Start by pulling it 12 inches away from the wall, grilling something, and measuring the temperature of the aluminum siding before and after. If you don't have one already, I highly recommend an...
Would you folks suggest pulling the BBQ away from the wall everytime I use it? If so how far?
Start by pulling it 12 inches away from the wall, grilling something, and measuring the temperature of the aluminum siding before and after.
If you don't have one already, I highly recommend an infrared thermometer for grilling purposes - this is the one I have. It has a little laser dot, which is nice because it doubles as a laser pointer toy for my cats. Most laser pointers sold at pet stores are tiny little things that take expensive watch batteries - this has a nice ergonomic pistol grip, and a 9V battery in the handle that lasts basically forever.
12 inches of separation is probably overkill - so if you need to, repeat at 6 inches. That's a small enough distance that you can probably leave the grill there without losing too much balcony real estate.
Also, do you have a fire extinguisher for your kitchen? You should. Either get a 2nd fire extinguisher for your grill, or bring the kitchen fire extinguisher out onto the balcony every time you grill. Put it on the opposite corner of the balcony from where the grill is - you want it close at hand, but never so close to the fire source that you have to get close to the fire just to grab your fire extinguisher.
As you've described it, I think it's probably fine - if they built natural gas hookups into the balcony, they probably considered the effects of people actually using them, and did aluminum siding / tempered glass for a reason. But, if you want an extra layer of protection, the simplest thing to do would be to go to your local House Depot and buy a sheet of steel or aluminium sheet metal big enough to fit behind the grill. Then just...lean it against the siding, behind the grill. No fancy mounting required. Because you want to disrupt the radiant heat coming off the grill, all you need to do is have something that'll absorb that heat, heat up itself, and then radiate that greatly-diminished heat out the other side.
Grills on balconies are illegal in my city, but sounds like they're not in yours. In addition to what's behind the grill, I'd also be concerned with what's directly above it since it's not that...
Grills on balconies are illegal in my city, but sounds like they're not in yours. In addition to what's behind the grill, I'd also be concerned with what's directly above it since it's not that unusual for a grill to go up in flames a bit. Is there a balcony above you, or open air? If the structure is all metal you're probably fine. If wooden, I'd be a bit more concerned.
I'd keep a fire extinguisher on hand (as you've already said you have).
This is anecdotal, but I heavily warped 4 of the wood panels on an old victorian with one use of a BBQ. I was cooking up a particularly fatty, well marinated tri-tip that caused flames to come out...
This is anecdotal, but I heavily warped 4 of the wood panels on an old victorian with one use of a BBQ. I was cooking up a particularly fatty, well marinated tri-tip that caused flames to come out the back of the BBQ, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure others would have more scientific and cited thoughts on the matter, but just from personal experience I always give a foot of clearance behind the BBQ since then. That said, my dad has had his BBQ 10 inches from the house (so the lid doesn't hit the wall when open) for my entire life and he's never had any issues (stucco walled). I'd test it with something in the medium heat range, with a little distance (8-12 inches), and see how the materials react.
Start by pulling it 12 inches away from the wall, grilling something, and measuring the temperature of the aluminum siding before and after.
If you don't have one already, I highly recommend an infrared thermometer for grilling purposes - this is the one I have. It has a little laser dot, which is nice because it doubles as a laser pointer toy for my cats. Most laser pointers sold at pet stores are tiny little things that take expensive watch batteries - this has a nice ergonomic pistol grip, and a 9V battery in the handle that lasts basically forever.
12 inches of separation is probably overkill - so if you need to, repeat at 6 inches. That's a small enough distance that you can probably leave the grill there without losing too much balcony real estate.
Also, do you have a fire extinguisher for your kitchen? You should. Either get a 2nd fire extinguisher for your grill, or bring the kitchen fire extinguisher out onto the balcony every time you grill. Put it on the opposite corner of the balcony from where the grill is - you want it close at hand, but never so close to the fire source that you have to get close to the fire just to grab your fire extinguisher.
As you've described it, I think it's probably fine - if they built natural gas hookups into the balcony, they probably considered the effects of people actually using them, and did aluminum siding / tempered glass for a reason. But, if you want an extra layer of protection, the simplest thing to do would be to go to your local House Depot and buy a sheet of steel or aluminium sheet metal big enough to fit behind the grill. Then just...lean it against the siding, behind the grill. No fancy mounting required. Because you want to disrupt the radiant heat coming off the grill, all you need to do is have something that'll absorb that heat, heat up itself, and then radiate that greatly-diminished heat out the other side.
Grills on balconies are illegal in my city, but sounds like they're not in yours. In addition to what's behind the grill, I'd also be concerned with what's directly above it since it's not that unusual for a grill to go up in flames a bit. Is there a balcony above you, or open air? If the structure is all metal you're probably fine. If wooden, I'd be a bit more concerned.
I'd keep a fire extinguisher on hand (as you've already said you have).
This is anecdotal, but I heavily warped 4 of the wood panels on an old victorian with one use of a BBQ. I was cooking up a particularly fatty, well marinated tri-tip that caused flames to come out the back of the BBQ, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure others would have more scientific and cited thoughts on the matter, but just from personal experience I always give a foot of clearance behind the BBQ since then. That said, my dad has had his BBQ 10 inches from the house (so the lid doesn't hit the wall when open) for my entire life and he's never had any issues (stucco walled). I'd test it with something in the medium heat range, with a little distance (8-12 inches), and see how the materials react.
I think that's probably a smart assertion. Definitely report back if you end up going for it.
If you've got a gas hookup out there for one, just ask the property manager how you should arrange it.