Propane Line Service in Spartanburg, SC

Propane is stored in the tank as a liquid under pressure, and that pressure swings with the weather. A two-stage system tames it. The first-stage regulator at the tank drops it to about 10 psi for the run to the house. The second-stage regulator, usually on the outside wall near where the line enters, drops it again to roughly 11 inches of water column, the pressure propane appliances are built for.

Everything downstream of that second-stage regulator outlet is house piping, and that is our work. It is sized from the propane tables in the fuel gas code, not the natural gas tables, because propane carries about two and a half times the energy per cubic foot and runs at a different pressure. A pipe that is right for one fuel is not automatically right for the other.

The materials are the same family as natural gas: black steel, CSST bonded to the electrical system, and polyethylene underground with a tracer wire. The yard line between the tank and the house is often installed by the supplier along with the tank, so we confirm who owns which section before touching it.

Most homeowners lease their tank. The supplier owns it, fills it, and owns and maintains the regulators and the tank valves. That means they are the only ones who should adjust or replace those parts, and in practice a leased tank is filled only by the company that owns it.

Suppliers also leak-check the system when it is first set and when service is restored after the tank runs empty or is shut off, because air and moisture can get in and pilots go out. If they find a leak in the house piping, they will shut the system off and tell you to call a gas contractor. We repair and test the piping, and the supplier restores service.

If you own your tank outright, the same split applies in practice: you choose who fills it, and that supplier still handles the tank and regulators. Setting or moving tanks is the supplier's work, not ours.

A burner set up for natural gas will overfire on propane: too much fuel through too large an orifice, with a tall yellow flame, soot and carbon monoxide. A propane burner on natural gas does the opposite and runs starved. Either is unsafe. That is why conversion is a real procedure, not a setting.

Most conversions use the manufacturer's kit: new burner orifices sized for propane, and a change to the appliance's gas valve or regulator, often a spring swap or a reversible regulator cap. Ranges usually also need the oven and broiler orifices changed and the top burners adjusted. When it is done, we check the flame and the manifold pressure and attach the conversion label the kit provides.

Not every appliance can be converted. Some tankless water heaters and dryers are sold as separate natural gas and propane models, and some older appliances no longer have a kit available. We check the model before you plan around a conversion.

Out where the mains stop, homes are spread out, tanks are often well away from the house, and buried lines cross pasture, gravel drives and garden beds. None of that customer-owned piping is marked by SC811. Keep a sketch of where the line runs, and tell anyone who digs.

When a natural gas main is extended down a road, many homeowners switch. That means a new service line and meter from the utility, a conversion or replacement for each appliance, and coordination with the propane supplier to remove the tank and regulators. Setting, moving and pulling tanks stays the supplier's work.

We are a Piedmont Natural Gas Advantage Partner, so we can help you start the new service with Piedmont and line up the work on the house side. The house piping may be reusable if it is sized for natural gas at its lower pressure, which we check before the change. Where it is too small, the undersized runs are replaced and the whole system is pressure-tested before Piedmont turns the gas on.

Each appliance then has to be set for natural gas. Ranges, dryers and many furnaces convert with the manufacturer's kit; some water heaters and tankless units have to be replaced with a natural gas model. Financing through Piedmont Natural Gas is available for qualifying work, on Piedmont's terms, and we go over it with you before the job is scheduled.

• Ask Piedmont whether a main can serve your address, and request service
• Check the house piping size for natural gas, and replace what is too small
• Pressure-test the system and pass inspection
• Convert or replace each appliance for natural gas
• Your propane supplier removes the tank and regulators