and open the single door all the way. If it's super cold, I may only open it half way.

I see this concern asked all the time here.....Personally I don't understand where this seemingly predominant fear has sprung from... All RV's, Boats , Campers use Propane for almost everything. Propane's biggest issue is the creation of water vapor and how to deal with that, not anything else. Yes a leak can kill you but so can the electricity flowing thru your house or Natural gas plumed into your house.
Check your fittings with soapy water to insure no leaks and don't forget to turn it off when not burning and your golden...... For any Indoor Propane use no mater where in your home except possibly basements, Crack a window/door and Brew on Dude you have nothing to fear......except water vapor.

Raw unburned Propane is heaver then air so it will settle to low spots. ( hence extra caution in basements) ....Your garage door cracked as you proposed is Ideal.

15 years of brewing all in the garage all propane. I leave the garage doors open enough to create a good cross airflow.

Cheers
Jay

May have just used up most of oxygen. Good combustion ie. blue flames produce cabon Dioxide and water vapor Yellow flames produce carbon Monoxide aldehyde and other nasty stuff. Keep your burner clean and burning blue. To burn 1 cubic foot of gas it requires 10 cubic foot of air. Thats the natural rating not positive about lp but im sure close. Be safe dont suffocate

Stillraining said:

I see this concern asked all the time here.....Personalty I don't understand where this seemingly predominant fear has sprung from... All RV's, Boats , Campers use Propane for almost everything. Propane's biggest issue is the creation of water vapor and how to deal with that, not anything else. Yes a leak can kill you but so can the electricity flowing thru your house or Natural gas plumed into your house.
Check your fittings with soapy water to insure no leaks and don't forget to turn it off when not burning and your golden. Brew on Dude you have nothing to fear.

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I agree that propane is used in many recreational devices, but these devices go through the rigorous UL requirements. They have to burn at such and such efficiency to be approved for indoor use. most of the burners people use for homebrewing are not approved and do not burn very efficient, that is why the warning labels not intended for indoor use. I agree that there are some that say this is super duper way to dangerous; this is where common sense and good judgement come into play.

OleBrewing said:

I agree that propane is used in many recreational devices, but these devices go through the rigorous UL requirements. They have to burn at such and such efficiency to be approved for indoor use. most of the burners people use for homebrewing are not approved and do not burn very efficient, that is why the warning labels not intended for indoor use. I agree that there are some that say this is super duper way to dangerous; this is where common sense and good judgement come into play.

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Agreed you quoted me in process of me editing my OP...But burnt propane is burnt propane...certification or not....leaking propane no mater what UL listed approved device is bad.

OleBrewing said:

I agree that propane is used in many recreational devices, but these devices go through the rigorous UL requirements. They have to burn at such and such efficiency to be approved for indoor use. most of the burners people use for homebrewing are not approved and do not burn very efficient, that is why the warning labels not intended for indoor use. I agree that there are some that say this is super duper way to dangerous; this is where common sense and good judgement come into play.

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You can buy burners that are certified for indoor use. They also have a flame-detector gas shutoff valve built-in - if the flame goes out, the gas flow stops.

I have one of these.

I open a window and raise the garage door about 2 feet. Garage stays relatively warm, and should be enough fresh air to prevent CO poisoning.

Stillraining said:

Agreed you quoted me in process of me editing my OP...But burnt propane is burnt propane...certification or not....leaking propane no mater what UL listed approved device is bad.

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I brewed in the garage Friday night--it was in the mid-to-upper 30s outside, I kept one of the two garage doors open. A bit chilly, but a small sacrifice for beer.

I do *not* keep the propane tank in the garage--I return it to the grill on the back deck. I have a couple other propane tanks but they're in a shed out back. One leak and you have a nice fuel-air explosive situation.

I've been looking at another thread with a powered venting system to move the steam from the kettle outside. My garage is insulated, walls and ceiling, and I do not like the steam going up to the ceiling and spreading out, so I want to vent it out directly. But that has nothing to do with the propane.

podz said:

You can buy burners that are certified for indoor use. They also have a flame-detector gas shutoff valve built-in - if the flame goes out, the gas flow stops.

I have one of these.

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ahh you have the common sense and good judgement i was talking about.

OleBrewing said:

ahh you have the common sense and good judgement i was talking about.

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Ya I have industrial controls on two of my 3 burners. The BK burner is a high pressure high BTU burner though. It takes a lot of BTU's to get a half barrel or more of wort to a rolling boil!

