Why not put a small vent in the door, close to the floor? Since
my basement is at least 7 feet UNDERGROUND, I have no doors to
put vents into. I do have casement windows near the ceiling.
The ONLY DOOR I have is way above the windows . . . it leads to
the main floor of the house. Any other suggestions? Thanks
anyway! : )
Yes. Put your flammable gas in a relatively airtight container.
When considering this option, I thought of using a large plastic
garbage can, fitted with a plywood cover fitting inside the can,
and closed-cell foam weather stripping around this cover. Attach
an explosion-proof muffin fan for 4-inch flexible plastic (metal
for safety?) hose as attached to clothes dryers. From this fan,
run vent hose up through a window, and put the end of the vent
hose three to five feet away from any window, foundation vent or
soffit vent. Run the explosion-proof fan while using gas, and
periodically at other times. While my fire marshall would not
approve this because there is no provision in the (fairly)
universal US fire code guidelines concerning such a setup, he
felt this would likely work. Yourfire marshall probably won’t
approve it either, for the same reasons.
What else the fire marshall recommended, and/or suggested:
If you are below ground, the space should be positively vented
to the outside from the low and high points of the room, taking
care of gasses lighter and heavier than air. This is not a
problem in Memphis. There are very few basements … (excuse me
– indoor swimming pools) in Memphis!
Put the tank with fuel outside. If the tank is small (i.e. 20
or so pounds, as in a barbeque grill tank) It should be placed
3-feet at the foundation from any window, door, soffit vent, or
foundation vent. (This particular marshall would prefer 5-feet,
but would accept three.)
This tank should be secured so that it will not fall over or
tip, possibly causing liquid gas to enter the feed line.
If possible, the regulator should be protected from the weather
by an open-bottomed cover. (He suggested a plastic bucket
upside-down over the top of the tank!)
If available, the hose from the regulator to the gas pipe
leading into the house (see below) should be covered with metal
fabric.
Black iron pipe should be used to carry flammable gas into the
house and to the immediate area of the workbench. Appropriate
flexible hose may be used to connect the torch or appliance to
the gas line.
This pipe (not the hose connecting the torch, etc.) should be
installed by a plumber accredited for such a task. Most
municipalities will require this in the building code. A
building permit might be required.
There should be an easily accessible shutoff valve at each end
of the pipe, not counting the shutoff on the handpiece or other
appliance.
The pipe should be fitted with a flashback arrestor, and, if
available in your area, an excess flow arrestor.
While the fire marshall in Memphis felt there was no inherent
danger from storing and keeping the oxygen in the house, he did
recommend a flashback arrestor for the oxygen tank.
These recommendations would work for both propane and acetylene.
If the fire department in your city maintains a database of
known hazardous materials for residences, give them information
about the installation for this database.
Boy, the list was longer than I thought, when it is transcribed
however. He suggested that here in Memphis, that it might cost
about $100 to $200 to run the pipe into the house, complete with
shutoffs. I will probably spend the money!
<> Marrin T. Fleet <>
<> MFleet@cc.memphis.edu <>
<> SCT Corp. in adminstration of: <>
<> Admin. Computing Services <>
<> The University of Memphis <>
<> Memphis, TN 38152 <>
<> 901-678-3604 <>