Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2010-07-15, Ca****cher wrote:

Installation of a gas range requires running a new gas line from the
basement utility room to the kitchen, a total of about ten feet.
The installation instructions indicate either a 1/2 or 3/4-inch line
can be used. The easiest approach would be to tee black pipe into
an existing 1/2-inch gas line feeding a 40 gal/40,000 BTU gas water
heater. Will the 1/2-inch line now feeding the water heater have
enough capacity to support both the water heater and a gas range?
The combined BTU of all the range burners is about 60,000 BTU.
Opinions?

Short answer:

You need to count the fittings and the lengths of pipe from the gas
meter to the water heater tee and then from the water heater tee to
your range. Then you need to do some math to answer your question.

Long answer (the math):

I'm going assume you are talking about natural gas and that your
utility provides gas with a specific gravity of 0.60, and that the
heat content of your natural gas is 1000 BTU per cubic foot. These
are common values. By convention, the natural gas pressure after the
meter is 7.0" w.c., and the natural gas piping system needs to be
designed for a total pressure drop of 0.5" w.c. or less from the meter
to each appliance.


But the pressure may not drop. The gas meter is, among other things, a
regulator - it tries to keep the pressure constant.

In the instant case, the OP can experiment. Get a 1/2" garden hose and duct
tape it to both the source and target of the planned layout. Turn on
everything.

Does everything work?