Geothermal to Natural Gas Furnace Conversion
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Category Archives: High Efficient Furnaces
Design for 2-Stage Furnace Installation
Clogged Venting… Means No Hot Water!
What is R12 Insulation?
That may be one of the most common questions when it comes to energy efficiency. Through one source or another, most people have heard of R12… or R20… maybe R50. But what does it all mean? What is the right amount of insulation to have?
What is R12 Insulation? Simply put R12 is a type of insulation… or rather a level of insulation.
To fully understand R-values, you must first accept one fact: Heat Does Not Rise…
Heat does not rise… hot air rises. There is a difference. Hot air is moving air whereby heat is… simply put… heat. Here’s a way to separate the two that may help to understand. If you have a forced air furnace in your house, when the furnace comes on, it starts to blow hot air throughout the house. That hot air will rise. When the furnace eventually stops, that hot air will stop moving and the only thing that will now be happening is that heat will be moving to cold.
Heat Moves To Cold
So as heat moves to cold in the winter time (or our heating season) we lose heat and our house 
gets cold. We have to put insulation into our walls to keep the heat in… or in other words, we have to put resistance between hot and cold so that we slow the progress of the heat. The more resistance we put between hot and cold, the slower the heat will move to the colder area.
“R” stands for “Resistance” The higher the R Value, the slower heat will move to cold.
R12 is good, R20 is better, and R50 is fantastic!
Have fun… and remember one thing: It is always cheaper to insulate than it is to heat!
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John Chapin
Skilled Labor is not Cheap & Cheap Labor is not Skilled
Today’s post is a bit of a rant…
I take pride in what I do and I am a professional… just as much as any physician, executive, CEO, or any other person we hold in high regards. I do two to three site visits every day. I look at scenarios and problems… and propose solutions.
The other day, I was at a sales call. My contact at the site visit was a nice enough guy…. but he kept asking me to make the price cheap… I hadn’t even come up with a plan yet… I only had an idea, but had not chosen any equipment, any particular size, and didn’t quite know how I was going to be installing it yet… but he kept saying… “Make the price cheap… please. make it cheap”.
Well this started to bug me (as you may be able to tell from my demeanor as I write this!) You see people like that don’t value what I bring to the table. They don’t value good work, a pristine finished product, and they would rather save $10 than to have a completed installation that they can be proud of.
Between you and I, every time I heard “Make the price cheap”…. the price went up! There’s one thing that I have come to realize after all these years of selling… the people that value me as a professional, value my time, and will re-arrange their schedules to meet me during business hours are the people that are always the happiest when we’re all said and done. These are the homeowners that take pride in their homes, and think long-term. They’re also the same people that refer us to their friends, family and neighbors.
The cheapskates… those “Make it cheap” people… these are the ones that are never happy. Been there done that… and I will never do it again. These are also the same people that will not take time out of their day to meet during normal business hours. I had one of these clients just the other day…
This client called the office about three weeks ago… and talked to someone at the office who booked the client into my shcedule at the end of the day… to start an appointment at 6pm. (I had instructed this person to not book anything past a 3:30pm start time… but with a weak mind, and no backbone, she caved). You may guess… I’m not a fan of this person.
Now some of you may be thinking… “That jerk. Why won’t he do evening appointments?” Because I am professional, and I choose not to. I start my day at 7am every day… so come 5pm, I’ve put in a 10 hour day…. and after that, is my time… my family’s time… and to tell you the truth, I’m still often working at paperwork until 9 or 10pm.
So this guy insisted that I come and visit him at 6pm… and since our office person had already committed me to that time, I was stuck. So I rearranged my schedule, missed my Jijitsu class that night so that I could go and do his quote at 6pm… in my 12th hour of the day. I spent some time with this fellow, came up with a solution and went through the scope with the client. At the time he asked me for a ballpark quote of what the installation would cost. I hate it when I’m put on the spot…. and in the past I’ve simply told people that I would reserve the pricing until after I’ve been able to go through the entire scope… so that I could do things right… but against my better judgment, I indicated that this particular installation would range between $2,000 and $2,300 before taxes.
The next day I emailed him the proposal. Later that day I received an email back form him… he was telling me that the price was too high… asking me to discount the price because it was much higher than I had indicated at my site visit… FYI… the price that I quoted him was $2,320… now look at those numbers above… you may see that when all was said and done, after I had calculated all the gas piping, line voltage, equipment cost, controls, etc. that I was a mere $20 more than my “ballpark” pricing after being put on the spot… and he wanted a discount!
