LP or NG for barbeque grill

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saichele

Minister of Fire
Nov 18, 2005
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After 10 yrs of charcoal, my wife is giving up and want to go to a fire and forget grill (for the quick bit of chicken, or burgers, or other small, quick dinner items). We'll hang on to the chargriller for doing multiple racks of ribs or other big projects...

I think I've narrowed it to a Weber E210, which is available in either LP or NG ($20 premium for NG, but the tank is separate and also about $20, so it's a wash).

I have NG running to the deck (previous owner), but would need to run about 10ft to get over to where we keep the grill. That shouldn't be a big trick, I've run gas appliances in the house before.

So for the most part it's a wash. I'm leaning toward propane because it's the standard, and I'm not so far from a tank swap. Is there anything about NG as opposed to propane to make it substantially more desirable?

Thanks
Steve
 
Propane burns hotter than N.G. but swapping tanks can be a pain. I always run out mid way through grilling. If it is an easy hookup for NG I'd do it. Just my thoughts.
 
NG will be cheaper to run, and be an endless supply which is generally superior for cooking but not so good if you forget to turn it off. I find that the typical LPG bottles last a long long time but if I had NG as close as you do then I would use it for sure. Why mess with yet another fuel to have to go out and buy?
 
My dad has one and the gas company ran the line for free, but that was back a few years dont know if they still do that.
 
It is a real PITA to run out of propane in the middle of a cook out and have to swap tanks. When I built my last home I piped NG out to my BBQ. One thing I found out is that they have some weird rules here WRT where you can run the gas line. I was not allowed to run it more than 10 feet out from the building.
 
Thanks. I think Blimp hit it on the head - I had completely forgotten the permit aspect of it. I could do it and rip it out if I ever move, but that's probably not worth the hassle. In this part of MI, you don't get any installs approved without a union guy doing the work, and it's not worth it to go through the permits and $100/hr rates. I'll spring for the extra LP tank in case I run out...

Thanks
Steve
 
I like the freedom to move my grill around on the deck, depending on what's going on. If it's just me & the wife, I'll pull it away from the wall and grill right there. If it's a gaggle of folks over for a "cook what you bring", or something, I'll bring out extra tables and chairs and set the whole thing up differently. I don't find changing tanks to be that big a deal...takes like a minute, if I have a full backup right there. I own two tanks, so I always have a full backup right there. Take the empties for exchange at Ace hardware, or any number of other places...Blue Rhino comes to mind. If I had a small deck (didn't need/want to move the grill around), and had NG piped to it, I might do things differently. Rick
 
I have a weber NG grill on my deck, I had NG ran to the house a number of years ago, while the contractor was running the pipe for my appliance's I had him plumb my deck, just have a small stub coming out the side of the house with a shut off and a quick disconnect, the weber came with a long hose to plug into the QD. It is real nice to never have to worry about fuel
 
Oh yeah...forgot to mention one detail. We don't have NG where we live. %-P Rick
 
fossil said:
Oh yeah...forgot to mention one detail. We don't have NG where we live. %-P Rick
Click to expand...
Well goll-lly... do you think that may have influenced your decision?

When my gas installer plumbed my house, (DHW, furnace, cook stove) I had him put in a tee and cap it cuz I was unsure of how I was going to do up the patio. Later when I bought my NG BBQ, I couldn't get him to come out to run the gas line the rest of the way. I ended up taking measurements and had him cut some pipe and run some thread on it in his shop and I put it in myself. He said he would come out to inspect it later but that never happened.
 
LLigetfa said:
fossil said:
Oh yeah...forgot to mention one detail. We don't have NG where we live. %-P Rick
Click to expand...
Well goll-lly... do you think that may have influenced your decision?...
Click to expand...

Not really. I've had NG pretty much everywhere else I've ever lived (and I've lived a lot of places), and have never had it piped to an outside grill. Rick
 
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