Saturday, October 27, 2007

Out with the Dual Fuel in with the LP heat

This weekend saw the completion of another personal greenhouse gas reduction project. The removal of our 30 KW dual fuel electric furnace and installation of a 95.6 % efficient LP gas furnace in it's place. The original system was installed perhaps a dozen years ago and used the 1978 vintage LP furnace as the "backup" heat source. Last winter we noticed that the LP unit was leaking combustion products into the supply air and needed to be replaced. Looking at the overall source energy the choice was clear - to convert to LP at the highest efficiency possible.
The MINI was filled with new ductwork to transition to the new furnace and bypass the old electric unit. The worst of this project was the 2-1/2 inch PVC venting required. This is not a common item and I had some issues getting the parts I needed.



The duct work fit great and I was able to install the LP conversion kit, adjust the gas pressure at the valve and complete the vent installation. Of course, I started this task at the begining of the month, so it's been a bit of time, but we are just getting to that time of year where the morning temperatures are in the 20's. On Monday, I'll call the LP supplier and get a larger tank installed and a final check of the LP installation - there was a rebate from the LP suppliers, but there was only so much money avalable, so I may have missed it.

Bottom line is that we will most likely pay a bit more for the heat, but the environment will be better for it. I'm hoping two stage gas valve and variable speed the ECM motor will compensate a bit for the higher site energy cost since the original unit was quite a bit more ristricted and had a 2 hp constant speed fan motor.




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