can air conditioner operate on natural gas to air-condition home?

[PILOON]

I once converted a small fridge from electric to gas.
My grandfather had a small electric that I simply converted with a small flame and controller* for my log cabin.
Worked fine for years.

Rather than a compressor some actually use heat to make the cooling circuit work.
The old Servell units worked that way and some smaller units simply used a tubular heating element in lieu of a gas pilot.

* purchased the 'guts' from a RV supplier.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I once converted a small fridge from electric to gas.
My grandfather had a small electric that I simply converted with a small flame and controller* for my log cabin.
Worked fine for years.

Rather than a compressor some actually use heat to make the cooling circuit work.
The old Servell units worked that way and some smaller units simply used a tubular heating element in lieu of a gas pilot.

* purchased the 'guts' from a RV supplier.

but where do you stop? A/C, Fridge, Dryer, Furnace, Hot water tank the list can go on and on of things that can be converted to LP gas but if the gas hook up is free a whole house gen in my opinion would be the best bet and by far the easiest. And save the most money overall. Not to mention more fittings and pipe to leak out of all that, and the yearly or bi-yearly PM and inspection of it all.

 

[kenmac]

I worked on plenty of these things Gas Air Conditioner - YouTube back in the day.. Haven't seen one in years.. I kinda miss them.. I hated that ammonia though.. That stuff would really lock your lungs up, and it didn't take very much of it

 

[dstig1]

The generator idea is interesting, but you need to look at costs. You need a continuous service type generator, not your typical emergency back up type as they are not made for that kind of run time. So you could be looking at something like $20k for the gen, cutover switch (assuming you keep the grid tie) and install. While you will recover that with free gas and electricity, you need to figure out if it makes sense. If you spend $2k/year for power and gas now, that is 10 years to break even, and you have not counted in any maintenance costs on the gen yet. Or maybe you go hybrid and have a battery bank for use at night when use is low, unless you are running the AC in the summer. Now the gen is used a lot less (plus not listening to it all night), but you have added costs of the battery system to account for. And they don't last forever either. If this is even an option to consider, you need to put pencil to paper and figure out if it is worth it, or how long it will take to be worth it.

 

[dadster4]

Arkla Servel or Robur are two manufacturers of gas-powered ac and heat pumps. I'm sure the initial cost is more than a standard ac system, but with a free gas supply, your payback time would be shortened considerably. Servicing the system would be your greatest deterrent from buying this kind of setup though. The idea of powering a generator with gas to supply electric sounds like a more viable solution, with fewer headaches down the road.

 

[KYErik]

How "clean" is your gas versus the standard natural gas that city residents have? I can see how a gas water heater burner would not "care" if there was a purity issue, but a nat gas genny engine might...

 

[GaryM]

I'm glad Dadster4 mentioned Servel AC units. A fellow I worked with had one at his home. Outside unit had gas burner and fan for condenser unit while inside had a coil in the air handler. Very quiet and cheap to run at the time. I do remember that the condenser coil was much larger than the compressor units of the time.

 

[coffeeman]

How "clean" is your gas versus the standard natural gas that city residents have? I can see how a gas water heater burner would not "care" if there was a purity issue, but a nat gas genny engine might...

The gas is clean I believe. I don't have any special stuff added to my boiler furnace. Just off the shelf. Same for clothes dryer. Interesting thing, the gas smells like natural gas. I always thought an oder is added by gas companies. I don't need that .. I have thought a nat gas car would be great, but too much trouble to compress and pump into car.

Cheers...Coffeeman

 

[dickfoster]

I have heard it would be possible. Just wondered. Quickest way to get info, consult the master mind of TBNers . Anxious to hear ideas.

To all; HAPPY & HEALTHY THANKSGIVING........Coffeeman

My question is how do you have natural gas avaliable but not electricity? Propane I understand if you're off grid. Natural gas is usually only avaliable in built up areas that would have been on the gird long before natural gas was plumbed in. Unless it was from the last or previous century when big cities had gas for lighting before edison came along.
BTW you can also run a refrigeration compressor with a gasoline engine, i.e. refers on trucks, train cars, and shipping containers, all you need is some form of motive force to turn the compressor and a fan to move the air.

 

[KYErik]

My question is how do you have natural gas avaliable but not electricity? Propane I understand if you're off grid. Natural gas is usually only avaliable in built up areas that would have been on the gird long before natural gas was plumbed in. Unless it was from the last or previous century when big cities had gas for lighting before edison came along.
.

He has an oil well on his property and natural gas is escaping from the well casing. Rather than just burning it (as a 24/7 flare), he has the contractual right to pipe it to his home and burn it as a "free" fuel.