so I'm looking to build a pergola in my backyard to set up my grill for outdoor cooking and I recently had a plumber install a gas line stub to connect my cooking stuff. I was thinking in the future I could also use this as a natural gas connection to run a generator in case of a power outage, but I'm now reading that this 1/2 inch line probably wouldn't put out enough gas to run my large duromax 13000. (I'm either going to do a natural gas conversion on this guy or just buy a new tri fuel generator).

What are my options here? should I get the plumber to add a 2nd 3/4 inch stub from the meter? should I have him swap out this 1/2 inch for a 3/4 inch line? If I do that, will I still be able to use this for my BBQ grill and blackstone?

This is not something I need done immediately as I have enough propane tanks to run for 3 days in case of a power outage, and can easily supplement with gasoline for another 3-4 days. But the thought of natural gas in a really bad situation would put my mind at ease (I know I'm probably entering doomsday prep area here LOL).

Did the generator come with a nat gas hose? If so, go check it against what is in place. If the provided hose is bigger than yours, you probably have a problem. If you have to switch to a bigger size, looks like a pretty simple swap. I would probably do it myself, but if you have any doubts, let the plumber do it.

You can install regulators on all your gas lines and have the meter upgraded to a 2 pound meter. Then you'll have enough gas.

Also, I just saw how close you are to the meter. If he would've use a bigger, gas line off the meter, you possibly could make it work with that existing meter size. It depends on how many appliances in your house use gas and what their btu demands!

my 2-cents
says U R OK with seldom - if ever - winter work/strains
until you sell the house to upgrade w/architect to be a Forever House, free of such fleas

Ergo, do nothing, don't worry, be happy
and assured that all our undereducated voters will make the future bright anc care free w/o such disasters ahead

Re: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Jim%C3%A9nez_(character)

In plumbing, it's fairly simple to step down pipe sizes, just like irrigation piping for a system.

I imagine if you are running a generator, you probably won't be running the outdoor kitchen.

My suggestion if you are worried about having enough BTUs for the generator is have a plumber stub the line for the bigger size and tee off smaller for the outdoor kitchen after. If you want to be able to run the generator and other things at the same time (heater, hot water heater, outdoor kitchen, etc.), you'll probably have to upgrade the meter anyway.

one MEEN Ag said:

---

My take and penchant for overspending on projects leads me to the following:

- I don't like a rubberized natural gas hose exposed to the elements. Its such a short run, black iron pipe + navy gray paint would've been easy.
-I would go up in size regardless of what you want connected. Match your house input size at least.
-Its such a short run, a homeflex riser kit would've been an easy install. Still is.

---

I'm the same way when it comes to overspend on projects and when I saw the plumber adding in this flex hoses I was pretty annoyed, but apparently after talking to multiple people, this is pretty common these days with this UV resistant poly coated line. I guess I shouldn't have assumed it was going to be hard piped. I'm actually ok with the flex hose, but again...I should have specified I wanted a 3/4 inch run. sigh......I think I might be opening up the wallet again to have them change this to a 3/4 inch.....dang....

AgLA06 said:

---

In plumbing, it's fairly simple to step down pipe sizes, just like irrigation piping for a system.

I imagine if you are running a generator, you probably won't be running the outdoor kitchen.

My suggestion if you are worried about having enough BTUs for the generator is have a plumber stub the line for the bigger size and tee off smaller for the outdoor kitchen after. If you want to be able to run the generator and other things at the same time (heater, hot water heater, outdoor kitchen, etc.), you'll probably have to upgrade the meter anyway.

---

Yep...I agree with the bigger size line and tee off smaller for the outdoor kitchen......what's the damn saying about hindsight......LOL......

It has been a while since I did the calculations, but the steps to checking sizing of gas line is fairly straightforward. Plumbers do it all the time. If you're in a city, call the inspection department and get a copy of the code that walks you through it (or google it for your area). For example, in our area,, we use the IPC. There is a nifty table that shows the capacity in cfh based on size and length of pipe.

Hagen95 said:

---

It has been a while since I did the calculations, but the steps to checking sizing of gas line is fairly straightforward. Plumbers do it all the time. If you're in a city, call the inspection department and get a copy of the code that walks you through it (or google it for your area). For example, in our area,, we use the IPC. There is a nifty table that shows the capacity in cfh based on size and length of pipe.

---

You can google and find that information.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

---

Did the generator come with a nat gas hose? If so, go check it against what is in place. If the provided hose is bigger than yours, you probably have a problem. If you have to switch to a bigger size, looks like a pretty simple swap. I would probably do it myself, but if you have any doubts, let the plumber do it.

---

let's say you wanted to swap this out to a 3/4" yourself. Would you just swap out that CSST to 3/4inch and connect at the same spot or would you replace back to the metal connection before between the meter and shutoff valve?

one MEEN Ag said:

---

My take and penchant for overspending on projects leads me to the following:

- I don't like a rubberized natural gas hose exposed to the elements. Its such a short run, black iron pipe + navy gray paint would've been easy.
-I would go up in size regardless of what you want connected. Match your house input size at least.
-Its such a short run, a homeflex riser kit would've been an easy install. Still is.

