Natural Gas Tank questions

Bill P
by Bill P
I built a shop and would like to add a natural gas heater since we have an all electric house. I know NOTHING about natural gas.
1. What size/type tank should I get?
2. Lease or buy?
3. While we're at it, my wife would like to have a gas stove and I would like to have an emergency heater in the house for when we lose electricity. Could this be tied in with the same tank or should I have two tanks?
  3 answers
  • Jamie D Jamie D on Jul 08, 2012
    Bill, your local gas service provider often offers gas tanks in various sizes as a service and at no costs, however these are above grade and for some an unsightly vision you can conceal them with natural screening or a trellis wall to avoid this. The smaller ones are as small (30" diameter x 5 foot tall with cap) as a 100 gallons (80 gallons filled). Local building codes vary wildly across the country and it is best to call a local service for specific questions including who may lay the lines buried or above ground and type and size require. In any case the single tank could provide not only heat for you shop and gas stove, but could also be connected to the outdoor grill as well. That would certainly save you the hassle of changing them out especially for the BBQ!
  • Jamie D Jamie D on Jul 08, 2012
    Forgot to mention: Natural Gas is piped in mostly through a network while LP (liquid Propane) is what is delivered by truck in most cases and works on tank pressure.
  • Propane tanks are supplied by your local LP supplier. You must be careful when going that route if you decide to bury the tank. Quite often you do not own the tank. Meaning your stuck with who ever installed it to fill it. By having a above ground tank installed, you can get it pulled out anytime you want and another competing vendor install theirs. Check the contract carefully for all sorts of hidden fees and removal costs. Above ground tanks must be larger to supply enough fuel in colder months then ones installed in the ground. Yes the heater and your stove can both be used off of one tank. The tank supplier will properly size your tank based on its location such as above ground or below, and the amount of fuel needed in the worse case cold conditions based upon the max load needed. If the tank is to small, it will work fine in warm weather, but once it gets cold the liquid gas simply does not evaporate fast enough to supply the right amount of energy to do the job properly., Calling for a larger tank.