Short answer: Yes for four models, and ask first for the rest. Every GTT model in our catalog lists both propane and natural gas, but only four start at the fuel pressure an unboosted household line delivers: Glass Torch Technologies’ flow rate chart gives the Bobcat, Cricket, Scorpion and Sidewinder a fuel range that starts at 1/4 psi. For those four, a properly installed house line is usually the whole fuel story, with no booster. The rest of the line lists 5 to 20 psi of fuel at its largest flame, so a booster is the likely answer there. Two things change on natural gas: the torch burns roughly 2.5 times the volume of fuel it would on propane for the same flame, and the pressure-hungry flashback arrestors common on propane setups may not open at house pressure. The larger GTT torches are a closer call at full flame, and the connection itself is gas plumbing for a licensed installer working to local code.
This page is the GTT-specific version of a question our natural gas conversion guide covers across every maker. If you are still choosing a fuel, start with propane vs natural gas for torchwork.
Why a GTT torch can run on house gas
The limit on house gas is pressure, not the fuel. Household natural gas arrives at a few inches of water column, roughly 7 inches WC, or about 1/4 psi, a small fraction of what a regulated propane cylinder feeds a torch. Our regulator guide walks through those units and where the utility figures come from. A torch that wants 5 psi of fuel can light on a house line and still come up short at the size of flame you bought it for.
GTT’s smallest torches are built around the other end of that scale. GTT’s flow rate chart lists the Cricket, Bobcat, Scorpion and Sidewinder at fuel pressure as low as 1/4 psi, and its Bobcat page gives the Bobcat’s fuel range as 1/4 to 5 psi. That bottom figure lines up with house pressure, which is why those small GTT bench torches are the usual answer when someone asks what they can run straight off a household line. For how GTT’s surface-mix and Triple Mix flames work, see GTT Triple Mix technology.
Which GTT models run on natural gas
All of them, by our catalog. Every one of the sixteen GTT models in the catalog lists propane and natural gas as its fuels, from the Cricket up to the Cobra and the built-to-order Quadzilla. Fuel type is not what separates them on a house line. Pressure and volume at full flame are.
Where the models do differ is in what GTT’s flow rate chart lists for them. The chart gives fuel pressure, fuel flow and oxygen flow at the largest usable flame on propane, and its fuel-pressure column falls into four steps:
| GTT model | Fuel pressure on GTT’s chart (propane, largest usable flame) | Oxygen estimate (catalog) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cricket | 1/4 to 5 psi | ~5.5 LPM | $255 |
| Bobcat | 1/4 to 5 psi | ~8.5 LPM | $275 |
| Scorpion | 1/4 to 5 psi | ~9.5 LPM | $945 |
| Sidewinder | 1/4 to 5 psi | ~15 LPM | $1,125 |
| Lynx | 5 to 8 psi | ~9.5 LPM | $525 |
| Cheetah | 5 to 8 psi | ~13 LPM | $645 |
| Phantom | 10 psi | ~16.5 LPM | $1,425 |
| Mirage | 10 psi | ~26 LPM | $1,975 |
| Delta Elite | 10 psi | ~30 LPM | $2,575 |
| Kobuki | 10 psi | ~33 LPM | $3,550 |
| Delta Mag | 20 psi | ~54 LPM | $4,250 |
| Cobra | 20 psi | ~65 LPM | $5,500 |
| Viper | 20 psi | Flow not printed on the chart | $7,000 |
The Ninja, Samurai and Quadzilla have no row on the chart at all, so ask GTT for their fuel pressure directly.
The Cricket, Bobcat, Scorpion and Sidewinder carry a fuel range that starts at house pressure. The Lynx and Cheetah rows read 5 to 8 psi at their biggest flame, the Phantom tier reads 10 psi, and the Delta Mag, Cobra and Viper rows read 20. Those are figures for the torch running flat out on propane, not a floor below which it will not light, and they are the honest place to be careful: whether a bare house line gives you the full flame of a Lynx, a Phantom or a Mirage is a question to put to GTT before you buy, with your intended work described.
The Lynx deserves a specific word, because it is often lumped in with the Bobcat. It is the single-stage Triple Mix detail torch at $525, 7 jets, and the chart lists its fuel flow at 3 cubic feet per hour on propane, close to the Bobcat’s 2.5. Its fuel pressure row is not the Bobcat’s: the chart reads 5 to 8 psi, and GTT’s Lynx instruction sheet says to set the propane regulator to the same 5 to 8 psi. A house line at a quarter psi is well below that, so treat the Lynx on natural gas as a question for GTT, not as settled by the 1/4 psi floor.
The 2.5x point: what natural gas does to flow and oxygen
Natural gas carries less energy per cubic foot than propane, so a torch has to move more of it for the same flame. GTT’s flow rate chart puts the difference at roughly 2.5 times propane by volume. The chart’s fuel figures are propane figures, so a rough natural gas estimate is the chart value times 2.5. For the Bobcat, 2.5 cubic feet per hour of propane becomes roughly 6 cubic feet per hour of natural gas; for the Lynx, 3 becomes roughly 7.5. Those are our arithmetic on GTT’s own ratio, not GTT specs, but they are the kind of number an installer needs, because gas piping is sized by demand in cubic feet per hour and length of run.
