My current brew system is all electric and I’ve never used gas for a full-batch boil. I’m now in the process of building a house with a dedicated brew space and I’m wondering if it’s worth it to bring natural gas to the room. Does anybody use residential gas for their burners? Would it be any different (BTU-wise) than a propane burner?
I do.
And yes. Even at current prices it’s worth it. And it’s better overall with cooking.
But, I’ve taken the electric path as well. If you can get a good system in place it’s even cheaper than gas when brewing.
I have the same boil kettle as you (the electric jobbie). Since I switched to gas, my time to reach boil went from about 1 hour to about 15 minutes. It’s a time saver. You gotta do it, especially if it can be routed through the house. Just make sure you get CO detectors.
I think it will behave similarly to propane but the burners are not interchangeable.
It should work faster than electric and may be quite a bit cheaper. I can’t stress ventilation enough if it is going to be inside your home. CO detectors are a must but it starts with airflow, get a high volume vent installed above the brewing space.
Paul
Ventilation is important whether you use gas or electric.
I agree, but lacking it is deadly when using gas. You need to vent the moisture either way or the mold will kill you too, just more slowly.
Paul
A couple of gallons of water vapor floating around in a small room will get your attention, either now, or as you say, later.
I would like to convert my system from propane to natural gas someday. It would be alot cheaper for me.
I suggest using appropriate ventilation if you’re planning to brew indoors. A licensed and certified plumber is recommended for making the proper modifications to your home gas supply system. Most municipalities require this as a standard. Check with your local building code enforcement agency.
I think more often than not the "do-it-yourself"rule applies (especially amongst homebrewers ;)) when making electrical or plumbing modifications within the home. This is all in an effort to save money of course.
I plumbed into my gas lines to put my brewery in the garage myself. That part is easy. Brewed that way for three years. Even with the back and garage doors open to a cross-breeze there was still not enough adequate ventilation. Brewing could be a real headache- literally.
I moved indoors to my kitchen’s gas range and powerful hood vent. It’s a bit slower than my ring-burners but I have AC and no headaches. My 80qt fits over two burners nicely at full blast. 
In my area (San Antonio) the utilities are as follows: electric per kWh is $0.10525 (peak season) and gas per ccf is $0.87377. One has to do the math to actually figure out whether or not electric is cheaper than gas in your area. With a good electric system your energy needs will be less. What I like about electric is that all the energy goes into the wort and not wasted heating up the pot and the surrounding air. I insulated my kettle and could boil 15 gallons fairly easily with three 1500w elements.
And yes there has to be adequate ventilation for the water vapor. I used to make it rain inside a tiny efficiency apartment when I’d brew double batches. The ventilation sucked. :-\
Heating time is all relative to how much wattage your element is. A 5500 watt element heats pretty quickly. If you’ve got a 50amp spa panel, you can even heat with dual 4500w elements for a VERY short strike water heating time. Also, electric heating is near 100% efficient while gas is not since so much heat is lost to the room/air. Given the efficiency difference, the ongoing cost is likely a wash.
Thanks for the tips, guys. OK, I’ll plan to run gas into the room. I’m not too worried about ventilation. It’s a small, isolated room in the basement that will have an extractor fan as well as a 1mX1m window.