How to Determine the Natural Gas Line Size for a Furnace
Determining the natural gas line size for a furnace can be a tricky process, but fortunately for most household furnaces, there are standard sizes and recommendations. Walking through this process will allow you to know which size of pipes or adapters you need for your furnace. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Disconnect any current gas lines that are running to your furnace, even though you are not going to be working on the furnace itself. This will ensure your safety.
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Measure the distance from your meter to the furnace. Make sure you measure carefully and correctly, as this information will play an important role in determining the size of your pipe's diameter.
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Determine the number of BTUs that your furnace uses. BTU refers to a British Thermal Unit and is the unit of energy that is used in both the air conditioning and heating industries. Your owner's manual should tell you the number of BTUs your furnace uses, or you may be able to find the number directly on the furnace itself. Again, this number is very important, because combined with the distance from meter to furnace, it will play a large role in determining the width of your natural gas line.
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Contact your local natural gas provider once you know the distance from your meter to furnace, as well as the BTUs used by the furnace. Based on this information, they will tell you the appropriate width of pipe to get, as well as some options for the material the pipe can be made out of.
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