Does a Natural gas burner pose the same problems a Propane burner poses?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Endovelico

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
240
Reaction score
0
I'm sure it is a stupid question, but i know absolutely nothing about the issue. Would a prolonged indoor (by a large opened windows, for instance) boil with a natural gas burner have any negative impacts on ones health?
 
CO is still going to be a problem. With a good size hood venting it is safe enough I would do it. I hate the thought of CO.

Is the CO issue less threatening than with the propane burners?
 
This question cannot easily be answered as there are several variables involved that would affect the determination. Ventilation, proper air/fuel ratio at the burner, sufficient oxygen supplied to the burner and the size of the burner are all major factors to consider. The best advice would be to ventilate as best you can and get a good quality carbon monoxide detector with a digital readout. No need to over do it though and your windows are likely more than sufficient. Natural gas is really no different from propane as far as carbon monoxide is concerned. It's not the gas itself that makes a difference, it's the air/fuel mixture that really counts. That and proper ventilation. Be careful though, the consequence of not addressing these issues can be fatal.
 
Safety edit>I am not sending the message that it's OK to use a turkey fryer in the house. Why would one want to boil inside anyway. Earlier I may have missed the intent of the OP.

My stove, and oven, and water heater, and furnace are all NG fired. So far so good.

One real issue seems to be less fuel related; it's pressure. I had no desire to buy LP tanks, since I have a gas line. I learned that portable LP tanks are actually high pressure. You run that thru a regulator to your burner (e.g.: turkey fryer) If you have a LP "pig" at home, the bigger tank, it's low pressure. My house NG is low pressure, and the regulator is right on the gas works.

The turkey fryer has an "orifice." I found mine connected to the regulator which I didn't need. The orifice is a pin hole which is designed for high pressure propane from a portable tank. If I run my house gas thru it I dont get much of a flame. So I bored it out a couple times with a drill bit (I blew it out with lungpower to make sure gas was gone). The very first time I used no orifice. The flame was significantly large, but orange, and sooty. The bored out orifice was not big enough to boil 5 gallons of water at first. Now it keeps 6 gallons at a rolling boil (bored it out a little more). It boils 6 gallons of cold water in an hour on a cold day. I'm thinking of getting a $13 burner that looks like a Hurricane:
Miscellaneous Propane Burner Parts > High Pressure Cast Iron Fry Burner

The burner I have looks like this:
Miscellaneous Propane Burner Parts > High Pressure Cast Iron Burner

Hope that helps you
 
I'm sure it is a stupid question, but i know absolutely nothing about the issue. Would a prolonged indoor (by a large opened windows, for instance) boil with a natural gas burner have any negative impacts on ones health?

Death. Yes, death. CO is nasty. You would want a big vent hood with fan to be sure. A CO detector, minimum.

To be safe, you should just do the boil outside.
 
It is a matter of life or death. I see kitchens with great big commercial stoves all the time. These things must produce large amounts of CO and have very, very large hood vents with 8-10in pipes. They sometime have the blower motor mounted on the roof to quiet them down inside. They look really cool. If I was as rich as half the people around here I would have two of them.
 
Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion regardless of the fuel source. Any large open flame must be used in a well ventilated area. If you are going to brew inside, a CO detector is mandatory. That is the only way to know if you are getting too much CO before it's too late.

Tom
 
Would you guys consider being just barely inside the garage with the door all the way open to be "outside" enough? Especially with the wind kicking up, it sure feels like outside...
 
Yeah man, that would be fine. CO is slightly less dense then air at sea level, so it flows around freely and will mix with the incoming air from your open garage door.
 
In todays Tivek wrapped ultra insulated homes the burner could run out of oxygen in the room if not properly ventilated. For that matter so could you.
 
You should try burning a turkey fryer in my 1916 drafty ass broken pane windowed cedar shingled "tyvek? is that the latest fashion from urr up?" garage. Plenty of ventilation there! :D
 
If you have a clean blue flame and you are well ventilated, boiling inside your garage is no problem at all. I always use my garage with the side door open and the garage door cracked about 12" off the ground. Think about it people, a gas stove is IN your home and you don't need to run a hood for that. As long as your burn is clean and you provide some ventilation you will be fine. I don't recommend using your burners inside your home but your garage, No Problem At All. FYI, keep your burner away from combustable material. I recommend at least three feet from walls. you don't want to burn down the neighborhood.
 
Would you guys consider being just barely inside the garage with the door all the way open to be "outside" enough? Especially with the wind kicking up, it sure feels like outside...

Yes. Natural gas or propane will burn cleanly so long as the air/fuel ratio is properly adjusted and sufficient oxygen is available. CO production is most often the result of oxygen starvation to the burner. The primary purpose of most high capacity exhaust systems in this type of application is to expel steam/moisture etc. Fresh air is drawn in (usually through vents) as the exhaust is expelled. IMO, a CO detector is a necessity. I prefer the type with a digital readout.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top