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screen printing => General Screen Printing => Topic started by: Screened Gear on November 08, 2012, 05:39:37 PM

Title: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Screened Gear on November 08, 2012, 05:39:37 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: 244 on November 08, 2012, 05:45:56 PM
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!!!!
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Screened Gear on November 08, 2012, 05:56:48 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: 244 on November 08, 2012, 06:15:04 PM
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
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Rockers on November 08, 2012, 06:16:54 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: jsheridan on November 08, 2012, 07:17:07 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: mk162 on November 08, 2012, 08:44:05 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Screened Gear on November 09, 2012, 03:00:19 AM
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?
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: mk162 on November 09, 2012, 09:52:04 AM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: ebscreen on November 09, 2012, 12:19:43 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Screened Gear on November 09, 2012, 12:53:55 PM
I will look in to NG here. I am sure it will be thousands to get it set back up.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: mk162 on November 09, 2012, 01:16:12 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Screened Gear on November 09, 2012, 01:24:42 PM
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
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: IntegrityShirts on November 09, 2012, 01:41:08 PM
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?
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Screened Gear on November 09, 2012, 01:55:34 PM
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.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: mk162 on November 09, 2012, 04:45:16 PM
trade out with a plumber...here is the thing, you have to run lines anyway, so if you move to gas, you will have to get the gas to the dryer somehow....so run the lines from the old stuff.

it will pay for itself, also, if you tell them you are putting in a larger appliance, they will do it for free, same thing with our 3 phase pole outside, the city put that in and brought it to the building for free...well, as free as free shipping from suppliers. ;)
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: jsheridan on November 09, 2012, 07:24:37 PM
it was capped and not used for like 10 years

All that means is the main valve in the street has been shut off and they put a cap on the end of the line wherever that may be. It's usually located on the end of the building closest to the main road. If your complex has multiple buildings then you may only have a single main trunk line coming into the complex and you'll have to run from there to your building. It sounds like this may be the case as gas in commercial complexes is always up to the lessee to run line to their building.

When they say re-run.. that means you'll have to run lines from the cap to a meter location and then from the meter to the dryer.

Take a walk and look around, I'm sure you can find the cap as it's always above ground.
Title: Re: Propane Gas dryers vs natural gas
Post by: Rockers on November 09, 2012, 08:06:13 PM
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.
I don`t know about the exact prices for LPG but it`s a fact that LPG contains almost 2.5 times as much usable energy/cubit foot then natural gas. menas you will need a lot less LPG then natural gas to run your dryer. I would say research all the charges for natural gas and LPG incl. the charge for meter rental and other standing charges for natural gas and see what works out better for you.