It's really old. maybe 30 years.
Weird Oil Furnace Issue
- Thread starter Gebo
- Start date
It ran fine from Saturday through yesterday afternoon. Not a hiccup.
This oil furnace only heats an addition that is attached to the sanctuary. Two HP's heat the sanctuary so it won't freeze in this
addition. Enough heat flows in from the sanctuary to prevent that. So when I get to church early, I normally go and push
the reset button and it gets the addition up to temp and we are good for the service. I say this is case you are wondering
why it hasn't been fixed. It only concerns me when the outside temps get in the teens which is very rare here.
When this furnace (or one of the 2 HP's die), we are looking to replace old HP's with propane heat for the sanctuary.
This oil furnace only heats an addition that is attached to the sanctuary. Two HP's heat the sanctuary so it won't freeze in this
addition. Enough heat flows in from the sanctuary to prevent that. So when I get to church early, I normally go and push
the reset button and it gets the addition up to temp and we are good for the service. I say this is case you are wondering
why it hasn't been fixed. It only concerns me when the outside temps get in the teens which is very rare here.
When this furnace (or one of the 2 HP's die), we are looking to replace old HP's with propane heat for the sanctuary.
I guess you have your reasons, but take a close look at propane heat per GJ vs an electric heat pump per GJ. Of course you need to look at the capital cost and the local fuel and electricity costs. Since the Church is funded by donations capital cost might dominate and the propane furnace would be cheaper. On a longer term the operating cost of heat pump is much cheaper than propane. If you give us your price per kwhr for electricity and your price gallon for propane I can help with the calcs. Snag.
I'm having issues right now with my pump. it seizes after sitting. I can massage it into working and then it'll go for quite some time but was just looking at replacement pumps. They're quite cheap, a hundred $ or so.
We get special propane pricing as a church. Even with propane as high as it is now, it’s still break even with electricity.
I just did the calculations last month.
The one thing I can’t figure is how a demand meter jacks up electric bill. I’m assuming you know what I’m talking about. When those heat strips come on Sunday morning and stay on for hours I don’t know how to factor that in to the electric costs. Where I live, if there is a stove in a “church” building you are the recipient of a demand meter. Go figure.
As others have mentioned i.e. hi spot on motor, pump weak, etc. You might want to check that unit isn't loosing prime.
a young one! my furnace is from 1973 but the burner has been replaced in early 80s. So the current pump is 40 years old.
I take it there is no natural gas service there, correct? From my knowledge of heat pumps they will use electrical strip heating inside the heat pump heat exchanger if the temperature is below the set point. My set point is at 27 F. Yours is probably higher than that.
While in the strip heating mode, it is very expensive. While running as a heat pump it is from 1/2 to 1/3 as expensive. So on those cold mornings the meter is spinning, especially if it is trying to get the temp inside to 68F from some much lower temp.
While in the strip heating mode, it is very expensive. While running as a heat pump it is from 1/2 to 1/3 as expensive. So on those cold mornings the meter is spinning, especially if it is trying to get the temp inside to 68F from some much lower temp.
Demand meters measure kWh like a regular electric meter and also measure and record the peak draw of kW (not kWh) at any time during the bill month. It is a 5 minute average so that a single big surge like starting a motor does not cause a high reading.
There are thus two readings taken from the meter every month: usage and demand. These will be shown separately on the bill. The demand number may incur a line item charge just for demand, or it may cause the kWh used to be in a different price tier.
The way to set up a church would be to disable the electric "strips" reserve entirely and use a timer to start the heat pump very early to warm up the building only with heat pump, which is a steady demand.
There are thus two readings taken from the meter every month: usage and demand. These will be shown separately on the bill. The demand number may incur a line item charge just for demand, or it may cause the kWh used to be in a different price tier.
The way to set up a church would be to disable the electric "strips" reserve entirely and use a timer to start the heat pump very early to warm up the building only with heat pump, which is a steady demand.
I agree with that. Most heat pump thermostats will kick on the electric heat if you try to raise the temperature more than 3 degrees above the actual room temperature. With a good programmable thermostat those setting could be changed.
Sounds logical but one would need to know for sure where the set point is for the heat pump. I’m guessing that heat pump won’t operate on a cold day without the heating strips. Gebo mentioned the temp was getting down to the teens. I’ll bet only the strip heaters would work at that low temp and would pull enough current to show up as a high peak draw.
Some problems only get resolved by the problem gets worst then shows up. Has anyone taken the burner control taken in off to be tested. Some control wholesaler companies that sell controls have a tester that will run the control through its paces from startup to shutdown non stop cycling through if a failure occurs it lights a light for a particular fault. Control a honywell R890 ?
I found that the entire burner unit was $275, and a replacement oil pump was about $120. No brainer, buy the whole unit and have spare parts. Or just replace the burner and keep your used one for spares.
My pump failed after I had the unit serviced, furnace stopped running early next morning. Called company.. Said I had to pay an emergency fee, NOPE! After a few hours of troubleshooting the furnace with no experience at all, I checked the shut off above the oil filter. It was almost completely closed. Starvation killed the pump. Thanks company name withheld!
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