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  #1  
Old 2023-02-17, 10:42am
kevingreenbmx kevingreenbmx is offline
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Default Cost/Benefit Comparison of Natural gas vs. Propane

Have any of you ever dug into the cost/benefit of getting a torch booster and switching to piped Natural Gas? Is the right way to compare costs on a $/BTU basis? I'm paying $17.33 for 20 lb. propane refills, which I believe works out to $50.05 per Million BTU. Looking at my natural gas usage and delivery rates, I am paying about $0.7325/CCF for natural gas, which I believe works out to $7.06 per million BTU.

Am I looking at this the right way? Will my fuel costs really be 14% of what I'm pay now if I get a torch booster and run on Natural gas? (I know I'm not accounting for the electrical energy for running the booster, but I'm trying to get a ballpark idea. I'm also looking at oxygen systems separately)

Thanks!
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Old 2023-02-17, 1:16pm
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When I looked into it, a torch booster was way too pricey and anyway no one knew about it here in small town, Arizona. You would want to find out if you have anyone in the area who could even order it and install it for you. You might have to order it for them. Look at the specs for some idea of the BTU. The gas company in your area would be a good place to check if the booster can be used, there can be a lot of local rules about residential gas modifications.

I was thinking that natural gas without a booster would work fine on an alpha, cricket or minor which are smaller torches. But you might be limited as to the types of glass you could melt. I'm not sure silver glass would turn out as well.

And of course none of that matters if you want to do boro and/or a bigger torch, you would definitely need a booster if you tried to run them on natural gas. But it's still $$$ to buy and install, so I would say it would take you a long time to see any savings. You are not paying a bad price for refills now (I'm paying $22)....oxygen is Waaaaaay more expensive and the thing IMO to invest in a system for. Look at doing a nice homefill system. It's the only way I would ever do a lot of boro. My little oxycons are not sufficient and I would burn through a tank so quickly! So that would definitely be worth the time and expense. Propane, not so much.
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Old 2023-02-17, 1:50pm
kevingreenbmx kevingreenbmx is offline
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I am planning for a concentrator/compressor/surge tank system for oxygen as well.

my use case is not residential, it is in a makerspace in an industrial building. Gas-Tec would be selling it to us directly, and we would be doing installation off a gas line stub installed by our plumber.

The price wasn't crazy, they quoted $5000 for a 25 PSI, 125 CFH unit. We have GTT bobcat, a Nortel Minor, and a Carlisle CC. Our propane expenses last year were over $1000, and usage has been going up as we grow. I'm evaluating the ROI for getting the booster, but so far it's looking promising.

It also has the appeal of not having to have bottled propane in the facility. I like the safety benefits there.

The main thing I was looking for was to confirm my math, to make sure I didn't use an inappropriate conversion factor, and that comparing BTU to BTU was a reasonable thing to do.
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Old 2023-02-20, 11:21pm
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When I was quoted, it was more than that so eh, it didn't excite me at all. Plus it's just me on the propane and i can keep the tanks outside.

I think that it will take more than a few years to see the savings on that propane, although I sure know about rising prices, but that would affect natural gas as well.....I agree about the safety factor and that might be the best reason to make the switch. Can't put a price on that for sure. if you think that you can swing it, might be the best thing to do. Your plumber would be the one to add the booster, right? so see what they say. Good luck pulling it all together.
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Old 2023-02-21, 8:48am
rcktscientist rcktscientist is offline
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Natural gas prices have been volatile and extremely expensive lately in the socal area. I thought about this too but it doesn't make sense for me. The safety aspect was by far the most attractive part. I think the BTU comparison is the best framework but just remember that the volume of natural gas will be higher so the torches and such may not act quite the same. I'm sure there's a reason Herbies have different port sizes for the two gases.
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