He was unwilling to compromise on his appointment time and he wants to argue about $20. There’s one more thing that I’ve come to realize… and that is that there will always be someone out there with a cheaper price than me.We can’t do the kind of work that we want to by being the cheapest price on the market. To be the cheaper price means that we would have to cut corners and be very fast at what we do… and hack through the work. If things don;t go as planned (which happens from time to time), then we would have to hack through the work, and leave a crappy looking finished product.
So if you take pride in your home, and you value good workmanship and doing the job right, the first time around, then give us a call… It keeps holding true… Skilled labor is not cheap… Cheap labor is not skilled. I’ve seen it first hand!
Find us on the web at http://reliablehome.ca/
John Chapin
Use These 5 Factors on How To Choose a Furnace
So you’re thinking about a new furnace. Maybe the furnace sitting in your basement is 15 years old, perhaps it’s been red-tagged and for all intents and purposes condemned… or maybe you’re simply trying to figure out a way to become more efficient.
Whatever the reason is for look at a new furnace, this guide will show you exactly how to choose a furnace. This process is the same every single time.
There are 5 Factors that always come up when looking at a new furnace:
1. Brand – How to choose a furnace brand? Most brands these days are pretty reputable, but like all other things in this world, some are better than others. Most furnaces are manufactured in the United States, though the odd few are made in Canada… or assembled in Canada (some of these have components that are made in China). What ever you choose, do yourself a favor and ask around, check the Better Business Bureau, or talk to your neighbors. Choosing a brand is not as big a deal as choosing the right installer. In other words, if the most fantastic furnace in the world is poorly installed, it will not operate properly… you’ll be calling for service calls all the time, and you’ll be utterly frustrated… and ultimately, you will blame the furnace. Find a good installer, that does good clean work… and by the way, almost always that installer will not be the cheapest one out of all your quotes! Personally, I’m a little biased towards Lennox products, but that’s just only because of my personal experience.
Skilled Labor is not cheap… and Cheap Labor is not Skilled!
2. Efficiency – You’ll find as you do your research, hit different websites and talk to different contractors that many furnace differ in their efficiency. Some are 95% efficient… others 97.5%… some 93%… what does it all mean? The fact is that it doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Naturally we lean towards the most efficient furnace as being the most sought after right? But why? Well 97% has got to be better than 96% right? The reality is that when using natural gas to heat our house, that 1% difference accounts for about $7/year for most houses… a really big house (with a big furnace) that number may be $10/year. When using propane, perhaps $12-$15/year for that 1% difference in efficiency. What I’m getting at is to not put a lot of emphasis on the efficiency of the furnace as a major factor in how to choose a furnace. I’m not saying that a 97% furnace is not a good idea… it is… but given the cost of all the fuels we use in the course of a year, $7 – $8 /year is small potatoes.
3. Size – Size matters! When a furnace is installed that is too small, it will not operate properly. When a furnace that is installed that is too big, it will not operate properly. So how do you know when the furnace that is proposed to you is indeed the right size? There’s only one way to know for sure. Make sure that the heating contractor you choose has done an “actual” calculation…. not just scanned over the house while walking through and determined the right size furnace. Nor should you simply assume that the furnace you have was sized correctly as well. Just because it’s sitting in your basement now, and has been for the past 15 years, it doesn’t mean it’s the right size. In fact 90% of the homes built within the past 25 years had oversized furnaces. No joke! I go into many homes for a furnace quote… often I’m the third or fourth contractor in the house… and usually I’m the first one to actually measure the house and do a real calculation. A properly sized furnace is key in how to choose a furnace.
Size Matters! It is imperative that a furnace is not too small… or not too big. Be 100% certain that when you invest in your furnace, it is sized correctly. It’s your money… spend it wisely!
4. Type of furnace – What comfort level, noise level, additional functions such as WiFi, or communicating technology may be the biggest factor in how to choose furnace. There are three major types of furnaces – and this goes throughout the brands. One brand may have a slight deviation on how it operates compared to another, but these three types of furnaces are common throughout all the brands on the market: A modulating furnace, a 2 stage furnace, and a single stage furnace. I won’t go into a lot of detail here as I there is another full article here, complete with videos that explains the difference between the technologies and why you might want to choose one over the other. Click Here to Learn about Single Stage, 2-Stage, and Modulating furnaces.
