will my gas meter work with my pool heater?

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flyweed

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Aug 3, 2009
524
SW Wisconsin
Ok, I went ahead and called my local gas company. they said my meter is the R-275 and has a 7 inch W.C.

I figured out what all my gas appliances in the house pull:

1. Gas furnace (HVAC) = 90,000 btu/h
2. water heater = 40,000 btu/h
3. gas clothes dryer = 22,000 btu/h
4. gas fireplace = 18,000 btu/h on high
5. Hayward H200 pool heater = 200,000 btu/h

so my TOTAL btu would be: 370,000 BTU's

Now, my meter is rated at 275,000 btu/h

However, we won't be using the home furnace, fireplace during the summer and very rarely use the gas dryer..unless it's rainy, and my wife can't hang the clothes outside.

So, will my meter be enough to fire my pool heater? the heater is sitting about 25 feet from the actual meter..so what size pipe should I use to pipe it?

Thanks for any help or input
Dan
 
While that setup could work, it is likely to be mildly troublesome. If the furnace, or worse the furnace and water heater, were to go on at the same time as the pool heater, it is quite possible that the pool heater could shutdown for lack of gas pressure. There wouldn't be any damage to anything, you would just need to reset the pool heater once the furnace goes off. That wouldn't happen constantly, it might not even happen at all, but it could well happen unless you specifically turn off the furnace when running the pool heater.

Did you check with the gas company to see what it would cost to upgrade your gas meter? In some areas the meter upgrade is free, in others it is fairly inexpensive. The only problem we had when upgrading our meter was that the gas company required that the upgrade request be submitted by the home owner (me) but it contained several fields that only an experienced plumber would know the answers to. We ended up having to hire the plumber just to fill out the form and then again to do the actual work after the meter was upgraded.
 
1-1/2" line to within a foot or two of the heater, then a reducing bell to 3/4", a nipple, a 90, another nipple to a a shutoff, another nipple, a Tee, one port pointed down, nippled and capped (moisture trap), the into the heater.

As long as you don't run the furnace, your good but I would U/G the meter anyway. Murphy watches relentlessly.

Scott
 
Yes, upgrade the meter if it's that cheap. But...please call a plumber with a gas fitters license to run the lines. Laying and installing gas pipe is not a DYI job. This kind of thing requires a professional and I dare say a permit and inspections. Gas is not a thing to play DYI with. :wink:
 
Who said anything about doing a DIY gas run? I have a good friend who is a licensed plumber and has his gas certification, who does my piping for me.and my father in law is a gas inspector for Wisconsin Fuel and Light. I think I am pretty well covered.
 
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