Propane forced air heating

/Home/Types of Heating and Cooling Systems/Types of Residential Heating & Cooling Systems/Types of Residential Heating Systems/Types of Home Heating Systems - Forced Air/Forced Air Heating - Propane

The largest use of residential energy is for home heating. For this reason, it is vital that manufactured homeowners be able to heat their homes as efficiently as possible. Propane-fueled heating systems enable builders to offer the ultimate in heating comfort and energy efficiency. Homebuyers will reap many advantages including the following:
Longer equipment durability: Propane-fueled furnaces have operating lives of 15-20 years (5-10 years longer than electric heat pumps).
"Whole-house comfort": Propane furnaces offer warmer air than electric heating systems. An electric heat pump produces heat only as warm as 95F. A gas furnace heats air to about 115F, and operates in short intervals to minimize operating costs.
Lower operating costs: In general, heating with propane entails lower operating costs than heating with electricity.
In addition, propane heating systems offer many design advantages, such as:

Venting: They can be vented vertically or horizontally, so no chimney (and the associated costs) is required.
Exhaust: Exhaust is cooler than that from conventional furnaces and can be vented with PVC piping.
Space: New furnace models are smaller and provide greater placement flexibility in manufactured homes where space conservation is important.
Choice of Propane Furnaces

The builder can choose from several types of propane furnaces to accommodate different sizes and designs of manufactured homes:

Central Furnaces
Wall Furnaces
Combo-Heaters
Propane-Fueled Central Furnaces
The most common type of central heating system is the forced-air furnace. Heated air from a centrally located furnace is forced through ducts by fans or blowers to all parts of the home. Three common configurations can be used to integrate them comfortably into any manufactured home design:

Upflow Furnace: These units have blowers at the bottom that draw air into the furnace. Heated air is then blown out at the top.
Downflow or Counterflow Furnace: These units have blowers at the top to draw air into the furnace and heated air is blown out at the bottom.
Horizontal Furnace: Air travels horizontally from one side of the heater, across the heat exchanger, and hot air is blown out the other side. This type of furnace can be installed in areas with limited head room, such as attics or crawl spaces. They can also be installed below floors or suspended below ceilings.
Propane-Fueled Central Furnaces Well Suited to Manufactured Homes
Propane-fueled central furnaces are well suited to manufactured homes because they have many features that are targeted at:

Conserving space: They feature low-profile designs, even in the ultra-high efficiency models, to fit into tight spaces with height restrictions or narrow side clearances even into a closet. Many models can be installed and vented in a variety of ways, and some are even certified for zero clearance on side and back, to sit flush against walls.
Maximizing safety: Many of today's propane-fueled gas furnaces are equipped with electronic ignitions that activate the burners only when fuel is needed. This enhances safety by eliminating the need for standing pilot lights.
Minimizing energy: In addition to conserving energy with electronic ignition, furnaces are available with vent dampers. These "flapper" devices, installed in the flue, close when the heat demand has been met, trapping residual heat for circulation in the home. When heat is needed, the damper opens before the burners are ignited to allow combustion fumes to escape. Burners can only ignite when the damper is open so energy is consumed only when heating is needed.
Typical Prices of Propane-Fueled Central Furnaces
Prices of propane furnaces vary among models with different features. They also vary by manufacturers, dealers, and regions of the country where they are sold. Some typical dealer prices for well-known brands with standard features are shown in the table below.

Typical Prices of Propane Central Furnaces

Wall Furnaces
Direct vent wall furnaces are very compact units that can be used to heat small manufactured homes. They are particularly appropriate for retrofitting manufactured homes in which extension of an existing heating system may be impractical, expensive, or impossible.

Most wall furnaces utilize sealed combustion systems housed in durable cabinetry. All air for combustion is obtained from the outside and all flue gases are vented to the outside, so homeowners need not worry about exhaust fumes. Quiet burners are ignited with the push of a button. The newest designs have AFUE ratings of 90 percent.

Thermostats are built in and no wiring is required, so these units are extremely flexible and easy to install. They do not use electricity, so heat will be available even during power outages.

Typical Prices of Wall Furnaces

Prices of direct vent wall furnaces vary among models with different features. They also vary by manufacturers, dealers, and regions of the country where they are sold. Some typical dealer prices for well known brands with standard features are shown in the table below.

Typical Prices of Direct Vent Wall Furnaces


Source: Better Propane Company, Tacoma, Washington.

Combo-Heaters
One important development in propane gas heating systems is the emergence of combo-heaters that use water heaters to provide space heating. An air handler captures the heat lost by the water heater and uses it to warm the house. These units can achieve up to 90% efficiencies for both water and central heating. These systems have proven themselves to be extremely efficient, reliable, and cost effective. Over a million have been installed in the United States since 1974.

Basically, the water heater operates conventionally until heat is needed. Hot water then circulates through a water-to-air heat exchanger coil in the air handler and warm air is distributed by ducts throughout the house.

Combo-heaters are very well suited for manufactured homes for many reasons:

Units are direct vented and require no chimney.
They have completely sealed combustion chambers. This is not only a safety feature, but also allows them to be installed virtually anywhere in the home.
The life of the water heater is significantly lengthened because increased circulation of water reduces sediment build-up.
Combo-heaters conserve space, sometimes using only as much space as a standard water heater.
© 2009 New York Propane Gas Association. All rights reserved