Anh, I have a small one-car garage. Not a lot of room to move around and the system is close to a wall with my living room on the other side Thinking it's probably not a good idea. Some days I wish I would have built an all electric system!

jcaudill said:

Some days I wish I would have built an all electric system!

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Me, too. I'm working on it. I've already put a 3-phase outlet in my garage.

I brew in the garage with the door raised up about the height of one panel. The last time I used a CO monitor and was generally in the 0-12 ppm range. It did get up to 35 when I was bringing the kettle to boil.

From cpsc.gov Most people will not experience any symptoms from prolonged exposure to CO levels of approximately 1 to 70 ppm but some heart patients might experience an increase in chest pain.

I do it about 3 feet inside the door and leave the door open, no problems so far. Keeps me warm as well.

I have been brewing in my one car garage for the past 3 years. In the last 6 months I have switched from propane to natural gas and installed a vent hood. I still crack the garage a few inches for return air flow.

I realize I'm in the South, so my opinion may be invalid. However, I do occasionally brew on days with the outside temp below freezing.

I go all out flame to heat my strike water with the garage door closed. Once I start the mash I open the door completely for a few minutes to air it all out. I then close the door for the boil, but I don't hang out in there the entire time. I use Fermcap, so I don't need to stare at the boiling pot.

Agree though with others that water vapor is bad. The usual result is that everything is covered in condensation if I leave the door closed. My new normal practice is to completely open the door to air out for a few minutes, then close to keep me and pot warm.

What I'll do is heat my strike water in the kitchen and I use a HD cooler as my mash tun. So once I get my strike and sparge temps I fill the cooler, mash, sparge then run off into a sanitized food grade bucket with a lid. I will have my BK right outside the garage door with the door halfway open so I can see it. I also have a box fan that pushed the air out of the garage to prevent any back draft. This process works like a charm and keeps me inside as long as possible.

grrickar said:

I open a window and raise the garage door about 2 feet. Garage stays relatively warm, and should be enough fresh air to prevent CO poisoning.

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This is what I do as well

I brew in my unfinished basement area using propane. I use a double window fan running on exhaust and my brew tree has three BG10 burners (they're not all running at once obviously). I don't have a CO monitor that gives me an absolute reading, but I do have a CO detector that I've never set off.

I also remove the propane tank from the basement and store it outside when not in use.

this past Saturday night was a cold one so my friends and I did the following with no adverse effects in my oversized 1 car garage.

1. boil kettle
2. electric space heater
3. propane heater
4. couple quarts of apple pie shine

we had a blast, made some great beer, and were pretty warm to boot.

Unless you leak propane into your garage. That said, I've been using gas burners in my 2 car garage for years, never had any problems. I used to crack one of the overhead doors an inch, but the wood on my doors is starting to rot now, and I can see daylight thru parts of the door. I figure with that natural ventilation, I keep my doors closed now.

Propane burns clean, unless you are not getting a blue flame.

Moisture will be your biggest headache.

Not my area of experience at all, but if I were to brew using propane in the garage in cold temperatures, I would build a legit ventilation hood to vent out steam and propane exhaust. This would really serve to get the bad stuff out and bring in some fresh air without freezing you in the process.

For something as a test or on the cheap, you could take a plastic storage container, mount in a dryer vent pipe with an inline fan, and vent the pipe out just under the garage door.

2 years brewing in 3 car garage with propane....even add a torpedo heater when it's really cold. I keep my flame blue which I read really reduces the carbon monoxide concerns. My biggest problem is the humidity that builds up and ruins drywall in garage....I crack door and window to vent humidity more than anything else

Here, in the middle of Saskatchewan Canada cold weather can mess up your brewing. My weather link. I have problems when the temperature drops below -20 C or -4 F with my 30 lbs propane tank.

My solution is to kick the burner outside and leave the propane tank in the warm garage.

• Heat all my water to boiling.
• Pump very hot water inside to insulated HLT.
• Brew inside warm garage.
• Pump wort out to boil kettle for boil.

My Bayou Classic Banjo Burner Kab 6 has a long propane hose, and the wall / door has a spot in the corner where the hose can hang outside.

I use the Blichman and brew all the time in my garage with the door open about 1' when its cold and only have issues on very windy days. When it's windy I open my door more so The garage has equalized pressure as outside and less wind to blow out the burner.

I'd get lots of fresh air. Make sure the burners are burning clean. Have a CO monitor or two. And don't take any naps. Don't forget if you do get CO poisoning oxygen can't bind to your hemoglobin, so you need more than fresh air at that point. You need to dial 911