Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Preparing gas furnace for shutoff of service

I am soon having my natural gas service discontinued, and using electric.

What steps do I need to take as far as maintaining my furnace so that if I want to turn it back on in the future it will be ready to go? Either beforehand or after it is shut off.

In going from a gas furnace to electric, you may be going from the frying pan to the fire it terms of operating cost depending on the rates for each in your area. That said, all you need to do is turn off the electric to the furnace & close the gas shut off valve which should be just outside the furnace cabinet. If the furnace is in an unconditioned space & is vented with plastic pipe, you want to make sure all water is removed from the furnace & nearby piping.

In going from a gas furnace to electric, you may be going from the frying pan to the fire it terms of operating cost depending on the rates for each in your area.
I was wondering about this myself.
That certainly always was true - at least until gas prices shot up.

With gas at $1.40 per 100,000 BTU and 30 kWH being 100,000 BTU, I calculate that electric would have to be around $0.053/kWH to compete with a 90%-efficient gas furnace.

I was wondering about this myself.
That certainly always was true - at least until gas prices shot up.

With gas at $14 per 100,000 BTU and 30 kWH being 100,000 BTU, I got that electric would have to almost $0.50/kWH!
I would appreciate some help with the math here.
Either gas price has to come down or lots of folks will switch to electric and drive the price of electric to $1.
It doesn't make sense to build power plants and burn the gas there.

Am I off by a factor of 10 or something?

That is the reason we are shutting ours down, for now anyway, as gas prices here have gone up over 75%. Even in the summer we have to pay a fee of $26 a month just to have service available. Then you have to factor in that it costs at least $25-30 monthly for the blower on the furnace to run.

Friends with house comparbable to ours are using the pedestal ceramic heaters 1,500 watts with occillation, digital thermostat. Their bills are way less than ours, they keep house at 72 degrees or so, we've always kept ours at 66. They have no cold spots and it feels very comfortable in there.

If for some reason it does not work out, we will only be out $240 for the heaters.

By the way, all our Home Depots and Lowe's around here have sold completely out and we had to order ours. I guess others have the same idea. Now on HD's web site, the are listed as Out of Stock on the ones we just ordered 3 days ago.

Everyone around here with electric furnaces are counting themselves pretty lucky right now.

it costs at least $25-30 monthly for the blower on the furnace to run.That doesn't sound right. Do you run the blower continuously?



Friends with house comparbable to ours are using the pedestal ceramic heaters 1,500 watts with oscillationMake sure you all have 12 AWG wiring and the correct size circuit breakers (not Federal Pacific).



Everyone around here with electric furnaces are counting themselves pretty lucky right now.Utilities can't just build more power plants. So if the demand goes up too much, electric prices will quickly rise to match much the same as demand for diesel (fuel oil) brought its price up.


At least with heat pumps or geothermal each user adds capacity to the system.
With natural gas, everyone is drinking from a small stream.
With fuel oil, everyone is drinking from the same keg.
With electric everyone is gets their drinks from the same refrigerator.



Prediction: $1+ per kWh electricity. :coffee:

Considering what you say should come to pass, we will simply discontinue use of the electric, and go back to a natural gas supplier. We have 4 to choose from. Right now they are all costing around 1.669 per therm. Last year it was around .89.

No, we definitely do not run the blower all the time.

BTW, our furnace has been serviced and checked out not long ago, and a new thermostat installed. We're told it's in excellent shape.

I'll have to have DH check on the wiring issue. But I think it should be fine.

I guess it's a gamble either way. But like I said, we'll only be out a couple hundred $$. If we even save a modest amount, they will be paid for in a few months.

I'd like to hear another view or 2 on the predictions about gas prices. I realize none of us has a magic ball, but it would be interesting to hear.

Thanks!

Considering what you say should come to pass, we will simply discontinue use of the electric, and go back to a natural gas supplier. We have 4 to choose from. Right now they are all costing around 1.669 per therm. Last year it was around .89.

No, we definitely do not run the blower all the time.

BTW, our furnace has been serviced and checked out not long ago, and a new thermostat installed. We're told it's in excellent shape.

I'll have to have DH check on the wiring issue. But I think it should be fine.

I guess it's a gamble either way. But like I said, we'll only be out a couple hundred $$. If we even save a modest amount, they will be paid for in a few months.

I'd like to hear another view or 2 on the predictions about gas prices. I realize none of us has a magic ball, but it would be interesting to hear.

Thanks!


What did I miss when you said gas was $30.00 a therm

What did I miss when you said gas was $30.00 a therm

:confused: :confused: :confused:
Where did I say gas was $30.00 a therm? What am I missing???

I'm pretty sure it's not legal to heat up the house using 1500W electric heaters. Those heaters are made for temporary use only, they are not designed to operate as the primary heat source for the house. They also tend to be a fire hazard, regardless of what the manufacturers say. The "good" way would be to go to an electric furnace, but I'm not sure how much money you would be saving that way. You may also find that the electric system is not capable of handling all those heaters, and typically you'll find that our when you need the heaters the most.

