Gas leak??? House is extremely cold!!!

adambuild

Hi all, spoke to a cousin living in Chincoteague, VA and she told me that she’s been blowing through approximately 20 gallons of propane per day!?!? Isn’t that an obscene amount of usage??? It’s a small, 1800sf, two story home that is decently insulated. The furnace is a RUUD Silhouette II, 75,000btu, 80%, model #UHPH-07EAU(can’t read the rest). Any clue where all that propane can be going? She says the house isn’t even close to keeping up, very cold inside. She said multiple techs have come by and have said there are no leaks!?!? Any ideas?

EBEBRATT-Ed

Not enough information. It seems like too much propane. Does she use the propane for a fire place, cooking or domestic hot water???

I would start by measuring the supply and return air temps and monitoring how many hours/day the furnace is firing.

To go through 20 gallons of propane the furnace would be running 24 hours a day non stop.

24 x 75,000=1,800,000 btus

20 gallons of propane is 94500 x 20=1890,000

pretty close

propane tank in the ground? any piping underground?

mattmia2

have the gas supplier do a very careful check for leaks. shut it off at the tank until they determine it is safe.

Could be that it is burning with too little or too much air or has a bad hx that is adding too much air. many of the possibilities are deadly so you should shut it down until you get someone that knows what they are doing to look at both the gas piping and the furnace.

wmgeorge

Is she getting confused about gallons vs lbs? Perhaps using a 20 lb BBQ tank instead?

ChrisJ

wmgeorge said:

Is she getting confused about gallons vs lbs? Perhaps using a 20 lb BBQ tank instead?

She's not running a 75K furnace off of a 20 pound BBQ tank.

SlamDunk

Since the house isn't warming up, check fuel quantity, turn off furnace for a day and check quantity again. If there is a leak, that's how you can prove it. It's going to be in the fifties tomorrow.

wmgeorge

ChrisJ said:

wmgeorge said:

Is she getting confused about gallons vs lbs? Perhaps using a 20 lb BBQ tank instead?

She's not running a 75K furnace off of a 20 pound BBQ tank.

Oh, I have seen dumber than that, how is she measuring gallons? In this state you need to be approved to install any kind of LP piping. Too many good ole boys killing people with improper piping even out in the sticks where there are no inspections.

Intplm.

Double-check for leaks.
And then check for air leaks. It is very possible that this person has left a window or something somewhere open to the outdoors. The amount of lp that is being used is very high.
What brings me to this is that it is always cold and can't keep up?

It's time to look for something more obviouse.

I cannot remember how many times I have gone round and round looking to correct a problem like this only to find a broken window or new hole (mechanical or otherwise) that was the cause.

ChrisJ

wmgeorge said:

ChrisJ said:

wmgeorge said:

Is she getting confused about gallons vs lbs? Perhaps using a 20 lb BBQ tank instead?

She's not running a 75K furnace off of a 20 pound BBQ tank.

Oh, I have seen dumber than that, how is she measuring gallons? In this state you need to be approved to install any kind of LP piping. Too many good ole boys killing people with improper piping even out in the sticks where there are no inspections.

My parents have a 500 gallon tank with a float and a digital readout.
I'm sure it's not perfect but it seems to do alright. That's my best guess.