Low power LP furnace ?

[Guda]

I am looking for a LP furnace. I could do a RV model to be at 12v. But I think I want a full residential unit as I think they are more efficient & last longer. I might be wrong tho. I've been looking at a few on ebay but I don't see power consumption listed. I need about 30,000 BTU.

Anyone know a good model?


PS. Diesel heaters are not good.

 

[MichaelK]

Sportsmansguide has this little heater. It has piezo push-button start, so does not require electrical power.

 

[Guda]

Does that come with a thermostat? The reason I want a "residential unit" is so I can leave it to mind it self. That thing you listed is how to lower your IQ by 50 points in a winter......

 

[Picasso]

It's not cheap, but I LOVE my Rinnai FC510P. *not for sale or use in California

 

[Guda]

Im not to sure about that type of heat. I don't care about cheap. I want to install a furnace. Maybe a heat pump. David Poz did some videos about hot water. Wonder if a big tank, like huge big, 500gal. Could hold enough hot water to run a heat pump off. Geothermal is on the table if the power consumption is reasonable.

 

[Picasso]

100f of water in a tank in one your containers would be an easy test Id think for you. slap a heating element in a tank see what it takes to keep the water at temp and radiate heat. The Rinnai would put off moister in a sealed box.

 

[OffGridEnclave]

sorry, english not my mother tonge.

could you clarify "furnace"..
google shows me pics from small scale water heating up to industrial aluminium melting...
30.000 BTU is about +- 9 Kw ?

 

[newbostonconst]

If money doesn't matter then buy more solar and batteries so you have more electric.....A mini split is the way to go.

 

[JoeHam]

Plus one.

Look around the forum at mini split threads.

 

[Guda]

100f of water in a tank in one your containers would be an easy test Id think for you. slap a heating element in a tank see what it takes to keep the water at temp and radiate heat

I don't have a heater unit in them, but I use water tanks as thermal mass. 200 gal really helps regulate temperature.

could you clarify "furnace"..
google shows me pics from small scale water heating up to industrial aluminium melting...
30.000 BTU is about +- 9 Kw ?

Furnace is a heater that is connected to the building. They typically burn fuel to heat air that is blown in ducting around the building.
I am not sure how to equate BTU to KW. BTU is tied to room size.

If money doesn't matter then buy more solar and batteries so you have more electric.....A mini split is the way to go.

I think geothermal would be the ultimate. Maybe someday. Right now I am just trying to get heat. Diesel heater died in 7 months

Plus one.

Look around the forum at mini split threads.

I would have to add a lot of solar to run electric heat. LP furnace will be the back up for some electric heat at some point.

 

[Wellbuilt]

I am looking for a LP furnace. I could do a RV model to be at 12v. But I think I want a full residential unit as I think they are more efficient & last longer. I might be wrong tho. I've been looking at a few on ebay but I don't see power consumption listed. I need about 30,000 BTU.

Anyone know a good model?


PS. Diesel heaters are not good.

I’ve used Williams heaters they have lasted for 20 years .
Mine all worked off a pilot lite with no electric at all .
You can heat a good size house with 2 small units
They have a built in Thermostat or you can hang one on the wall

 

[Wellbuilt]

They where allways 500 bucks or sothe price has gone up in the last 2 years .
They make different models and get big
We had a stand up model in a park trailer
That was 16 wide 8” deep 6’ tall with a blower

 

[OffGridEnclave]

Truma S 2200 - Inform now

Truma S 2200 is especially suitable for small caravans. It can be installed flexibly and consumes little gas. Find out more.

www.truma.com

i used truma gas heating in a mobile home project.
reasonable price for very high quality.
if you into project works, can setup a biogas system.most butane systems will run on methane(biogas) too.
edit: the 6Kw one might be at the lower end of your btu needs

 

[Picasso]

I got two of the Williams from home depot, the thermal expansion of them wakes me up at night. I took them out of my living cabin and put them in other places.

 

[Guda]

I’ve used Williams heaters they have lasted for 20 years .
Mine all worked off a pilot lite with no electric at all .
You can heat a good size house with 2 small units
They have a built in Thermostat or you can hang one on the wall

Do you know what Picasso is referring to about the noise?

