Residential Gas Service

[MissMyBike]

Hi all. Need some advice on residential gas service for our new place at Guanajuato. We just bought a house which has a 300 liter tank on the roof. The tank is dated 1980 & the regulator looks just as old. So obviously the setup has to be replaced. Curious that the hook-up for refilling is right at the tank, meaning the truck hose has to be lifted two tall stories up over the edge of the roof to reach the tank!

I found two providers in GTO: Gas Butano & Noel - Did I miss any? Any difference in the service between the two?
Is it best to buy a replacement tank from the two gas providers above, a ferretería, or likes of Home Depot?
Do the gas vendors install new tanks (including lifting to roof)?
The water heater is electric. Any advantage to switching to gas?
If I switch the water heater to gas, does a 300 liter gas tank seem reasonable or should I upgrade to 500 liter (assuming not too heavy for the roof to support the weight)?

By the way, I read in US & Canada stationary gas tanks have to be installed meters away from the house. This doesn't seem to be the case in Mexico, and I don't see how it could if it were the regulation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Victor David]

We call Gas Express Nieto 473 731 85 82 and have had no problem. As for the hose, they're used to that. My neighbor has a tank way up high and it's fine. They carry ladders, etc.

I don't think the vendors will install the tank (not sure), but they know people who will. I needed a new valve in my tank and they referred me to a guy who came out, reasonable price.

If you can, don't switch the water heater to gas. Switch it to solar. You and your gas bill will love it. I installed a solar heater in April 2017 and haven't had to buy gas again since. Gas tank is 120 liters. Before, I was buying gas every 3-4 months. Cooking uses little gas, but a water heater sucks it down quickly. By the way, I installed a larger solar heater than likely necessary (Home Depot, 15 tubes, tank 150?) but I wanted to have hot water pretty much regardless. And it delivers. Yeah! We've done a few different things to the house, but I think the solar heater is the best by far.

[Victor David]

I forgot to add that most people (I think) keep the gas (or in your case, electric) water heater installed with switch-over valves for those rare times when the solar doesn't provide. If you have a good location for the solar with good southern sky exposure, those times that the solar doesn't provide are few and far between - at least in my experience.

Since April 2017 when I installed the solar, I haven't once flipped the gas heater into operation. There were a few days when the water wasn't real hot, but still fine. Most days, it's WAY hotter than the gas heater ever did. With the gas heater a shower consisted of all hot, no cold water (or very little) mixed in. With the solar, pure hot is impossible to withstand. It's scalding.

All in all, between the unit and various pipes, fittings, etc. I spent about 10,000 or 11,000 pesos. No labor charge since I did it myself, that could add another 5k I suppose. Either way, well worth it.

[MissMyBike]

Thanks Victor. Based on your advice, I will stick to the same size gas tank, leave the electric water heater in place and replace it with a solar unit once I am settled in. Much appreciate your advice. Cheers.