OT: Propane safety

Hi bob...

Strong as I can urge you to store the cylinder outdoors. Please.

And one of what I'm sure will be many hints later, if the tank is full(ish) and is heated even by sunlight, it _will_ vent gas.

A large number of years ago I took both of my barbeque tanks to get 'em filled up. Had a 79 Pontiac station wagon. Put the full tanks upright on the back deck, and continued on to go and shop for the steaks and trimmings. Perhaps a half hour.

Came back to the car to hear it hissing. Along of course with the ominous sulphur smell. Deadly stuff.

Please don't do it.

Ken

Hi Bob...

Just thought of one more, and I'm not even one of the smart ones. :)

Propane is heavier than air. So even the tiniest, tiniest, tiniest leak will seek out the lowest place in your home - or under it.

Where it will sit and accumulate virtually forever - until something ignites it.

Ken

I believe here in the UK, it's actually illegal to store and use the large propane bottles indoors. Even mobile campers and trailers, have the gas bottle either totally outside the vehicle, or in a cupboard only accessible from the outside.

At all sales outlets for this stuff, it's stored in a triple locked cage outdoors. Everything that everyone has said on here about the dangers of this stuff, is valid. Don't do it !

Arfa

" snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

gaseous propane is heavier than air,and pools around the floor.

If there's a home fire,the tank is a SERIOUS hazard to firefighters,who might be trying to rescue a resident,pet,or one of their own.

Keeping a 20 lb propane tank indoors is like storing a bomb in your house.

After living in Quito, Ecuador for many years (and in some fancy "high dollar" highrise apartments too!), everybody I knew ("gringos" mostly, though we had many local friends) used bottled gas (was it propane? - I don't know - maybe butane?). Kitchens typically had a space under the sink (and close to the stove, I might add) where the cylinders were hooked up, and spares ones stored. They were carried up the elevators 15 storeys or so and nobody turned a hair. Never heard of a fire or explosion. We weathered a serious earthquake, causing the buildings to sway, which was a much bigger worry. Lucky? I guess so. Haggis.

The chance of the tank venting or leaking is ever so small. Same thing for the chance of a hose, connection, or valve malfunctioning. The chance of the leaking gas flowing to an ignition source is higher. Here in my area almost everyone's water heater is located in the basement and has a pilot light fueled by natural gas that is always lit. Leaking propane would quickly flow to the lowest area of your home, the pilot light would ignite the gas and BOOM! There are lots of safety measures built in to modern propane tanks, valves, hoses, etc., but if there's even a tiny chance, why risk your life, that of your family, pets, or at the very least loss of your property? Don't do it.

RIGHT! Keep that propane bottle outside. It's a simple matter to run 1/2 inch copper through the wall and to the heater.(iron pipe as well.)

Good idea! And be sure to use "plumbers tape" etc. on it,so that it's well sealed,and won't leak.

Another point is that if it leaked,it could deprive you/your family/pets of oxygen,perhaps while you're sleeping..(hope you don't sleep on the floor or in the basement!) But hopefully you'd wake up from the nasty smell before that happened.

Hi...

Respectfully suggest thinking twice and reading instructions before you use what you're calling plumbers tape. (Perhaps what we here call teflon tape, cover the threads with it?) Anyway, at least here, we're forbidden using it on propane tanks.

One more, if I may. Don't count on the sulphur waking you, our sense of smell is "turned off" while we sleep. Which sadly accounts for why so many die from house fires when the smell of smoke might have awakened them in time.

In any case, once again, please don't store them or use them indoors!

Take care.

Ken

Bob,

Your original point was you wanted to use propane for heating but are concerned about using it indoors.

How about some smart guys on the group coming up with ideas on how to address his situation

Example. Couldn't he use propane (outdoors) to heat a suitable water boiler that feeds an indoor radiator?

There must be a dozen ways to help here, just saying "don't do it" won't heat the house.

Dennis Harper/Bronxville NY (steam heated)

As another poster here suggested, Keep the tank outside the house, run pipe through the wall to the propane heater. Consult a plumber, or have a plumber run the pipes, because different cities or towns may have different rules on whether you should use teflon tape, or that sticky stuff (?) between the pipe connections. A local licensed plumber will also know if the tank needs to be a certain distance from the house, mounted to a base or something sturdy, and exactly what type of pipe, connections, etc. are allowed for your area. Also, the plumber will know whether the pipe needs to be buried and how deep if the tank is far enough from the house.

"distar97" bravely wrote to "All" (29 Nov 05 08:19:10) --- on the heady topic of "Re: OT: Propane safety"

di> From: "distar97" di> Xref: core-easynews sci.electronics.repair:349874

di> Bob,

di> Your original point was you wanted to use propane for heating but are di> concerned about using it indoors.

di> How about some smart guys on the group coming up with ideas on how to di> address his situation

di> Example. Couldn't he use propane (outdoors) to heat a suitable water di> boiler that feeds an indoor radiator?

di> There must be a dozen ways to help here, just saying "don't do it" di> won't heat the house.

di> Dennis Harper/Bronxville NY (steam heated)

My neighbor has a giant propane bottle outside the house feeding a conventional gas furnace inside and vents the water vapour outside. He does have a sun shade on one side of the bottle. What is the problem with this?

A*s*i*m*o*v

... 'Keep the smoke inside.' -- 1st Rule of Electronics.

It's legal here, but you have to use the yellow stuff that's gas rated for propane and methane.

I'm confused. Most of the posts talk about the dangers of leaky hoses, valves, burners, plus the dangers of the buildup of heavier-than-air propane, buildup of carbon monoxide, and so forth and so on. The solution appears to be to put the tank outisde, and then pipe the propane inside - where all of the hoses, valves, burners are located, and heavier-than-air propane will build up, and carbon monoxide will be created, and so forth ...

Does this make sense? I'm not getting it. The tank is the least likely part of a propane system to fail.

Now, I DO AGREE that it is quite dangerous to have a "bomb" in your house if there is a structure fire, so I wouldn't keep one inside. On the other hand, many people have a propane BBQ grill right outside the door, or in the garage ... and I'm not sure that's any safer.

Bill ======================

Jumpster Jiver wrote: