Propane torpedo hook up to house line

[Muskymike]

Hi, I was wondering if a propane torpedo heater can be hooked onto the line that comes in the house. It is a construction job where we need temp heat.

 

[Climatecreator]

Not unless you have propane in the house and you're not needing use the appliances in the house. The line is sized for those appliances. It's usually easier to hook them up to their own bottle

 

[Muskymike]

Thanks for the reply Climatecreator. There ins't any appliances in the house. I was hoping to not have to screw around with 20lb tanks. I tried hooking the torpedo up by taking the regulator of the topedo hose and it didn't work well. I was thinking if I took off the fitting on the hose that hooks on to the tank leaving the regulator on and connected that to the line coming in of it would work any better. I was told if you take off that side of the regulator fitting it wouldn't be any good anymore. Meaning it would leak when you put the fitting back on.

 

[Gerry347]

I think it can be done but I'm not sure how it's done.

I say this because my Dad has his BBQ connected to his home propane line and he's got a quick disconnect fitting on the BBQ hose so he can put the BBQ away for the winter. I'm not sure if it has it's own pressure regulator under the deck or if the house one takes care of pressure. The company he bought the BBQ from did install for him. It does have a shutoff valve on the house side of the quick disconnect.

I would think this would be a similar setup to that. Hope this info helps.

 

[The Cobbler]

I suspect the regulator doesn't bring the pressure down to 14" wc and the orifice is sized accordingly . the fact it's not working very well indicates (probably) a pressure or volume issue.

 

[Climatecreator]

A regulator would need to stay in line. You could just get something like this http://amzn.to/2r7zpHY

 

[Adk Mike]

Temp heat on a construction job is a different animal. I’ve done it dozens of times but I work in the industry. Without a good understanding of pressures the unit uses. High or low it’s hard to explain. That being said if you have the right fittings and know what your doing it’s fairly easy.

 

[Muskymike]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I ran into an old time friend who is in the HVAC business. He said I need to bypass the outside regulator on the house because it is dropping the pressure to 11 WC or something. This stuff is like a different language to me. I pretty much can figure a lot of things out. If this is done I want it right that is why I'm asking. Adk Mike, is there a different pressure on a 20 LB cylinder that on the 250 LB house tank?

 

[laser3kw]

you can get a new #40 tank at Menards for $90. I have one on my heater and it will run about 20 hours on that. Refills are $50?

 

[Bretny]

Whats the btu of the heater?
Also if your asking is theres a pressure difference in 20lb vs 20lb + tanks you should have your hvac friend hook it up.