Natural gas will not power your air conditioner

When I was a kid I spent my summers on my grandparents farm in the Midwest.

It gave me a different perspective on the world, seeing how people lived away from the city.

One of the things I loved most as a kid was the giant propane tank they had in their side yard. I didn’t know what it was at the time, it just looked like a big silver bullet, so my cousins and I all played on it. Eventually we got too rough with it, and my grandpa forbade us from ever climbing on it again. He explained that it was actually filled with natural gas, which they used for heating the house, boiling our water, and cooking our food. I always had a mind for science, so I had him give me a full tour of the heating system so I could better understand how it worked. I knew that electricity could power things, but was curious about how a gas could provide the same service. I learned that natural gas was perfect for the furnace, the stove, and the water boiler, but was no good for air conditioning. The natural gas generates and sustains a flame, which can be used for any form of heating, but that flame doesn’t help cool things down. My grandparents didn’t have a central HVAC system, just the big furnace in the basement, and then a small window mounted A/C unit they only used in the summers. The rest of the time that air conditioner was packed away in the barn.

electric heater

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