A "Balanced System"

(The following information also comes directly from Northern Brewer.)

"The optimal dispensing scenario is that you dispense beer at the same pressure at which it is carbonated, and you never modify the pressure inside the keg. In order to accomplish this you need to balance the applied pressure, or the pressure in the keg’s head space, and the total restriction of the beverage system.

Nearly all of the restriction in a beverage system comes from the beverage tubing. It is harder to push beer through a long length of tubing than a short length because of the frictional resistance of the tubing’s surface. The frictional resistance generated by tubing is called flow resistance.

The actual flow resistance of a tube is influenced by many factors, such as material, inner diameter and the degree to which it bent or coiled. The most dramatic effect is tubing diameter. All other things being equal, it is much harder to force beer through a narrow diameter tube than a large diameter one. The approximate flow resistance of 1/4” vinyl beverage tubing is 0.65-0.85 pounds/foot. Compare that to narrower 3/16” beverage tubing at approximately 2.2-3.0 pounds/foot. In practical terms, if you carbonate beer at 15 PSI, this means you will need 13-23 feet of 1/4” beverage tubing to have a balanced system. In comparison, you will need just 5-7 feet of 3/16” tubing to achieve the same result. For most home brewers’ draft systems, it is impractical to use anything but 3/16” beverage tubing. In most cases 5-7 feet will give good results, however you may need to modify the length if your conditions are unusual."

With this information, you should have little problem setting up a keg and dispensing system at home.