cold weather grilling questions


 
LMichaels said:
You are all citing cases of open flame near a tank. We don't have stuff like that here (unless someone has a pilot light type garage furnace). Almost always kept my "then" LP gas Q320 in the garage. Never bothered to remove the tank. Sometimes shut it off but not often. I would also like to understand how a tank "freezes" up.
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Not my words, that's what the Fire dept. said. IIRC It was due to extremely cold temperatures the hose split and apparently the valve was open. This was before the days of the surge/OPD protector in the bottles.
Also, all of the seven houses I have owned the gas hot water heater was in the garage along with the gas furnace all with pilot lights.
 
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LMichaels said:
I realize that. Since basements are pretty much nowhere to be seen, also the milder weather. Also common in places like FLA, and other parts of the south.
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Well in Atlanta basements years ago and I mean walk out basements which my house has were pretty well the norm when you paid up maybe 20k. These basements which mine is finished man cave down there full bath have full ceilings and normal windows and doors unlike what I grew up with in NE which had these tiny windows when you had a basement. I did look at some slab houses which I never would of considered it was the location why I even looked at them. Yes the water tank was in the garage on the slabs.

Now since my brother in law is a builder and he is building a ranch with no basement do to the cost cause its more likely add 50k for a walk out basement and of course you need the right lot. In TX and FL you can't do it due to soil structure even NC its very rare.
 
Tony Coloma said:
Tankless water heaters can be installed outside on warm conditions. Saves a lot on install and piping the exhaust.
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Even in a full basement that I have my guy and I wanted to buy one several years ago did not recommend it and he has them in his own house. It had a lot to do with were it needed to be located and mine was not a good fit location wise it certainly could not be located outside. To be honest with only 2 of us now with a 50 gallon tank we have never run out of hot water.

I remember having a talk about this with him and what really pissed him off no matter how when he was doing tankless to a customer he would stress up front that it is not instant hot water yes its most likely endless but its not instant.
 
LMichaels said:
I can't believe who much they soak people for a basement.
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Most people who spend 800 or 900 k don't worry about 50k for a basement again in Atl its a walkout basement so in my case I have a shop plus my finished space so it basically adds 1000 sq feet of living space not including my shop. I came into ATL in 1996 which were the golden years from Falmouth Cape Cod which that house was maybe 1400 square feet sold that house in 96 for 135k which is now going for 600k or more and thats a small house needed new kitchens bathrooms whatever.

I bought a house in ATL New in a subdivision with tennis courts pools playgrounds for 235k with a walkout basement this house without the basement is 3400 square feet I never could have afforded that if I stayed back home not to mention once you turn 62 in my county you don't pay the school tax look at your property tax bill most likely 2/3 of that bill is for schools. Last year I paid 1289 for property taxes my guess in NE probably 9k or more depending where you live.
 
There are still many "plumbers" who will not install one simply because they "don't get them". Having installed my own about 17 years ago (and yes it's still working just fine), it was much easier than installing another 50 gal tank. Although admittedly at 17 I am getting just a wee bit nervous. Actually thinking of putting in a new one pre-emptively. I installed it because I was sick and tired of constantly keeping a 50 gal tea kettle fired when nothing was being used. I would be in the basement and even in summer, hear that giant burner light up for no reason but to keep 50 gallons of water at 120 or whatever. It was about 35% or so more $$$ than another good 50 gal, but honestly it paid for itself in gas savings within 3 years, and now it's all "gravy". Lots of superstitious old wives tales around them though
 
Up here in the hinterlands, outdoor or garage located water heaters are a no-go. I happily paid for a contractor to install a gas instant water heater a couple of years ago, just due to what I saw as a complete PITA ducting run. Yeah, I was right, it took a couple of extra visits on their dime to get the slope right. Having said that, yeah, we'd do it again. If you're in the middle 60-70% of the bell curve, there's probably little difference between a proper sized tank heater and an instant heater. The benefits are really when you're either on the low use end for not endlessly keeping water hot, or on the high use side where you don't want to run out.

My Dad & brother installed an electric instant heater in the new spray barn they built some 20 years ago now, purely for washing their hands in the slop sink. The water coming out of the well is consistently no warmer than the 40s, even in mid summer.
 
Yeah. believe it or not it's in low hot water use that tankless really shines. I see no reason to keep 30 - 50+ gallons of water hot all day for nothing.
 
I do the same thing that several members have mentioned already.

I have 2 tanks so when the one on the grill runs out, I swap it with the full one which I keep in the garage. Then just re-fill the empty one at my earliest convenience.

The only problem with this is when the tank scale gets down to the bottom, you don't know if you have 1+ hours of grilling time left with the tank or 20 minutes.

I just run it until it's empty and if it runs out while I'm cooking, it only takes a few minutes to remove the tank and put in the full one.....
 
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