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Converting Gas Furnace To Propane
Question
I am purchasing a house that has electric appliances (hw,oven,dryer) and a
fuel oil heat system (forced hot air). I am trying to determine if
converting the appliances to propane (nat. gas not available) would be a
wise
decision.
I have read that propane appliances are only around 60-65 % efficient and
propane
is dangerous (heavier than air, leaks pool in basement, boommmm) Since I
am
only converting appliances and not the heating system would this move be
cost
effective.
Answers
In my previous house, I had an oil burner furnace for about 15 years…it
cost me somewhere between $400 and $500 per year to heat in a year. Then
good old gas came to the area, and of course the salespeople told me just
how much more efficient a gas furnace would be. Well, I still paid between
$400 and $500 per year to heat. Now, with the oil burner, I had one of
those professional Bacharach testing kits, and I tuned-up my furnace each
year. During this time period where I tuned the furnace, I had very little,
if any, soot in the chimney and the system always worked. I significantly
downsized the “nozzle” during this process, and that made the furnace run
for longer periods of time…hence more efficiently.
I just purchased another house (about 1.5 years ago) and it had propane
heat…first thing I did was remove the LP tank, install two new 60K BTU
furnaces, and all is fine. Propane would have cost be about 2X what gas is
costing me to heat…I’ll pay for these high-efficiency furnaces in less
than 10 years (guessing).
So, my guess is that gas and oil cost about the same…oil is a little
dirtier even if you tune-up your furnace as I did. Propane will definitely
cost more, but my guess would be it will be less than the cost of
electricity to heat.
I hope this experience helps ya.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question: How do you go about converting a natural gas furnace to a propane gas furnace?
Its a 32,000 BTU 120v-32watt natural gas
- Answer:I agree, most propane suppliers can help you with this problem. It is in their best interest. Usually the conversion is a matter of changing or adjusting the pressure regulator and adjusting the burner. The main problem is that propane needs a bit more air to burn properly.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question: How can a natural gas furnace be converted to use propane?
- Answer:Call a local HVAC company, tell them the brand of furnace, the model number and or serial number. The numbers are normally located inside the service door. They should be able to supply the proper orfice and make the change and test the furnace with the propane hooked up. Unless your trained to work with natural gas and propane, it is not a job for the do-it-yourself guy.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:can anyone tell me how to convert a furnace from propane to natural gas?
- Answer:first off the system you have has to be able to be converted or you will have to change gas valve….most of the time on a gas furnace all you have to do is change the orifice and the spring in the gas valve….
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:Can you use a Natural Gas furnace for Propane or Visversa?
We just bought a home that has NO heat source. We are trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get the heating in the house. We thought maybe propane or natural gas but are not sure what we can do in the house so we want to know if we do one and the other works out better if we can convert.
- Answer:While some manufacturers do make propane versions at the factory, most make furnaces for natural gas and then supply a conversion kit for propane use. That is the beauty of gas appliances. If you install propane appliances and natural gas suddenly becomes available in your area, converting for the other fuel is usually simple unless you have some kind of exotic stove or something. But if you are burning oil or have an electric furnace, you need to change out the entire appliance. If you have natural gas available in the area, it should be considerably cheaper to operate than on propane or especially oil. Consider a gas water heater and clothes dryer as well. Especially if you have a family, that can save you a bundle! I would never tell someone to throw away perfectly good appliances, but as they wear out…put them on gas. Edit: Actually propane appliances operate at 11″wc which is about 1/2 psi and NG appliances are only slightly higher at 14″wc… There are some high pressure ( 10-30psi ) uses of propane but none of them are for residential indoor use…Installation codes prohibit high pressure lines inside a building…
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question: i have a coleman presadential gas furnace it use to be propane and we need to convert it so we can hook it up?
to natural gas the parts are not there so i need to know what it is that i need
- Answer:The jets need to be changed for natural gas. these can be bought at a furnace supply . You also should check fuel pressure and adjust the air intake at the jet housing. If you don’t know how, call for service. It is a small job and won’t cost much.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:How long will a 100 pound cylinder of propane last…?
My idea is to convert my natural gas furnace to propane. I dont want to get the BIG tank since I’ll only need it for heating through the furnace. How long will a 100 pound cylinder of propane last during the winter?
- Answer:It depends on how big the house is. And how efficiant the furnace is. And how cold it is outside and how warm inside. And how well the house is insulated. In other words, how often the furnace runs. Maybe a week or two. And propane costs a lot more in small tanks than having a large one filled.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:lennox pulse 21 100,000 BTU conversion propane to natural gas?
