Your client has decided which outdoor living kit they want on their property. Perhaps they chose a fire ring, a fire pit, or maybe a fireplace. You’re ready to build it, but what about a fuel source—should you go with propane or natural gas?
This is a question many contractors have asked me over the years, and my response is: You can determine which fuel source is most appropriate for the application by examining four key factors—portability, cost, efficiency, and safety.
Portability
It’s important to know not just where the feature is to be installed, but for how long. Perhaps your client wants to move their small fire pit from place to place, depending on the mood. Or maybe they want to have a fireplace standing permanently on their patio.
Propane would be more appropriate for smaller fire pits. Propane comes in a portable tank that can be transported easily. Transforming propane gas into liquid creates more storage capacity, and it will remain in liquid form when held under pressure in high temperatures.
Propane is available at many locations, making purchases convenient.
Natural gas is typically fed from the house through underground piping. This makes moving the feature difficult. However, compressed natural gas—which is natural gas stored at high pressure—can be stored in portable tanks.
Chilling can turn natural gas into a liquid, and while this permits a smaller cylinder volume for storage, it requires an insulated tank.
How much is your client willing to spend on a fuel source? With the current price of natural gas at about one-fifth the price of propane, this makes natural gas the more affordable choice.
At the current market cost, 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas is about $12.97, according to the November 2014 issue of Gas Rate Finder. That much gas will convert to about 1.02 million BTUs. It will take about 11.48 gallons of propane to make this same amount of energy, and cost $27.36 at the current market price of $2.40 per gallon (according to Propane Prices).
While the cost of propane has dropped over the last year, the price your client will pay may vary, because most vendors have different pricing due to the operations cost for carrying propane. This includes the amount required to carry, and insurance costs.
The price of both natural gas and propane will rise when a particularly cold winter occurs and demand will be higher, while a balmy winter causes prices to drop.
Efficiency
While propane generally costs more, it is also the more efficient fuel. Natural gas provides about 1,025 BTUs per cubic foot, while propane provides an estimated 2,500 BTUs per cubic foot—that is 2.5 times the amount of energy for the same amount of fuel.
A 100,000 BTU/hour furnace will use an estimated 98 cubic feet of natural gas per hour. The same furnace will only use about 40 cubic feet of propane per hour.
If your client’s house is already set up for natural gas and they want a small feature like a fire ring, then their fuel cost won’t be noticeably different between propane or natural gas based on average prices.
Safety
Last but not least is safety. What are the risks of running natural gas versus propane?
Propane is heavier than air, which means propane escaping from a leaky tank will settle on the ground. This creates a particularly dangerous explosion risk if the tank is stored indoors.
Like propane, a risk of explosion and fire exists if natural gas is stored improperly. Natural gas dissipates easily, which reduces the chances of ignition.
Compressed natural gas is more likely to explode, due to the high concentration and the high pressure contained in the tank. This risk increases if the tank is damaged.
Find the right answer with Ewing
Which fuel source is best for your particular application? With so many factors to consider, there is no simple answer. But you can find the right answer when you understand the operating costs, the convenience of obtaining more fuel, and safety factors.
Visit your local Ewing branch to learn more about outdoor fireplace and fire pit kit options, and correctly choosing fuel sources for your outdoor living kit installations.
