Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas

[Screened Gear]

Ok I don't have natural gas in my shop. They caped it in this building and it would have to have all new lines run. It would have to go through the city so I don't even what to know the cost. My Questions is how easy is it to run a gas dryer off propane? How much more is the cost? Does the dryers run the same??? How big a tank do you have to have? I figure you can't just run one off a grill propane tank.

Maybe 244 can chime in on this, by the way did you have fun with that girl I bought you in Vegas. She was a hot one.

[244]

Ok I don't have natural gas in my shop. They caped it in this building and it would have to have all new lines run. It would have to go through the city so I don't even what to know the cost. My Questions is how easy is it to run a gas dryer off propane? How much more is the cost? Does the dryers run the same??? How big a tank do you have to have? I figure you can't just run one off a grill propane tank.

Maybe 244 can chime in on this, by the way did you have fun with that girl I bought you in Vegas. She was a hot one.

Yes she was! I let all the guys at the show have a feel! Seriously the best is with natural gas because it burns cleaner but either will work fine. You just have a little more maintenance on a propane unit. Since you are a manual printer you could run a Heatwave dryer and it will use around 75,000 BTU per hour (roughly .80 per hour in your area) We tested the Heatwave on two 30lb tanks plumbed togeather and ran 13 hours @ 360 f so yes you actually could run that one on grill tanks!! Just kidding about the manual printer. Its a MHM so same speed. LOL!!!!

[Screened Gear]

I have an auto and a manual. Right now I have a 52 inch belt and 7 feet of electric heat. I couldn't go smaller than that. So your saying 80 cents an hour for the smaller one? I know nothing about them.

[244]

The heatwave does around 45 dozen per hour. The Sprint 60 does 200 dozen per hour at a fuel cost of around $1.90 per hour. Just a fyi

[Rockers]

Ok I don't have natural gas in my shop. They caped it in this building and it would have to have all new lines run. It would have to go through the city so I don't even what to know the cost. My Questions is how easy is it to run a gas dryer off propane? How much more is the cost? Does the dryers run the same??? How big a tank do you have to have? I figure you can't just run one off a grill propane tank.

Maybe 244 can chime in on this, by the way did you have fun with that girl I bought you in Vegas. She was a hot one.

Our dryer can run on either natural or propane. 80 liters of LPG will last around 8-10 days. 54000BTU. Cures a lot of shirts/hr. And you can always expand it and get a second burner installed if you need to.

[jsheridan]

If your building is piped and capped, a plumber can run lines for you at a reasonable cost. You may need to drill holes into the wall or roof depending on codes for gas in your area.

Call 5 plumbers and get quotes from them for blackwall pipe, toss out the lowest and highest then make the other 3 compete against each other for the best price.

[mk162]

it's not rocket science, i installed our lines and had them inspected and tested by a plumber.  Our lines were already overhead, all I had to do was drop some lines for hookup.

Either way you have to run lines, either from a tank or the street, over time you will save money on propane costs.  I would get some quotes...they cost nothing.

[Screened Gear]

I haven't looked into to much but the city told me this building had gas a long time ago. They also said I would have to pay them to reset it up to the building. Everything would have to be rerun and tested. Its not like its right here in my suite, well that I know of. I will look into it now that I am doing some sort of waterbase on 30 percent of my jobs. I just figured doing propane would be a easier set up.

What is the price difference for natural gas VS propane?

[mk162]

propane is more since you have to deliver it rather than use the lines coming into the building.  It's probably the same effort to plumb the existing lines as it would be to run new lines to a tank.

[ebscreen]

NG is at an all time low.

BTU for BTU, propane will be higher, and more of a hassle on all fronts.


It's probably less of a hassle than you think to have the gas lines run.

[Screened Gear]

I will look in to NG here. I am sure it will be thousands to get it set back up.

[mk162]

probably, but we save around $300-$500 per month on our electric bill....so it pays for itself quick.  Also, you will virtually eliminate scorching...another plus.

[Screened Gear]

I'm not thinking of doing it for the savings. Nice to save but not an issue right now.  Its more so I can do more waterbase stuff. My set up now works very well. I can dry more than I can print. I am thinking a gas dryer will take more of the fumes and water out of the shop then my electric with an exhaust. It maybe an overkill and not worth the change but with everything you have to balance the pros and cons. Thanks for the info guys

[IntegrityShirts]

My gas company ran a line under the street and over to my building for free.  All I paid for was the plumbing inside the building out to the meter base, just like electricity.  I thought that's the way it works if there's a line nearby?

[Screened Gear]

My gas company ran a line under the street and over to my building for free.  All I paid for was the plumbing inside the building out to the meter base, just like electricity.  I thought that's the way it works if there's a line nearby?

The problem is in this area the gas company is the city. We have other gas companies but this building the gas is provided by the city.  I will have to check into it again. I remember them saying since it was capped and not used for like 10 years I would have to pay to rerun everything. I am not looking for right way this is something I want to do for next year.