How to raise efficiency of furnace?

[oil pan 4]

You could add a non vented hearer too.
100% efficient all the time.

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

You could add a non vented hearer too.
100% efficient all the time.

Very true. And the water vapor would actually be beneficial here in dry Colorado. Install a CO (carbon monoxide, not Colorado) detector and there I'd have it!

A crazy idea I've had is to run a natural gas engine (perhaps a steam powered engine) and use the heat off the exhaust to warm the house and use the engine to either supply electricity or to turn a heat pump and heat the house even more.

[freebeard]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Lister+stationary+diesel

[roosterk0031]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

You could add a non vented hearer too.
100% efficient all the time.

Worked with a mechanical engineer that wanted to do that at Quaker Oats, didn't fly. Works fine for a hog barns IMO, if really looking to save $ on heating need to look at a mini-split. But if living in a mobile home and with the price of propane not much you can do to save money but keep more cloths on, and only heat the rooms you use. Doubt an electric blanket would be cheaper than propane/natural gas.

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by roosterk0031

Worked with a mechanical engineer that wanted to do that at Quaker Oats, didn't fly. Works fine for a hog barns IMO, if really looking to save $ on heating need to look at a mini-split. But if living in a mobile home and with the price of propane not much you can do to save money but keep more cloths on, and only heat the rooms you use. Doubt an electric blanket would be cheaper than propane/natural gas.

A gallon of fuel is equal to about 30kWh of electricity. So propane, gasoline diesel and electricity are all very close in price around here (about $3 per gallon or 10¢ per kWh). However my furnace uses natural gas which comes to about $1.75 per gasoline gallon equivalent. So even here in the coldest town around and having NG hot water and stove I'm only paying an average of around $600 per year on natural gas. (Am I frugal or what!)

And keeping the whole house cold and only heating certain rooms is really the whole object of this thread.

Actually electric blankets are very economic to run. My queen size electric mattress cover only uses 40W on high (if I remember correctly). And on low even in a 40*F room it's too warm. It's all about heating only what you need heated and not whole buildings or rooms, but heating just your body directly.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zackary

...It's all about heating only what you need heated and not whole buildings or rooms, but heating just your body directly.

Yup. I call it extreme zone heating.

If it wasn't for the plumbing it's possible I wouldn't need a furnace.

[Ecky]

I recently got a cheapo Amazon heated seat cover. When it gets stupid cold, my car won't ever warm up with the heat running, even with a 100% grille block. Heated seat draws about 40w on high and seems to be able to cook me even when it's close to 0F.

Zone heating FTW.

[oil pan 4]

A 100% efficient nonvented wall heater coats between $200 to $300.
A split costs at least double that.

Coal costs about $1.50 for a gallon of gasoline equivalent, if you buy it by the bag from some where like tractor supply.
Cheaper if you buy bulk.

[roosterk0031]

How much of your gas bill is fees vs actual gas?

I'm on propane, last fill was $1.15 a gallon. Didn't think about till today, but no fees, just pay for what I use. A search says NG is $5.31 a therm hear in Iowa, that would be $0.48 equivalent per gallon of propane. But assuming fees are about like electricity at $30 a month, that would be $360 of you $600 bill.

Makes me appreciate propane, at least until it goes back to $3.00 a gallon like it was a few years ago. Which is part of the reason I want to add a few mini-splits to my house to have an alternate source of heat and to have a little more zone control and be twice+ as efficient cooling.

[freebeard]

Oil filled radiator: heat the objects, not the air.

Electric wool socks*: batteries optional.

*Wearing a pair as I type.