Natural gas pipe... enough flow to run a grill?

Hi there... long time reader, first time poster.

I'm trying to decide whether to purchase a NG or a propane grill. After getting quotes for running a line to exactly where I would like a hookup for NG, I've realized doing this the "right" way is out of my budget for now. Particularly because it will be temporary since we're having an addition put on our house which is going to move our backyard patio anyways.

However, all may not be lost for NG, and this is where I'm hoping to get some advice from people who know more about natural gas than I do. There is a hookup for a gas dryer that is no longer used. It is close enough that I could get one of the extra long gas hoses and run my grill from that hook up, providing that there is enough flow. What I don't want to do is buy a grill and extra long hose only to find out it doesn't have enough flow for a 3 burner grill. I've attached a crude diagram of all my pipes back to the meter and I hope this is enough to get some advice.



Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

Welcome to the forums.
Not the plumbing pro...... just looking around

Are you sure that 6" nipple is 1/2" ? It should be 1" or at least 3/4".
I have a similar setup but I have 3/4" to the dryer/water heater area.

If you were running a dryer there you will probably be ok as a dryer uses approx 30k btu's.
You could check and see what the grill requires.

 

 

I'm also not a plumber, but in my house and the neighborhood, incoming from the gas meter is 1" then it reduces to 3/4 for the main run into the home (usually the basement). From there it branches out to 1/2 for most appliances. I believe most dryer are now using 3/8 connections. You should OK with your grill hook up.

 

Based on my calculations, you'll be close, but still good. In the future, I'd probably want to upgrade to 3/4" to the water heater, but no need at this time.

 

What pressure is your gas meter regulated to; 7"WC or 2PSI?

 

Thanks for all the responses!

Last night I took a closer look, and now I'm a little confused. What is the best way to measure the pipe (to determine if it's 1", 3/4", 1/2", etc..)? What I thought was 1", I'm now inclinced to believe is 3/4". When I measure it, it's slightly larger than an inch, but my guess is the size designation is for the inside measurement, not the outside. So if it's only slightly larger than an inch, the inside measurement must be 3/4" right? Does that change the possibility of it working? If I had to guess, I would have thought that it doesn't matter whether the pipe coming in is 1" or 3/4" since it all tapers down to 1/2" anyways and the limiting factor would be the final size in the line, not the prior sizes.

@cgav34, I wasn't exactly sure how to tell by looking at the meter, however I looked up with my gas company and their said the standard is 6"WC.

 

Pipe is measured by inside diameter. That would mean that 3/4" iron pipe would measure just over an 1" outer diameter. 1" pipe is just under 1-1/2" outside diameter.

If that 6" stub is 1/2"...... that is not piped correctly.