Standby Generators

[sig-guy]

I talked to Nipsco and the guy on the phone told me my gas line and meter should be fine, if anything they would need to turn up my pressure, which seemed a little odd to me.

You can only turn it up so much without it going out of spec. Valves are not designed to handle inlet pressures over 14" of water column (1/2 PSI). Either the meter will handle the load or it won't. It should have a rating plate for the CF that it will handle. Then multiply the CF by 1000 and that's your maximum BTU content from that meter.

(i.e. meter is a 215 cf, it will handle 215,000 btu)

Now BTU content will vary (from area to area) a little per cubic foot, 1000 is the average...

 

[churchmouse]

You can only turn it up so much without it going out of spec. Valves are not designed to handle inlet pressures over 14" of water column (1/2 PSI). Either the meter will handle the load or it won't. It should have a rating plate for the CF that it will handle. Then multiply the CF by 1000 and that's your maximum BTU content from that meter.

(i.e. meter is a 215 cf, it will handle 215,000 btu)

Now BTU content will vary a little per cubic foot, 1000 is the average...

During high use periods such as today the main line capacity may be taxed to the point of delivery. To turn up the meter today may lock up the appliances when usage goes down to normal.

 

[sig-guy]

During high use periods such as today the main line capacity may be taxed to the point of delivery. To turn up the meter today may lock up the appliances when usage goes down to normal.

Yep, we had an LP guy in this area who would just keep cranking the regs till the manifold pressure was correct. When the unit would cycle off, the main line would go up to 20" or better. He just couldn't see why this was wrong! The reg was undersized...

 

[IN_Sheepdog]

Any reason why you posted about him being a certified plumber?

I guess because Im once gun shy on the plumbing... When it comes to the messing with natural gas and my house, my comfort level was important to make sure it was done correctly. I had some previous work done with the Nat Gas, and the guy didnt fully check it for leaks. I had a small gas leak flowing inside my walls and in the drop ceiling of the basement for a LONG time and it wasnt till the next time someone was working on it, that it was detected. Nipsco guy red tagged us on one of the hottest days of the year last summer, (ahh a nice memory today in our -10 F weather... sigh) and we didnt have gas for two or three days... (read that as very cold showers, etc.)
To me its just not worth messing with... All plumbers are not created equal...
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Yesterday, 11 Am wife asked me if I heard the gen run at 11 AM. With all the bad weather here in NWI, it was nice to be able to say Yes I did, even though we haven't had to use it...

As to the comments about the gas meter size, based on the size of the house and the possible demands, NIPSCO did upgrade the meter as well... Took maybe an hour to do. Dont underestimate the demand for a generator of that size.. As I recall, running at capacity it was something like 260,000 BTU... The previous meter, with things like the furnaces running (always a nice thing, when needed) was a standard residential which was not large enough...

There again, the first two places I had it quoted didn't even MENTION the possibility of the upgrade need, and it was one of the first thing Cliff went down the list to calculate...

Last, I have a lot more confidence in general on the Gas supply than keeping who knows how many gallons of fuel/propane to run it. Being more in the city than in a rural setting I just dont have the storage ability for the amount of fuel that would be necessary for a given number of days if it actually had to run for any period of time... Electric is one thing, but if the gas supply is gone, I am thinking that would be BUG time anyway to another location...