gfruge
6/30/2016 16:18 EST
On to another topic.
Every time I've visited, I've only seen people have small gas tanks inside of their houses for cooking ranges.
I don't plan on doing anymore than having gas for the cooking range. However, what are the options for larger tanks? And do you think having a tank indoors is safe? I'd much prefer to have a pipe run through the wall to an outdoor shed built on the other side of the wall. My place will be in the country, so not too much worrying about foul play.
My concern is if there's a leak or worse case an ignition of the gas indoors. I'd much rather have the tank outside.
Do companies offer large tanks, like 100+ gallon tanks for outdoors like here in the US? And will they come out to refill?
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atz111
6/30/2016 16:32 EST
There are different sizes of tanks..from very small (12" high) to full size 48" high tanks. Mine is about 18" high for the stove only and I change it a bit moe than once a year. Use the stove every day. It is inside. You can certainly have a real big tank and mount it outside....but you still have pipe and connections inside the house so this does not guarantee explosion proof. In fact most of the connections are inside in even this case. The tank to hose connection is a secure one. and in any case the tank is not going explode...it will be a gas leak that gets ignited. Tanks are rated in pounds and I do not know what size mine is...25 lbs I think. You take them in to trade for a full one or in the city they deliver a new one. lots of vendors, including gas stations. The ones big enough to send trucks to refill would be for some industrial use.
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glockdiver69
6/30/2016 16:50 EST
We use the "small yellow" tank [20lbs.] for the BBQ. We also have 2 "big yellow" [100 lbs] for the house. One is dedicated to the laundry room (dryer) while the other is for the gas range, oven and for the tankless water heater. They are located in a "gas closet" outside the house, locked with excellent ventilation. As long as you have good quality gas fittings, you should not have a problem. Most gas "pipes" are actually think tubes that run through a conduit.
Our neighbor, who has a propane whole house generator has a US style HUGE tank. I am talking about the kind that needs a concrete platform. He gets that filled maybe once a year and the gas company have a gas truck that has 4x4 to climb up the hills in my community. This tank feeds his generator, kitchen, hot water...everything including the BBQ pit. Cool set up, so yes they are available and can be filled.
Hope this helps.
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feliceb
7/1/2016 08:54 EST
I lived for 24 years in Florence and we had gas tanks in the kitchens in every home even the most luxurious villas until we got city gas. You just have to make certain it is turned off after using.
The major problem is you never know when it is finished and could be in the middle of preparing a meal, especially for guests to the extra tank is not a bad idea…I had the extra one on my patio.
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elduendegrande
7/1/2016 09:45 EST
Assumption of risk, you live in a country without strict fire codes. Minimize risk by inspecting the hoses occasionally, replacing the $5 valve at the first sign of problems, and use good automotive quality hose clamps installed you you. I believe the package says to replace the valves every year or something, but my calendar is broke. We do keep a spare around, hidden so nobody will ask us if they can have it.
I get a warm fuzzy by not having the valve located where it would get covered with cooking grease splatter.
Lately in esteli the green tanks seem to be taking over, supposedly a better type of gas. Also, valves with 2 hooks to hold them down are available.
Watch out for neat freaks who push the stove up against the wall and crush the hose. On my very long to do list is to screw a 1 x 2 on the back of the stove to prevent this. Boy will they be mad!
We used to have the chimbo exposes where it was easy to turn off at night. Now we have it under the sink cabinet where it is harder to turn off and where a leak would accumulate gas better. We are getting so modern.
We have an extra chimbo in the shed. They are 25 pounds, probably net, and easy to change out. When we have a convenient day we call the moto chimbo dude and get another full tank for backup.
A neighbor who lived in Europe did the metal tubes, quality valve, 100 lb tank thing. He found that because of taxes or something the cost per lb was higher than the standard chimbos.
I have found that some chimbos will leak after they have been partially used so try not to have partials around or put a spare valve on them. They do come in handy if you use a hotplate burner outdoors for parties or whatever.
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feliceb
7/1/2016 09:53 EST
thanks for the information…we are carefully archiving all as we can use any information for our retirement to Nicaragua, once we find our home.
We really appreciate the site and the posts
feliceB and Andrew
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glockdiver69
7/1/2016 11:31 EST
Happy to help Felice. Everyone at one time was a newbie and had the same types of fears, questions and various "unknowns". That is what this site is here for.
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dollyd
7/2/2016 09:16 EST
We built a seperate little room off the side of the house for a large gas tank. This works well. We put a loop in the cement before it set so we could chain the tank down so it would not get stolen and we also lock the door to the room with a pad lock. Th tank is about 5 feet high and lasts a very long time. This is common on the island as tanks can be dangerous to keep in your home.
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KeyWestPirate
7/2/2016 09:38 EST
I do a combination of the green chimbos and the "white" barbecue tanks from the US.
I have three of the double size, ten gallons, as opposed to the regular five. One is on my barbecue, one is on the clothes dryer (don't understand why everyone doesn't have a clothes dryer here?? Here you can get clothes washed for nothing, not rinsed that well, but washed,, but getting your clothes really DRY during the rainy season is a struggle. Frigidaire dryers made in Canada are available at PriceSmart.
If it happens to rain while the clothes are on the line, you really need to wash them again. The first rain washes the dust out of the air, and the clothes are filthy again.
We have a gas fridge too, green tank, like the stove. I have spares for everything. Regulators have the double hooks. I have a spare, but have never seen one fail. I use a nylon reinforced plastic hose. Automotive fuel hose would be better. Pressure is very low past the regulator.