---

so with a homeflex riser kit....are you talking about just burying the little run from the meter to the stub out? I never even have heard of a homeflex riser but after looking it up on Google...it does seem like a clean solution.

RoyVal said:

---

one MEEN Ag said:

---

My take and penchant for overspending on projects leads me to the following:

- I don't like a rubberized natural gas hose exposed to the elements. Its such a short run, black iron pipe + navy gray paint would've been easy.
-I would go up in size regardless of what you want connected. Match your house input size at least.
-Its such a short run, a homeflex riser kit would've been an easy install. Still is.

---

so with a homeflex riser kit....are you talking about just burying the little run from the meter to the stub out? I never even have heard of a homeflex riser but after looking it up on Google...it does seem like a clean solution.

---

Yes. Dig a trench, then while on the surface, connect one of the risers to the the pipe via the football-ish shaped connector and some pipe wrenches. Place the pipe in the trench, place the other riser in the trench where you want the gas stub to come out, cut the pipe, connect. Put some tracer wire in the trench, put pipe dope one on end and then put some fittings to attach a pressure gauge and inlet on the other end of gas line. Test to 10 psi, preferably over a 24 hour period when there isn't much of a weather change. Amazon has super cheap NG pressure test dials, but be weary because small leaks are most likely to come from the connection of the gauge to the pipe. Soapy water is your friend here.

Once you've pressure tested, shut off your gas, and on your house side of your meter, put a a tee off between the meter and the line that goes into the house. Plumb some black iron fittings from your tee over to your riser. And then plumb whatever you want downstream. Paint gray, back fill your trench, and tell your wife you've now freed up $X in the budget that perfectly covers whatever else you want to buy.

Recommendations are to buy a larger size of pipe diameter than you think you need. Go the same diameter as the pipe into the house just to future proof your system. But for 99% of installs, especially as short as this one in the picture, just go with 3/4 or 1".

I plumbed my standalone generator in 1.5" diameter pipe to give the pipe enough gas reservoir to keep the generator humming And that pipe was very unwieldy and ridiculously oversized. I had such a long run from the meter to the generator there was a concern that a smaller pipe wouldn't be able to provide enough gas if the generator was running full tilt. And I didn't want to upgrade the house meter to 2psi and deal with all of that. The NG charts said even with 1.5" there was a risk of gas cutoff If I was running full tilt gas in the house and full tilt generator consumption. But in Houston, that doesn't happen because a majority of your generator energy demands is AC. So if you lose power in the summer, you're not running a ton of gas in the home. If you lose power in the winter, you're not running a ton of electricity off of the generator.

Doubt you will get pressure to hold for 24 hrs unless weather is unchanged.
Pressure it up and watch for two hours

A quick and easy (also cheap) way of getting a second connection is to add one at the test port on the top of the meter.

jt2hunt said:

---

Doubt you will get pressure to hold for 24 hrs unless weather is unchanged.
Pressure it up and watch for two hours

---

My take is to test as long as you need to be confident in the pressure hold. I'm a DIYer, taking longer and costing more is just part and parcel for the project. If you think a 2 hour hold is good enough, then go for it. Its a line you're never going to be able to inspect easily again though. One of our connections was really tough to tighten. So I watched it for 24 hours. We could track the pressure drop and rise with the hours of the day. Once I saw that it didn't budge overnight and then returned to the same pressure the same time the next day - it was easy to throw dirt in and call it a day.

one MEEN Ag said:

---

jt2hunt said:

---

Doubt you will get pressure to hold for 24 hrs unless weather is unchanged.
Pressure it up and watch for two hours

---

My take is to test as long as you need to be confident in the pressure hold. I'm a DIYer, taking longer and costing more is just part and parcel for the project. If you think a 2 hour hold is good enough, then go for it. Its a line you're never going to be able to inspect easily again though. One of our connections was really tough to tighten. So I watched it for 24 hours. We could track the pressure drop and rise with the hours of the day. Once I saw that it didn't budge overnight and then returned to the same pressure the same time the next day - it was easy to throw dirt in and call it a day.

---

Yes?

It's a message board. Just sharing.

one MEEN Ag said:

---

It's a message board. Just sharing.

---

didn't mean to add a ? . I was agreeing with your method.

one MEEN Ag said:

---

My take and penchant for overspending on projects leads me to the following:

- I don't like a rubberized natural gas hose exposed to the elements. Its such a short run, black iron pipe + navy gray paint would've been easy.
-I would go up in size regardless of what you want connected. Match your house input size at least.
-Its such a short run, a homeflex riser kit would've been an easy install. Still is.

---

well after reading and rereading and then reading your post again....I called the plumbers back out and they are going to swap out the hose for a 1 inch galvanized hard pipe and give me a tee with a 1/2" and 1" connection. I'm going to have to dig into my wallet again, but after getting a 2nd quote from another plumber.....I'm satisfied that the original plumber is giving me a price break to come out and swap it to exactly what I want. My mistake for not doing more research up front and being specific on exactly what I wanted.

Thx for the good feedback!

Done