:We have two lenno pulse 21 furnaces (1989) placed into use in 1995, which we need to convert from propane to natural gas. Estimates for conversion have been 500 dollars per unit…Is this reasonable?
- Answer:No it is not resonable but given the age of the furnaces I am surprised the con. kits are still available. I would be more concerned about the high probability that the heat exchangers may well be broken. Your pulse furnaces are from a time when it was not good to own a pulse. Do a search on your furnaces, you will read some nightmare stories on these units. The Lennox web page used to come up completley red with warnings. Law suits, carbon monoxide are just a couple of the subjects associated with the older pulse furnace.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:Cost to convert from oil boiler steam heat to gas powered forced hot air?
We have a 1200 SF home in the northeast. Our oil burner needs to be replaced and we were thinking of just converting to natural gas so we could use it for cooking fuel as well (we currently purchase propane). We were quoted $15,000 for an entirely new gas furnace, ductwork and a baseboard hot water system. We want to know if this sounds reasonable. We also want to know if forced hot air would be comparable. We live in an old house and the gentleman who gave us the quote said that air ducts would be a pain in the butt.
- Answer:You would be crazy to use forced air heat in the northeast. Your house will always feel cold. Go with a gas fired system that uses your existing radiators. This will be in the 3-5,000 range and the temperature will be more stabile.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:Has anyone tried to convert an inside (air blower type) wood furnace into an outside furnace to heat a home?
I have an opportunity to put a huge old hot air blower type wood furnace outside my home and at a distance that’s safe for my home, from the possibility of fire from the (insulated) flue, and run an insulated air duct – or possibly two; one for return air, one for heat, into my home to heat it with, as this spring, we had a tornado that blew down 3,000 local trees, so wood is easy to find and much cheaper than natural gas, propane or electric as a furnace heating fuel. I’ve searched high and low online for info to convert, or rather to insulate the furnace with fire-proof or high heat insulation and cover the furnace with a sheet metal shell, (so as to not make a huge building to put it in, but more or less, a self-contained unit), to protect it from the elements of winter and make it operate more efficiently, but have found nothing but info and ads for ‘outside wood boilers’. I was going to put it in my 10 x 10 metal garden building storage shed, but the storm blew it away. Now I’m faced with 48 – 52 degrees F indoor temperatures while running an oil-radiator electric heater in one room, an inadequate income to buy a new wood stove that’s EPA Approved and UL Listed to have professionally installed inside my home, and when I run my gas furnace, it sucks outside air into and through the house (I imagine, for combustion), in spite of much insulating, caulking and sealing I’ve done, making the house drafty and cold, and in spite of putting out warm air (kind of defeating the purpose of having it on in the first place). … However tonight I learned that by creating a suitable sized outside air intake to the combustion area of my gas furnace, will reduce or eliminate it sucking cold air from outside into my home, and in the process, burn less fuel, and heat the house more efficiently. So anyway, can someone please make a suggestion what should be used for high-heat insulation, to cover my furnace with, i.e., especially, the air jacket, (which is a heavy 1/4″ plate steel box that’s welded to the fire box surrounding it), and operates cooler than the fire box temperature?
- Answer:you have to have mighty good insulation on that ductwork. your getting this confused with outside woodburning boilers. they heat up a heat transfer fluid, and then that gets pumped through supply and return lines to a furnace inside the house. the furnace is normal except it doesn’t require propane or a heating coil. your project sounds like something a bored hvac tech would try for they’re workshop. to complicated. you would be better off building a small addition to your house to install it in if you don’t have the room. i just can’t think of a suitable enclosure for the furnace, not to mention how you would install the supply and return. for some reason a very small shed attached to your home comes to mind as a suitable place to install the furnace. anyway what you are thinking of doing would violate a ton of fire and building codes. don’t try it and buy a bunch of space heaters.
Associated Converting Gas Furnace To Propane Question:How can I convert from gas heating to electric?
We use propane for heating, but because of rising gas prices, the heating costs have become outrageous (seriously, we have to borrow money to pay for heating). The home is heated with liquid filled base board heaters. The propane is used to heat a furnace which in turn circulates hot water through the base board heaters. Is going to electricity going to be cheaper than gas? How do I determine this? Is it as easy as replacing the furnaces with modern electric furnaces? How much does this cost? We don’t have 220 service – does this matter? Any advice is appreciated.
- Answer:call and get a quote from a hvac contractor for a new boiler in both LP and electric and have them do an annual energy consumption (cost) it is a really easy to do calculation that can be accomplished with most new heat load software, or a pencil with a few minutes and known prices for the fuels. estimates are free! ask questions and get answers dont feel bad about shopping around with different contractors and getting the best value for your buck—after all you are paying for the bills and thats what the contractor is in business for
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