Could I hook up a propane gas cylinderfor a grill or RV to my natural gas water heater?

by Water Heaters on May 25, 2010

Our gas main busted and we’re looking at a few weeks for them to dig up my driveway to fix it. I know this would cost more but what all do I have to do? I’ve already pulled the line going to the water heater, and I have a lot of fittings, enough to make it hook up clean. That’s not the issue. I’m just curious about how much regulation I should put to it, how long you think it would last, would it burn okay without putting off too much harmful gas and so on.

Let me know.
Anyone know of any good portable water heaters? Hopefully a 110 so I don’t have to run a 220 to it.


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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

etcher1 May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Most water heater manufactures do not recommend converting them.

An improper field conversion from one type of gas to another could cause potentially dangerous conditions that may cause an explosion or fire resulting in property damage, bodily injury or both.
A.O. SMITH WILL ONLY ALLOW THE CONVERSION OF GAS WATER HEATERS FROM LP GAS (PROPANE) TO
NATURAL GAS. THE CONVERSION OF A GAS WATER HEATER FROM NATURAL GAS TO LP GAS (PROPANE) IS NOT ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

http://www.hotwater.com/bulletin/137R2.pdf
Hope it helps.

olampyone May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

You better be GD carefull. you have to change the orifice . it’s usually in a little cloth bag. Inst. are on the heater.

car dude May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

the gas orifices are different for natural gas and propane, that much i know. you would either get too much gas or too little, either it wouldn’t work or it would be too big of a flame/dangerous. check and see about having a propane dealer or the gas company convert you to propane for the duration. good luck, hope it all works out for you!

whitebison2003 May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

No. The orifices and gas valves are different for the different types of gases. You do not want to attempt to do this change. It could not only ruin your water heater but is dangerous as well.

Doug A May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Many natural gas heaters are designed to burn either natural gas or propane but YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE ORIFICE or you are gotta get hurt, or dead. Write down the make, model and serial number to your water heater and visit a good appliance store with a great repair tech and he/she will tell you if you can get an LP orifice for your heater, maybe sell you one and hopefully tell you how to install it. You could also contact the mfg. through the Internet, they may send it to you for free with instructions. Good Luck! It’s usually about a 5-10 min job to change .

Bonno May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

it will soot up & create a dangerous condition, nat gas orifice is large ( air & gas ), l/p is like a pin hole only 100% gas in the bottle, call your local l/p supplier he may only charge you a nominal fee to switch it & switch it back! I’d pay $ 50.00 + $ 50.00 to get hot showers for 2 weeks!

webster j May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

propane is rated under higher pressure than natural gas in order to do this you would have to convert all of your appliances to work on propane gas. this would mean changing out orifices on all the pilots and burner assy and changing the gas valves themselves and readjusting all the flames to the appliances .I dont recomend this.

George O May 25, 2010 at 7:20 pm

no if I have to sleep in your house. You say you have fittings, go buy a 110 V electric water heater. I installed one in my cabin, the kitchen sink is on one side of the wall and the bathroom on the other.

I don`t know how it does it but it will put out a continuous stream of hot water. Its about the size of a 3 gallon bucket, and is under the sink.

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