 

[Picasso]

Williams, The part the burner feeds into is made of sheet metal so its ticks as it cools and heats up from cycling on and off.

 

[Guda]

I see. All I want in life is a good night sleep, much thanks!

 

[noenegdod]

Furnace is a heater that is connected to the building. They typically burn fuel to heat air that is blown in ducting around the building.
I am not sure how to equate BTU to KW. BTU is tied to room size.

BTU is not related to room size. It is incorrectly used as a unit of power by american manufactures of heating equipment. it is not. The correct unit and the way it is used is BTU/hr

Here is a calculator: https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/power/BTU_to_Watt.html A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. It doesnt matter if it is electricity or heat. A watt is a watt.

If you actually want 30,000btu/hr heat source, then just stop reading now. If you dont actually know what you want then consider the following:

If you plugged in one 1500 watt portable electric heater, would that be enough? Would 2 or 3 of them do the trick, or do you actually need 6 of them? Six 1500 watt heaters is just a hair over the 30,000 btu you are saying you want because 30,000BTU is in-fact just about the 9000 watts or 9kW from above.

If 1 or 2 1500watt heaters is actually all you really need then consider this: https://propexcanada.com/products/

They make a 2000 watt unit and a 2800 watt unit that would work if you only need one or two 1500 watt heaters. If you needed more power you could of course use multiple propex units as well if you wanted to spent the money. They are thermostatically controlled.

They claim 95% efficiency. I highly doubt this as they would be condensing if they were but they are at least a mid-efficient (85% or so). If you are at all crafty you can get more heat out of it by exposing a bunch of its exhaust tube in the heated space and even more by blowing a fan over it. You would just need to be smart enough to manage the condensation in the tube that results.

 

[Guda]

They claim 95% efficiency. I highly doubt this as they would be condensing if they were but they are at least a mid-efficient (85% or so). If you are at all crafty you can get more heat out of it by exposing a bunch of its exhaust tube in the heated space and even more by blowing a fan over it. You would just need to be smart enough to manage the condensation in the tube that results.

This might be the winner as its parts look like the same parts my diesel heater used. Does it require any gaskets or other "crazy" maintenance every few months?

Diesel heater died after 8 months, needed to be completely striped down & cleaned after 4 months. Choked with soot. 2 gaskets in the way.... I am cool with air filters.

Thats funny. The diesel heater had the same issue. Blew tons of heat out the exhaust. 15' of exhaust pipe & I got 100% more area heated for the same fuel. I think having the exhaust pipe always go down solves any condensation issue.

 

[noenegdod]

This might be the winner as its parts look like the same parts my diesel heater used. Does it require any gaskets or other "crazy" maintenance every few months?

Diesel heater died after 8 months, needed to be completely striped down & cleaned after 4 months. Choked with soot. 2 gaskets in the way.... I am cool with air filters.

Thats funny. The diesel heater had the same issue. Blew tons of heat out the exhaust. 15' of exhaust pipe & I got 100% more area heated for the same fuel. I think having the exhaust pipe always go down solves any condensation issue.

They are functionally very similar to a diesel heater but diesel is a very difficult fuel to actually do a good job of burning. Propane is a much better fuel from that perspective. From everything I have researched, they basically have zero issues with carbon. Install them as per the directions, turn them on and forget about them.

If you dont install them as per instructions, you may need to do some tuning. They are very specific that you need to use the intake and exhaust tubing at their supplied length. This is so the fan supplies the exact same amount of air as it was set up to handle. If you shorten either tube, the fan will move more combustion air through the heater and you will have a lean burn, wasting more heat out the exhaust. If you lengthen the either tube the fan will not move enough air and the burn will be rich and you may have issues with carbon (you would most likely just be making CO but you really dont want that either). The unit apparently has an interlock that prevents operation if you modify the tube length too much.

Yes, maintaining a down hill slope for the entire exhaust tube length solves the condensation issue.

15' of exhaust tubing may have been at least part of the cause of the carbon issues you had with the diesel heater. Another cause is when people start messing with trying to run them on "low". Diesel is a very challenging fuel to burn well and generally speaking they want to be run full time and on high. Running them on low and turning them on and off constantly is a recipe for carbon.