Chimbos have an O-ring to seal the stem of the regulator. They often leak small amounts of gas, I saw one leak large amounts of gas. Pressure here is considerably higher.
O-rings don't get changed as they should,,, adding to your cost for lost gas. You can put your nose close to the stem and sniff. The chimbo guys have a spring hook and spare O-rings with them, so can change on the spot.
There is no gas in the campo,, it's all wood. So, tanks have to go back to Esteli.
In Esteli we call the chimbo guy, he shows up almost immediately (I tip him 20 cords) with a fresh green tank ,
The double size "barbecue tanks" get re-filled overnight and he brings it back the next day. Price for gas on the white tanks is,, I think,, is a little less, but doing the math is too complicated
In Condega, they shipped all their chimbos to Esteli for refill, so the white tanks took 3 or four days. No big deal. They always have green tanks for exchange. The guy in Condega has the monopoly, nice guy, but understands the lack of competition.
The only reason I have the white tanks is,, three of them came down here on that big trailer I pulled down, so rather than buy green chimbos for the dryer and barbecue I use those and have a spare.. .... . . ..
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gfruge
7/2/2016 10:30 EST
Which gas is used? Propane, butane? I ask because I know that each gas takes a special orifice.
I agree about the dryer in rainy season. I've considered and debated on what type of dryer for months now. We have an electric matching dryer on hand, but a 220v power supply makes me cringe. Sounds like gas is the way to go. So, I'd need to search out one prior to shipping it down in a cargo container with our other furniture.
Sounds like the 5' tall tank in a closet outside is what I'll plan for. Just need to make sure the plumbing is done to both a gas dryer and range.
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atz111
7/2/2016 10:39 EST
Propane. You can get a good gas dryer here same price s in USA and save the shipping cost. If your house is wired correctly you will have 220 service coming into it in the main box and can make plugs 220...and the rest 110..there is not "220 horror" in any of that that.....that is what is done in 95 % of USA homes and many here as need it for bigger ACs and dryers.
What you need to do is look at plans and see if two tanks might be better....if the loctaions are far apart better yo hsver two tanks thn 50 feet of gas pipe in the wall. A 50 lbs tank for the stove will last 6 months or so.
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KeyWestPirate
7/2/2016 12:41 EST
It's probably butane or some combination of butane and propane. I think that butane has more btu's but it won't gasify at lower temps. Butane is cheaper. The "orfice" is different for natural gas and propane/butane, but I'm not aware of any difference between butane/propane. There are kits available commonly, stoves, water heaters, go on-line, often specific to your appliance brand and model.
You DON'T want an electrical dryer here, you'd have to run a separate circuit, and the electric cost would kill you. They are available at PriceSmart and at La Curacao, ready to hook to a chimbo.
You can buy the 100lb tanks at Costco, and if they have never been filled, can ship them. If you are going the big tank route,
I would buy two at Costco, and buy a switching regulator. That way, you always have gas. When one tank empties, a red flag appears, and the regulator automatically switches to the other tank. Again, easily and cheaply available in the US, but not to be found here.
DON'T put propane in the tanks before shipping them, and keep receipts or copies attached to the tanks,, Once a propane tank is filled, stringent shipping restrictions apply, even if it's empty. A small amount of propane mixed with air can be explosive.
I may go this route in the house I'm building, but now it's just more convenient to have a tank for every appliance, at the point of use.
The wall thickness of the standard plastic pipe is half of that in the US, although Schedule 40 IS available. I've never seen the black iron pipe and fittings they commonly use for plumbing gas in the US, but I imagine that galvanized would work OK.
If you ARE going to plumb the gas,, you might want to look into a gas refrigerator. The newer ones are nice, Dometic is a good brand, and while the gas refrigerator will not cool a case of beer as quickly as an electric fridge, they are steady, reliable performers. The big advantage is, if you're in the boonies, or off the grid, you don't have to worry about the frequent power outages. On the farm these can extend a day or two, although they are generally limited to several hours. With an off grid setup, your refrigerator will be your biggest consumer of energy.
A chimbo of gas feeds our refrigerator a month. We also have a small electric chest freezer, but it's not as sensitive to power outages. These are very cheap at Costco, $150 buys you 7 - 10 cubic feet.
It's tough to anticipate EVERYTHING you will need,, but soliciting advice from several viewpoints is helpful. Obviously, different people live differently. Some are perfectly happy bathing out of a five gallon bucket of cold water. Others want limitless hot water.
I knew one guy who lived out of a chest refrigerator set on the warmest setting,, cost very little, kept his beer up high, and with the alcohol, generally didn't freeze. I don't know about the mayonaise. Inconvenient as hell, but,,, did I mention,, cost very little?? Different strokes.
If you've never lived off-grid, there will be some surprises, and some adjustments.
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KeyWestPirate
7/2/2016 12:45 EST
That should have been "chest freezer" in the previous post.
Bringing a smile to my face as I think of it. He did have cold beer!!
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Poverty
1/29/2017 15:55 EST
Good day to ya,
If you would, please forward the Name and contact information for the company that comes to the residence to fill large tanks of propane.
Appreciated,
Pov
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elduendegrande
1/30/2017 15:29 EST
Our solar clothes dryer is still working just fine. In the rainy weather we hang the clothes under the patio roof. There is enough wind that they dry fine. Only in an extremely wet year with the system get bogged down. When the sun finally comes out, the whole neighborhood has all their clothes hanging!
At cloud forest elevation it is tougher. A non-solar clothes dryer might come in handy.
I did submit to the urge to bring down some US clothes pins. The ones available locally had a very short lifespan, even with enhance training and development.
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