5. Blower Fan Motor – A high efficient blower fan motor may be the biggest bang for your buck regarding how to choose a furnace. At 2015 electricity prices in Ontario, using a variable speed ECM blower fan motor in your furnace will save you about $450/year (over your older 10-20 year old furnace) if you only use your furnace during the heating season. If you run your circulation fan all the time, which is recommended in most cases, add another $100/year in savings… and if you’re like me and you both heat and cool your house… and run the fan pretty much all the time, then figure on over $600/year in savings… or $50/month discount on your hydro bill. Here’s a video that I did a few years ago that explains the difference between a DC (ECM) blower fan motor and a standard AC (PSC) blower fan motor. Blower Fan Motors.
Hope fully I have given you some food for thought, and perhaps given you a better path, or more direction, on to to choose a furnace. If you live in the Greater Ottawa Area, feel free to contact me for your furnace quote or to share your thoughts.
Leave your comment below and I will be certain to reply promptly. Cheers!
A Small Furnace for a Small Heat Load – There is a Solution
So one issue that I had been dealing with for the last few years is that fact that I needed a small furnace for a small heat load…
In other words, there has been nothing on the market for a long time that would satisfy the need for a small furnace.
Heat loads are getting smaller. We’re building houses tighter and tighter… we’re putting in more and more insulation. We’re replacing our old leaky windows with new Energy Star high efficient ‘tight’ windows. We’re wrapping our houses with house wrap (which makes them super air-tight) and we’re putting insulation in places that we didn’t in the past.
Did you know that approximately 40% of the heat loss in a house happens in the basement?
As we “tighten” up our houses and make them more efficient, naturally they need less heat in the winter. And, as we start to build smaller, super high efficient homes, then even the smallest furnaces on the market are way too big for the house.
A furnace must be sized to the house. A BIG house needs a BIG furnace…. a small house needs a small furnace….
It is absolutely imperative to NOT oversize a furnace. It will not run properly, will wear out sooner than later, and you will wind up spending a lot of hard earned cash just keeping it going.
One of the biggest challenges has been that even the smallest furnaces in each respective manufacturer is too big. Most manufacturer’s smallest furnace is a 40 to a 45,000 btuh furnace. In the past , when houses were less efficient, these 45k furnaces worked well in the smaller houses. But when we are building 600 sqft apartments with their own independent heating and cooling systems, then the heat loads are only 10,000 to 20,000 btu’s. That 45k furnace is more than double the size allowed.
I was lucky to come across Dettson furnaces while playing around on Google one day. Dettson is a Canadian company that manufacturers a small furnace. Now… not only is it just a small furnace, but it is a modulating furnace with a variable speed ECM (DC) blower fan motor, the best technology available in forced air gas furnaces. Dettson offers a 15,000 btuh and a 30,000 btuh modulating furnace among others as well.
A 15,000 btuh is the smallest furnace on the market that I am aware of… and to top it off, it is a Modulating Furnace with a Variable Speed DC Blower Fan Motor. Wow!
About a year ago, we installed two of these furnaces in a new build duplex. There were two self-sufficient apartments. The main floor unit was approx. 600 sqft but the basement was included in the heat load, so we’ll call it about 1200 sqft. It had a heat load of just over 16,000 btu’s. The second floor apartment (just 600 sqft) had a heat load just over 9,000 btu’s. As a result, we installed a 30,000 btuh and a 15,000 btuh furnace to satisfy the heat requirements without over-sizing.
They have been installed for a year now, and have worked great! No issues, no call backs, no late night service calls.
Here’s photo of the newest addition to the Dettson line-up. This is the new furnace cabinet for the 15,000 btuh furnace. You will see that it looks like an old desktop computer tower… and honestly it’s not much bigger than that. It is designed this way to fit into small closets, possibly over top of a washer and dryer, and still have room for an air conditioner coil and duct work.
A small furnace does exist, and it is welcomed with open arms.
Thank you Dettson for creating a great product that meets the needs of so many homes these days, and will be needed more than ever as we progress with more efficient, tighter homes in the future.
For more information on this small furnace, or other heating, cooling and indoor air quality demands, please contact me at 613-292-9573 or leave me a comment and I will get back to you…. or to have an email sent to you every time I write a new post, sign up to my newsletter at the right hand side of this page. I will not be pitching you, or selling anything. This site is for you, and to help you with making your home a little more comfortable for you and your family.
