Can I use methane in bottle form to power my natural gas water heater?

by Water Heaters on May 14, 2010

Methane in bottle form is it basically the same as natural gas minus the smell additive. Can I use Methane in bottle form with some regulators of some sort to power my natural gas water heater?


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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

billgoats79 May 14, 2010 at 4:51 am

Yes. You just need to regulate the pressure and flow so that the heater can use it without problems.

geek_girl May 14, 2010 at 4:51 am

I’d personally be rather concerned about the lack of the smell additive to tell you whether you have all the connections sealed tightly enough and the equipment’s in good enough shape that it’s not leaking, regardless of whether it’d actually work or not. Even small leaks + large time = lots of nicely combustible gas floating around right next to your water heater, which has an open flame better known as your pilot light even when the actual heating flame isn’t going. . . . no, *I’m* at least not that daring.

Now, if this were a purely theoretical question. . . I’d have to check on the purity of the contents of the methane cylinder vs. conventional natural gas. So long as the cylinder doesn’t have extra funky compounds in there that’d significantly change how/at what temperature it burns, I don’t immediately know of a problem with that.

Brian T May 14, 2010 at 4:51 am

Your natural gas is also methane with a possible small mixture of low atomic weight gasses and one exception. Your natural gas also has a mercaptan added to it to give the ‘gas’ smell. The pressure fed to your heater is also very low and a special regulator may be necessary. A better source is propane. A liquified gas will have so much more in storage for a given tank size. Zoning and fire laws should be checked before deciding to do either. Insurance companies get all bent out of shape in the event of a fire or explosion involving a non-aproved source or the plumbing.

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