BeerBorg

well.. the place I moved into sits with a runoff pond behind it so the mosquitos are nuts! when I go to my car in the drive at night there are at least 100 all over it alone. during the day the back of the house is crawling with them. so when I get back to brewing it looks like i'll be doing it in the garage with the door open... and using propane.

question: I have a gas water heater in the corner of the garage by the entry to the house. it is in the farthest corner away from the garage door. would it be safe to open the garage door, have a fan blowing from behind me toward the garage door, and use propane? I don't think it would be a problem with ventilation and since the water heater has a lit pilot light anyway, I don't see explosions happening.

would you do it like this?

kinda strapped for cash now so brewing will have to wait but wanted to know your opinion. thanks.

As long as you don't have the propane going out the burner without it being lit and/or there are no leaks - IE filling your garage up with unburned gas - then I think it's fine.

The key with using propane or natural gas is to carefully check your connections with a soapy sponge, coating every part with soapy water to see if there are any leaks (bubble gets created). Wet a sponge, hit the soap for two squirts, squish it in until the sponge is soapy, and lather away.

When you light the burner, make sure it lights immediately. Propane hangs in the space. The fan is a great idea, if you have two think about having one blow in (bringing fresh air) and one blow out.

Just be careful and don't be this guy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me93idDE7cU

I brew in the winter in the garage a lot with the door almost all the way closed. I have a vented roof and the garage is not finished, so if I leave the door open 1/2-1" I get more than adequate ventilation. Remember tho that burning propane releases CO2 and that is what the skeeters are drawn to.

DaYooper wrote:I brew in the winter in the garage a lot with the door almost all the way closed. I have a vented roof and the garage is not finished, so if I leave the door open 1/2-1" I get more than adequate ventilation. Remember tho that burning propane releases CO2 and that is what the skeeters are drawn to.

True, but if he's got a fan blowing, the moving air can help to keep 'em away. They don't fly very well through moving air, so it may cancel out the lure of the carbon dioxide. I would say best to make sure there's adequate ventilation (even an inch or so of an opening) and constantly moving air.

And maybe keep a canary nearby.

All of this is true but you must realize that natural gas also emits CO2 when it's burned and how many of us have our stove/oven vented? Just remember this next Thanksgiving when you're cooking the turkey and/or the ham.

Chuck N wrote:All of this is true but you must realize that natural gas also emits CO2 when it's burned and how many of us have our stove/oven vented? Just remember this next Thanksgiving when you're cooking the turkey and/or the ham.

Yup, but generally a stove and oven dont kick out near as many BTUs as a fryer. On a side note, when my parents installed a commercial stove into their old house it was required that they replace their ventalation fan with a larger commercial version due to the amount of BTUs that puppy was capable of kicking out.