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GBlist: Need some quick advice



971023	0301edt zzzzzz

I was just told Wednesday that our 13 year old oil furnace (forced air) in
our restaurant is down for the final count (damaged Heat exchanger).  It
has always required extensive service & is in my opinion, a hunk of junk.
Because of the rather perforated nature of our old log cabin, there is
actually a high degree of ventilation for the moment  :->, but it must be
replaced asap.

Our HVAC dealer (primarily Trane oriented, but can do others) is searching
for a fast replacement, in LP gas at my request.  A long term goal of ours
was/is to go with water source (geothermal) HP units.  The current GE 5 ton
ac unit mated to this 150,000 btu oil Arcoaire is inadequate anyway and
requires supplementation with a large window unit, but it shows no sign of
impending failure.  One of the factors causing the early failure of the
furnace in my lay opinion is leakage of condensate from the ac condenser
located on top of the furnace, a frequent occurrence when the condensate
line became blocked as it often did.

The damn failure does not allow much contemplation time.  Ductwork will
have to be reworkd when we change ac capacity.  Lots of screwups prior to
our ownership in 1986, grrr.

I hope you will share ans to a few ?s.

1-Given that I know the ratings of the units (efficiency) I am looking at,
what is the formula or ratio for comparing the energy value of oil vs LP?
Fred is already saying that if we use a 90% eff LP unit, we can reduce the
required size of the furnace a good deal, to 125K or below.  I would like
to compare what our costs will be, given current local prices of oil @
85/gal & LP @ 95/gal.  Of course they vary maddeningly during the season.

2-Does anyone have any specific hot recommendations on what they might do
under the circumstances to achieve state of the art, now or in the future?
If time allows, I want to do the best I can from an energy efficiency & a
cost standpoint, so your asap advice will be much appreciated.
	2a-What mfr is currently state of the art in gas/LP high
efficiency?  We do like our high E Trane gas furnace in our house, quiet &
reliable for 7 years (even went thru a recall on the heat exchanger sev yrs
ago).

3-to keep the water sourcing option open, is there anything to consider/do now?

Many thanks for any help you can give.  Pls forgive the duplicates if you
subscribe to all, as I have crossposted this to eeba/gb/aesp.

jh
(gb list-recall the lily pad guy?)


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