Converting Back to LP as Primary Heat Source.

[Diggin It]

We've had these discussions quite a bit, but I have a question or six.

Wood is plentiful and 'free', but has a cost in tools, fuel and time to use. There is also an issue of home insurance that many don't consider. Some companies won't write policies at all, while others add significant cost. That kills off the savings in using wood. I prefer the dry warmth of wood, but not necessarily the mess it makes in debris and ash.

I have a LP forced air furnace, but that requires a blower motor which sucks electricity too.

In previous threads, some posters made mention of the amount of water LP puts into the air. I can't say as I ever noticed an issue there when running the furnace full time before adding the wood stove.

I'm considering dumping the cast iron wood stove currently in the back of the house by a door and installing a corner LP fireplace in the living room which would be much more centrally located.

The main question here is about that moisture issue. Will I see more of a moisture issue with an LP fireplace than I have with an LP forced air furnace? Can I expect more of a concentration in the LR near the fireplace, or will it disperse?

Second question is heat distribution. The stove is at the back of the house, but the heat circulates rather well, better than I expected. A couple of small fans to help move air on colder days make quite a difference. Can I expect the same natural circulation with an LP fireplace?

Then, I ask about consumption. I never understood the whole BTU system. I need to figure out how long to expect 400 gallons of LP to last when heating a 1,000 SqFt home to 70 degrees or lower with outside temperatures in the 20s or 30s.

 

[dodge man]

If you have an LP forced air furnace that will be more efficient than an LP fire place. Don’t worry about the electricity it uses, it will make up for it with even heat distribution. They make LP fire places that require a flue and some that don’t. I think the kind with a flue wouldn’t be a moisture problem.

 

[Diggin It]

Flues waste heat. I want it inside the house, not out a stack.

 

[Mat4644]

Ventless natural gas or LP gas add water (moisture) to the air as a byproduct of combustion. Your forced air gas furnace does not as it vents the combustion gasses.

 

[bigtiller]

I had a 50K BTU LB White hog heater that I used to heat my 30x50 WELL insulated garage during some evenings and weekends. It ran off of a 100 lb cylinder just fine but it put so much moisture into the air that the steel insulated overhead doors with 1/2 hp openers wouldn't open the next morning. I had to pound on them with my fist to bust up the ice in the joints between the panels.

 

[jwstewar]

Flues waste heat. I want it inside the house, not out a stack.

Most ventless fireplaces are not made for a primary heat source. Either supplemental or short term - i.e. during a power outage.

 

[5030]

Everything concerning heat in the cold months I do by fuel availability and cost. We have a +90 propane condensing furnace in the basement and 2 500 gallon tanks (which I fill in the summer when the per gallon price is cheap) but I also get field corn for almost nothing so my fuel of choice is field corn with propane as a backup. Electricity is no issue here, we have standby power generation, on demand always. Takes very little power to run a corn stove, about 100 watts. Furnace is a bit more, maybe 300 watts but neither are energy hogs.

 

[3Ts]

I have an LP fireplace that is sealed and can be used to heat the room and can only run it for about an hour before I have to turn it off because it gets so hot in the room and no thermostat. No moisture because it is: 1) sealed so no combustion products in the house & 2) all the moisture from combustion is vented up the flue. I also have an LP central forced air condensing furnace that is far more efficient than the fireplace. It extracts so much heat from the combustion that a plastic flue is used and it has a thermostat so the house is much more comfortable with that. The moisture from the condensing furnace goes into a drain that runs outside.

 

[shovelmike]

I have an LP fireplace that is sealed and can be used to heat the room and can only run it for about an hour before I have to turn it off because it gets so hot in the room and no thermostat. No moisture because it is: 1) sealed so no combustion products in the house & 2) all the moisture from combustion is vented up the flue. I also have an LP central forced air condensing furnace that is far more efficient than the fireplace. It extracts so much heat from the combustion that a plastic flue is used and it has a thermostat so the house is much more comfortable with that. The moisture from the condensing furnace goes into a drain that runs outside.

I have the same setup here, high efficiency LP, sealed combustion chamber condensing furnace. I formerly heated with wood, having 5 acres of woods and got plenty of firewood just by clearing out dead trees. The end of that came when my insurance company started charging a 35 percent surcharge for burning wood.

 

[JamesHW]

We’re planning on one of those electric heat pump water heaters that provide considerable dehumidification of the space as a byproduct of extracting heat from surrounding air. Our rubble stone basement has moisture issues so we see that as a benefit.

 

[Diggin It]

I'll have to look at options at some pint, but some of the FPs I've seen are over $1,000 which ain't gonna happen. Web shopping isn't best for this and stores don't have them yet as they're seasonal.

Exterior walls are concrete block, so while I could drill for a drain, I don't really want to.

I also have one wall mount infrared plaque LP heater that cycles on and off. I would need whatever I select to do that.

I might have to work up a faux FP using another plaque heater or maybe one of the blue flame units.

 

[Jack Murdock]

For every gallon of LP or natural gas you burn with a vent free appliance you put that much moisture back into the atmosphere. Here in upstate NY the winter that isn't usually an issue. VF fireplaces or heaters should never be used as a sole source of heat and should always have a " oxygen depletion system" when used indoors. I burn wood ( 5-7 cords per year ) have LP high eff hot air furnace and a VF heater in my basement office. 1 gallon of propane equals 92,516 BTU so you can divide that by the input of the appliance to see how much moisture is going into the air. A 30,000 btu VF fireplace puts 1/3 of a gallon of moisture into the air per hour.

 

[Oaktree]

So much depends on fuel prices where you live. In this part of the country, propane is hideously expensive, and you're tied to one supplier (and most suppliers won't fill a tank they don't own). As the OP mentioned, wood is generally reasonably priced to "free", but it's a lot of work and if you use a wood stove (as opposed to an outdoor furnace) it's messy. One big advantage is that if you use a woodstove, you have heat even when the power goes out.
Pellets are popular here, but most everyone I know who uses them complains about the noise and maintenance issues.
I'd say oil is probably the most popular here in New England if you don't have city gas, but that seems to be a northeast thing.

As others have noted, I wouldn't use a non-vented heater as anything but an emergency heat source.