And yes… in case you are wondering… there are small modulating air conditioners that match these furnaces. Look for a post in the near future… or sign up!
What is a Modulating Furnace and Why On Earth Would I Want One?
What is a modulating furnace?
I answer that question just about every day and I have been for the past four years or so…
I believe I am pretty good at “painting a picture” with my words, but there is nothing better than actually showing people. Given that it’s simply not practical to install a single stage furnace in someone’s house, a week later come back and change it for a 2 stage, then another week later, change it out for a modulating furnace… all to show people the difference between them and how your house would actually feel… well you get what I’m saying.
Myth: “I don’t need a modulating furnace because my house is not very big.” I hear this all the time. The fact that it modulates provides better temperature distribution, and the best comfort level and efficiency you can buy. “Modulating” has nothing to do with size.
About a year ago, I was running about 20 minutes early for an appointment. I had some time to kill and I had an idea. So I pulled out my phone, and started recording a video.
Using the climate control system in my car, I explained the difference between the single stage furnace, the 2 stage furnace, and the modulating furnace. Although at the time, my mind was focused on furnace (given that it was the winter time) this explanation also explains the difference between single stage, 2 stage, and modulating sir conditioners.
For the nominal cost difference between a 2 stage furnace and a modulating furnace, would you not want the newer, better technology?
Sizing a furnace is extremely important… not too big and not too small. If a furnace is improperly sized (too small or too big) it will have a short lifespan. CMHC, Natural Resources Canada, and HRAI all strongly recommend that a heat loss heat gain calculation is performed before installing a new heating or cooling system. They cannot mandate it though, because there are not enough certified heat loss advisors to handle the demand.
It’s amazing what you can do with a phone these days. Please tell me what you think about this video: What is a modulating furnace and why on earth would I want one? Any feedback is most appreciated!
How a Gas Furnace Works
There are two big parts to how a gas furnace works. First of all, there is the heat exchanger and secondly there is a blower fan motor.
What happens when the thermostat calls for heat and the furnace turns on?
Well the furnace will in fact fire itself on and begin to heat up the heat exchanger. It then draws in (vacuums) air in through the return air inlets, or commonly called the cold air returns.
The cold, unconditioned air is then vacuumed into the furnace and is passed through an air filter. The blower fan motor, which is at the bottom of the furnace then pushes the air up through a heat exchanger. Most furnaces are what is called an updraft furnace such as what I am referring to here.
For lack of a better term, the heat exchanger is a great big metal chamber, or series of chambers, that holds the fire, the combustion. Whether you’re dealing with a natural gas furnace and oil furnace, a propane furnace, as that air passes by the heat exchanger the air warms up. In the case of an electric furnace the heat exchanger is actually a series of electric tubes. These tubes heat up and glow red when activated… much like your toaster does at home.
So what actually happens is that cool air passes by that hot steel (or glowing red tubes), it warms up the air and then hot air is distributed throughout the house.
What does the blower fan motor do?
The blower fan motor is located down near the bottom of the furnace, regardless of what energy the furnace actually uses. The blower fan motor is what drives all the air in the house… or is responsible for the entire convection of air. All the air that is supplied and all the air that is returned or vacuumed in. If you think about all the air that’s coming out of the supply registers in your kitchen or your recreation room, and all the air that’s being drawn into the return air inlets in your family room and bedrooms… All of that air is being driven by the blower fan motor.
Now… Not only does the blower fan motor play an important role when heating your house, but it is equally important when cooling your house. If you have a central air conditioner in your house, then the blower fan motor is responsible for vacuuming in warm air, running it past the past the evaporator coil, and in turn removing the heat from the air.
When that heat is removed from the air, naturally the temperature of the air drops. When the temperature falls, then the humidity (or vapor) that was in the air simply falls out of the air. The air temperature has reached it’s dew point , and has been de-humidified. The end result is that nice cool, dry air is distributed throughout the house.
And if the blower fan motor is a good, powerful motor (such as a DC motor), then it will deliver the proper temperatures to our house. Whether we’re heating or whether we’re cooling, a blower fan motor is definitely an important part of a furnace. That is a how a gas furnace works.
Please leave me a comment and let me know if this video was helpful. I strive to educate people so that they can make informed decisions. I enjoy writing this stuff, and enjoy the feedback even more!
For more information, please visit us at www.climateworks.ca or give me a call at 613-838-9989.
Cheers!