NG Heat Ripoff and Convert SP Furncace

$94 a month for the PILOT? HOLY $$IT! Wait 'til heating season starts up! I've had the meter turned off all

I'm afraid, during the heating season, that the pilot light is going to cost about 1% of the total bill. Actually, most of the heat from the pilot flame still heats your house, so it isn't lost heat.

Jon

One model is the Honeywell S87D Direct Spark Ignition. You'll also need the spark electrode assembly, and the ionization flame prover rod, don't know the partnumbers for those offhand but a distributor would.

I don't recall anymore if this setup would work with a gas valve intended for use with a pilot. Seems like the ignitor lit a pilot when then lit the main burner. You don't want the main gas valve open until a pilot flame is proven. I think in a piloted system a thermocouple heated by the pilot enables the main gas valve, but I don't recall if there's a TC in an electronic ignition setup or not.

There should be no reason to "have the meter turned off to see if they're prorating me", if you are on an "equal billing" plan it should be clearly indicated on the bill and certainly a call to them would confirm that. Also many gas monopolies have large service charges for disconnects and reconnects equal to the monthly service charge in between.

Instead of messing with trying to convert to electronic ignition at sizable expense and potential safety risk, I would simply turn off the gas valve to the furnace at the end of the heating season and then turn it back on and re-light the pilot at the start of the next heating season. The gas used by the pilot during heating season is an insignificant percentage of the total heating cost, and the heat from the pilot is still heating your home anyway.

While doing the simple no-cost thing with the gas valve, start putting some funds aside to replace the VW Beetle with a high efficiency furnace that will provide significant savings. They aren't even very expensive unless your installation is a real mess.

Just as importantly, add a flue damper so the residual heat stays inside. Bob

Why not consider a switch to oil heat.

1. No pilot light losses
2. No minimum usage charge or monthly fee's
3. No weather adjustment surcharges
4. Buy oil from any local supplier were you get the best deal
5. Install a large tank and top off when the price is low
6. Oil burns hotter, heats you home faster. Oil fired boilers can be dual units with a tankless coil, heating the house and making hot domestic water at the same time for increased efficiency. Gas systems need a seperate boiler and hot water heater.
7. Oil is safer, can't explode. No reported deaths from CO poisoning from oilheat, where over 60% of the CO related deaths in the US are from gasheat, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

No surprise there. That group is inhabited by scared crooked little HVAC dweebs.

It depends entirely on the design of the chimney and furnace. Some actually have motorized dampers that close the chimney when the main burner is not on. The tiny pilot flame is not likely to start the chimney draft, but it may continue for some time due to the heat absorbed by the chimney liner.

Jon

Have you tried one of those BBQ-lighting lighters? They have them at the Home Desperado. I have to go through some contortions to light my water heater pilot, and these long-reach lighters make it easier.

No reference to such a mix in the DSAT Tec Gas Blender manual.

OR.......

Find a neighbor you hate.

Break off the antenna from his car radio.

Solder an alligator cip onto it.

Get matches AND a lighter.

Clip an unlit one into the clip

Get into position to feed the fire at the pilot area.

Light the match with the lighter.

Light the pilot light.

Send me a hearty thank you for improving the quality of your life. ( or not)

MD

SF6 = sulfer hexafluoride.

Used to pressurize waveguide in radars.

"Non toxic" , unless exposed to high temperatures, like what happens when a radar arcs inside the waveguide.

Then it turns into Methyl-ethyl-very-bad-s*it.

Ahhhhhhhhh, sweet memories.....

MD

Hold on to yer sox when you price that valve. One for my Reznor heater was within $100 of the cost of a whole new heater. That's from the distributor, not from an installer.