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Replace oil furnace?

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Stephen B. Eller
Stephen B. Eller Member Posts: 10
in THE MAIN WALL
I live in Maryland. I didn't mention that it's geothermal system, which has done a great job since I installed it two years ago.

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  • Stephen B. Eller
    Stephen B. Eller Member Posts: 10
    Replace oil furnace?

    I have a heat pump / forced air system as my primary heat. I also have an oil burning / baseboard hot water system as my backup. The backup comes on in the morning to bring the house up from 60 to 70 F and the heat pump maintains at that temp. The problem is the oil furnace is from about 1950. It’s a fairly massive unit and stays hot all the time. What I really need is small oil furnace that only comes on when I need it, and will heat up quickly. I do want one powerful enough that can heat the whole house if I need to use it without the heat pump system.

    Does my logic make sense? If so, what brands should I consider?

    While I do have 4 heat zones, each with a circulating pump, my total heating load calculations came out to 200,000 Btuh. It’s a fairly leaky historic house.
  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,584


    Where are you located? Electricity would have to be very cheap and the climate mild to make a heat pump an attractive option.

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  • Steamhead (in transit)
    Steamhead (in transit) Member Posts: 6,688
    Steve, we're in Baltimore

    Give us a call at (410) 321-8116. If you're located close to DC, call Wayne Crump or Dan Foley. You can find them on the Find a Professional page of this site.

    "Steamhead"

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  • Joe Brix
    Joe Brix Member Posts: 626
    But why

    does the temp drop to 60°? Do you set back or the HP can't keep up? I would have someone put in a duel fuel set up for you. Use the HP in Spring/Fall, swittch over to the boiler once the temp drops below 40°. What makes your domestic HW?
  • Stephen B. Eller
    Stephen B. Eller Member Posts: 10


    I set back to 60 at night.

    The geothermal system brings the domestic HW to 100, then a propane heater does the rest.
  • Joe Brix
    Joe Brix Member Posts: 626
    Hmm

    Why not a propane condensing boiler to heat the BB, just keep one fuel. Or get a duel coil indirect, have the geo
    preheat, then have your propane or oil boiler bring it up to the temp you want.
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