The oxygen column on the same chart is also measured on propane, and the catalog’s oxygen estimates come straight from it: ~8.5 LPM for the Bobcat and ~9.5 LPM for the Lynx, each at the largest usable flame. Treat those as propane references, and as a sizing ceiling rather than a typical working draw. If you are sizing an oxygen concentrator for a natural gas studio, ask GTT how the oxygen side changes on natural gas for your model rather than scaling the propane number yourself.
The oxygen side is also why the small GTT torches suit a house-gas studio so well. GTT says the Bobcat runs well on a 5 LPM, 5 psi concentrator and is optimal at 8 LPM, and it designed the Cricket to get the most from the same 5 LPM class. Household gas on the fuel side and a concentrator on the oxygen side is a studio with no cylinders at all.
Regulators and boosters
On an unboosted line feeding a small GTT torch, you are not adding pressure, so there is no booster and no booster regulator to set. What the connection needs at the wall (a code-required manual shutoff within reach of the appliance, and whatever your installer and inspector call for) is covered in do I need a regulator for a natural gas torch.
A booster is a small appliance that raises utility gas pressure, and it earns its place when a torch’s full flame wants more than the line can push. That is the question for the large GTT torches above, and it is where GTT’s design stands apart from much of the market. Carlisle makes the contrast clear inside a single maker. The Carlisle Mini CC’s instruction sheet specifies 0.25 to 3 psi of natural gas, so it runs at house pressure. The full-size Carlisle CC, a combination torch with a premixed center fire inside a surface-mix outer, calls for 5 psi natural gas and 10 psi oxygen, which an unboosted house line cannot supply. That is a different design with different strengths, not a shortcoming, but it shows why the booster question is per model, and why a fuel range that starts at 1/4 psi is a real selling point for anyone with a gas line.
Flashback arrestors on a low-pressure line
This is the part most people carry over from propane without checking. GTT’s flashback arrestor page says arrestors need roughly 5 to 7 psi to open. An unboosted house line runs at about 1/4 psi, far below that, so a conventional arrestor on that fuel line may never open properly and can starve the torch. GTT gives the same warning for an oxygen concentrator’s output, where a conventional arrestor can severely restrict an already low-pressure flow. For low-pressure supplies, GTT’s device is a flame arrestor rather than a conventional flashback arrestor.
GTT also states that its surface-mix design nearly eliminates flashback potential under normal use, and it recommends arrestors specifically where several torches share one supply. The right answer is the flashback protection your torch and your gas supply call for, taken from GTT’s instructions for your setup. The flashback arrestors guide explains how the devices work and why low pressure complicates them.
What to ask your installer
Connecting a torch to household natural gas is a real, common path, and it is also fuel-gas piping. In the United States that work falls under NFPA 54, the National Fuel Gas Code, as adopted and amended by your local authority having jurisdiction, and most jurisdictions require a permit and a licensed gas fitter. Bring the torch’s manual and GTT’s figures to the conversation, and ask:
- What does my line actually deliver at the bench? House pressure varies by utility and by home, and some homes run elevated systems with step-down regulators. It gets measured, not assumed.
- Can the branch supply the flow? Give the installer the natural gas demand estimate for your model (the propane figure times roughly 2.5) and any other appliances on the same run.
- Where does the shutoff go, and what protective devices does code require here? Share GTT’s arrestor guidance so nothing is fitted that cannot open at house pressure.
- How are the joints sealed? Thread sealing on a fuel-gas connection is the installer’s call, made to an approved method, not a habit from water plumbing.
- If I move up to a larger GTT torch later, will this line do? If the answer depends on a booster, it is cheaper to know now.
Editor’s note: GTT’s pressure and flow figures above come from its own pages and flow rate chart, which are written for propane; the natural gas volume estimates are our arithmetic on GTT’s stated ratio. Household gas pressure, permit rules and required protective devices vary by utility and jurisdiction. GTT’s manual and instructions for your torch take precedence over anything here, and the gas connection belongs to a licensed installer working to your local code. Confirm current specs with GTT before you buy.
Related guides
- Running a glass torch on natural gas: conversion, house pressure, and boosters
- Do I need a regulator for a natural gas torch?
- Propane vs natural gas for torchwork
- Flashback arrestors explained
Sources
- Glass Torch Technologies, Flow Rate Chart (fuel and oxygen pressure and flow at the largest usable flame, propane; natural gas note; PDF)
- Glass Torch Technologies, FAQ (low fuel pressure operation)
- Glass Torch Technologies, Bobcat (fuel 1/4 to 5 psi, concentrator guidance)
- Glass Torch Technologies, flashback arrestors
- Carlisle Machine Works, Mini CC bench burner
- Carlisle Machine Works, CC bench burner
- NFPA 54, National Fuel Gas Code