Gas Well Hook up for My House

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bja105
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Post by bja105 » Sun. Aug. 28, 2011 12:32 pm

For 35 years we have had a shallow gas well, selling gas to the a utility. Until now, we never took advantage of our free gas.

The gas company located the existing 2" line connecting our well and the neighbors' wells, and they left me a 2" tap for our house line.
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We hand dug 8', 20 " deep near the buried line, and used a mini excavator for the rest.
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The ground here is mostly sandstone, and it took 9 hours with the machine to dig 277'.

I unrolled 1" plastic, and a tracer wire. That was by far the easiest part, 1/2 hr by myself.
Here are our preliminary inspectors.
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The well is currently producing at 70 psig. The well tender's records showed the highest recorded pressure was 295, after a swabbing. I don't know what swabbing is, but if it makes production increase, I like it. We sized the primary regulator for a max of 500 psig inlet and 2-10 psig outlet.

A gas meter and a second regulator are at the house, reducing pressure to somewhere around 15 inches of water. That regulator has a pop off feature, to open in case of extreme high pressure, and a low pressure cutoff, to avoid sustained underfiring of appliances. The meter is to make sure we pay for any gas we use over our 150,000 cubic feet our lease allows.

Inside, I ran corrugated stainless from a manifold to the stove and furnace, with room for a future water heater and space heater. I had a gas stove waiting, and I'll convert the furnace from propane to gas. I installed the furnace 10 years ago, and carefully kept the natural gas orifices and gas control spring in a safe place. For at least 9 years, they were in the way. Now, I can't find them! Another $50, and new parts are on the way.

I have about $1000 into this project, and I still need sand to backfill. Next weekend I'll make final connections at either end, and pressure test. Then set the regulators, convert the furnace, set up the furnace with the combustion analyzer, install the stove, and set the thermostat! I'm planning on a new thermostat with wireless connections to the internet, and an optional web cam. This is a weekend home for now. I can then monitor or change the temperature from home, and check on the horses with the web cam.

We also dug into the former pile of coal next to the house. There was a 1" layer of fines, under about 2" of topsoil. We haven't had a coal delivery in 30 years.

 
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steamup
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Post by steamup » Sun. Aug. 28, 2011 8:57 pm

Watch you gas pressures in the house!!! Most furnaces can only handle 14" WC of inlet pressure. Some of the newer high efficiency water heaters can only handle 10.5" WC of gas pressure. Most gas companies deliver residential services at 7" WC max. for safety. Make sure the pop off is vented in a safe location.

Good luck on your project.


 
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Yanche
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Post by Yanche » Sun. Aug. 28, 2011 9:18 pm

Take a look at the tri-fuel generators sold by Central Maine Generator. http://www.generatorsales.com/ You could have free electricity too. Be sure to educate yourself on what's needed to supply clean, moisture free natural gas at the proper pressures. Plan on safety first. Have a reaction plan when something goes wrong.

BTY that house has the same kind of siding the house I grew up in. It was covered in 1945. How old is that house?

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Mon. Aug. 29, 2011 4:41 pm

Very cool! Thanks for showing & sharing.

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