Keep in mind a 1500W "small" electric heater will draw more current then a 15A dedicated circuit can provide. You're not supposed to draw more then 80% of the rated value of a circuit for extended periods of time, and I find very few houses that have 12 gauge wiring everywhere in the house. I can tell you that in most new construction houses I've seen you won't be able to run 1 of these 1500W heaters on most circuits (the breaker will trip, especially in the bedrooms).

Not trying to change anybody's mind, but just like natural gas, sizing is very important in an electric system. Most houses are not designed or sized with the expectation that every room in the house will have a 1500W electric heater plugged in. I personally (and I'm an electrician) find the risk of fire due to an temporary electric heater too great to use them. If you really want electric heat you can use permanent baseboard mounted hardwired electric heaters, but it will cost a lot more then a couple of hundred dollars. A 1500 sqft house with all electric will have at least a 200A breaker.

It is temporary until the price of electric goes up.

a 1500W "small" electric heater will draw more current than a 15A dedicated circuit can provide.
The same goes for blow dryers. The difference is how long they run.

Clearly 12 gauge dedicated appliance circuits are required for these heaters to avoid trouble in the wall.
5 heaters all on the same pole makes a 75 amp load. So the circuits should be balanced.


As for what can go wrong in the room, my biggest gripe is that 16 gauge cord running across the floor. Having 6? of these in unattended in one house leaves a lot of room for something to go wrong.

Somewhere out there right now someone is running such a heater off an extension cord. :eek: You know it happens. That ought to be illegal!

It is illegal to use a device in a different way then the manufacturer specifies. Most electric heaters you buy specify "temporary use only". Nothing temporary can provide the sole source of heat for a living space.

The biggest difference betwene a blow dryer and an electric heater is that the blow dryer is designed to work in a bathroom, which has to have a 20A dedicated circuit. You can run that blow dryer for days if you like and the breaker won't trip. Most other circuits in the house are not only 15A, but also typically heavily used.

But bolide is right, if you ever touch the cord and especially the plug of most temporary heaters after only 30 minutes of use you can tell they're noticably warmer then ambient. Add to that the fact that most folks don't like to see extension cords and they like to hide them and you just increase your risk of fire.

It is illegal to use a device in a different way than the manufacturer specifies.If an electrician were to install it, then would not be legal. But we're talking about consumers using consumer products.



Most electric heaters you buy specify "temporary use only".To cover the manufacturer's liability perhaps. But the heaters are UL tested for continuous use and sold as fit for continuous use. So a consumer can reasonably argue that the product has to work safely.
I realize that probably none of us is an attorney or fire marshall. But where is this law? A landlord might prohibit it or an insurance company might refuse to cover a loss from one. But I dare say no howeowner can ever be charged for how long he uses a legal product.



Nothing temporary can provide the sole source of heat for a living space.A lot of (poor) people heat with kerosene heaters. I think that is much more dangerous than ceramics. I never heard of anyone being charged for excessive use of a temporary heater.

Extension cord are for temporary use. So are ornamental lights. But they are used continuously many places.

I'm not saying that it is right or a prudent thing to do. I'm just saying that "illegal" isn't the right word for what a consumer/homeowner does.



Ban the 99¢ extension cords!

The biggest difference between a blow dryer and an electric heater is that the blow dryer is designed to work in a bathroom, which has to have a 20A dedicated circuit.You are correct about what the NEC states. But I have yet to see a consumer appliance with a 20A plug.
A blow dryer, microwave, toaster oven, griddle, etc., can be plugged in anywhere.

You can run that blow dryer for days if you like and the breaker won't trip.A 15-amp breaker shouldn't trip either technically.
The OCPD is not exceeded, it is at 100% (1875W appliance). All that is exceeded is the NEC 80% rule. Therefore, a dedicated appliance circuit is required and must have wiring rated for at least 20A.

:confused: :confused: :confused:
Where did I say gas was $30.00 a therm? What am I missing???

Oops sorry...you said $14.00 a therm. Now thats pretty high also

you said $14.00 a therm. Now thats pretty high also

There we go. I am the one who said it. :o

That should be $1.40/therm which compares to $0.05/kWh electricity. Meaning that electric is still far more expensive than gas.
If you know how to compare these units, I would much appreciate a correct comparison.


This encyclopedia of units (http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictT.html#therm) gives 1 therm = 29.3 kilowatt hours. That might be $3.80 for electric.

Friends with house comparable to ours are using the pedestal ceramic heaters 1,500 watts with oscillation, digital thermostat.
electric heater recalled (http://kdka.com/recalls/recalls_story_027072743.html)

I actually cancelled my order before I read these last posts.

I just chickened out, and worried that I might be in for more than I bargained for.

Figured I'd just suck it up and deal with these prices for a couple more months. :wall: