propane furnace installed in very high crawl space under house?

[brogar]

Hello -- Small house, 2 floors, total 1104 square feet. On cement piers between 3-1/2 and 4-1/2 feet high. Can a propane furnace be installed under the floor, in that crawl space? Would it need much ducting (if any)? I like the idea of one big fat heat register in the living room to do all the heat-carrying, upstairs and down. The furnace would be emergency-use only, to prevent pipes freezing if occupants are away more than 12 hours in the winter. Main heat will be woodstove.
Can a propane furnace go there? If yes, ducting needed?
I have NO idea about furnace costs. Is it a $2,000 or $4,000 proposition? Or more? Talking very ballpark. Thanks. -- Brogar

[rwanders]

I can only give you a SWAG (silly wild ass guess)-----I would anticipate some where around $2000 when you include the cost of a propane tank. Figure could vary depending on your structure and climate. You should consider fuel oil also because it is quite a bit more efficient then propane (higher btu's per gallon) Suppliers can help you determine required btu levels needed for the furnace.

I installed a 40000 btu direct vented fuel oil heater (TOYO) including a 300 gallon taank for 1700 in my 850 sq ft 1 1/2 story cabin in Alaska----has no problem keeping cabin warm at -35F even with 24' high cathedral ceiling in half of cabin. Cabin has 12' walls and 12/12 pitched roof.

[brogar]

Thanks, Rwanders. I assume you mean it cost $1700? And when you say "direct vented", that means -- no ductwork?

Do you think a furnace like that would fit under this house, with 3-1/2' to 4-1/2' crawl space?

-brogar

[rwanders]

The TOYO I have is not meant for your particular plan though underfloor heaters are available. Direct Vent means that both combustion air and exhaust enter/leave directly to the heater from the exterior of the house----in my case through a short double walled pipe through the side of the house. If your furnace is placed towards the center of the home it would require a longer vent/intake pipe and probably a powered exhaust fan to provide sufficient draft. Yes----my total cost, including tank and installation was $1700. The TOYO is very efficient---it took about 300 gallons of fuel for the first entire year. It has no ducts---it sits in a corner of my kitchen and is about 24" high, 28" wide and 12" deep---sits about 6" from the wall.

[brogar]

Very interesting, very helpful. i was looking at the Alpine website where they sell a 45,000 BTU propane or natural gas under-floor, no electricity or ducting needed

they even ship it free to where i am -- Ontario, Canada, with the customs and brokerage and tax already figured out to around $150.

they have a calculator on their website and it shows that for the 1104 square feet i'm concerned with, i only need 41,000 btus --- so it looks good.

but this Toyo you're talking about, yes, I heard you say oil is much more efficient and it looks like the pricing would be the same. We certainly have room in the kitchen for something that size.

I assume your Toyo needs electricity to run?

When you say you used about 300 gals of fuel in one season, I'm wondering -- what's a gallon of fuel cost?

Thanks very much for the info. -- Brogar

[rwanders]

Yes, it does need electricity for the fan. Fuel oil where I am in Alaska varies of course, but nowadays runs about 2.50 to 3.50 per gallon (that's American gallon, not Imperial).

[Don_P]

We've got a similar heater to rwanders made by monitor, it works well, we also burn alot of wood. I filled the 250 gallon tank winter before last but would probably go through a tank if used exclusively. It typically takes about 3 cords to heat our 1500 sf.

[brogar]

Rwanders and Don -- Thanks very much for the added info. It's a big help to hear from somebody that's actually using what I'm trying to figure out. And I'm assuming neither of these furnaces, the Toyo or the Monitor, uses any duct-work, just a dual-purpose air intake/exhaust pipe. My big questions are answered. Now I gotta shop. Thanks again. -- brogar