Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Tips For Buying A Furnace

A furnace is a device found in the home used for heating. There are several types of furnaces available. A central heating device is found in most homes and distributes warm air throughout the house, heating it. A stove is typically a large appliance where wood is burned to generate heat in the area. Room heaters are small, electrical appliances that provide heat to a small space. Most houses have some form of central heating and some people have a stove. Many people opt for a stove as a decorative piece but it is rare to see one nowadays for use as the prime heating source. If you are thinking of replacing a furnace or buying a new one, there are several things to consider.

Size

The size of your home will dictate the size of the furnace needed. If the furnace is too small to accommodate your needs, it will have to work harder to heat the home. Purchasing a furnace that is too large can be inefficient and they are typically more expensive. The overall use of the furnace will increase energy costs. Request a load calculation before choosing the furnace for your home. This will help determine the proper size. If replacing a furnace, do not simply go with a model that is similar to the old one. Instead, do some research as the one that came with the house may not have been the proper size.

Efficiency

High efficiency furnaces can be very expensive. The payoff, though, is in the long run because they will eventually save you money on heating bills. If you live in a colder climate where the heater will be running for extended periods of time, investing in a high efficiency model may be ideal. If, however, you do not often use the system often, a less efficient model will likely save money. In order for the investment to pay off, you will have to calculate the energy savings with the additional cost of the unit. Sometimes this may take a long time to be beneficial.

Cost

After determining the size and efficiency of the unit needed, begin researching costs. Also take into consideration installation which is typically performed by a licensed HVAC contractor. Shop around for the best possible price and get several quotes for comparison. Choose the one that has the best costs with the desired features.

Buying a furnace can help reduce energy costs while keeping your home warm during cold weather. With a little research, buying a new furnace does not need to be difficult. Ensure you are buying the proper size furnace for your home. Determine the level of efficiency that will save the most money. Then, shop around and get quotes for the best price.
Gray Rollins is a featured writer for FurnaceWorks.com. To learn more about buying a furnace and furnace costs, visit us.

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Sunday, December 9, 2007

Building A Hobby Crucible Furnace

Efficient melting of metal in the hobby foundry requires a simple, but well designed, easy to operate melting furnace. A well-designed furnace does not necessarily mean it will be expensive to build, or that it is complicated to construct and operate.

If you're just beginning your metal casting journey, there will be a multitude of questions that will need to be answered; and if you follow some simple methods, your learning curve will be dramatically reduced.

A well-built furnace will take you another step along the path to being able to maintain an important piece of equipment for your hobby foundry set up. Without an efficient furnace your hobby metal casting experience could well be one of total frustration & disappointment.

It is possible to build a furnace from scrap materials found around the workshop. This is not to say that it will look trashy, or poorly made, the point being made here is that you do not need to build everything from new materials. The only material you will need to buy is the special high temperature resistant refractory to line the furnace walls with, plus a few brass connectors from the local plumber for the gas feed line and some brass rod to custom-make your own special gas jet for the burner. The rest you can quite easily make yourself if you have metal working skills.

One of the biggest problems the hobby foundry worker has to overcome, is to acquire the knowledge to build a high-energy output burner, the subject of burners can raise many arguments amongst hobby foundry workers, and there is a straightforward solution to building an efficient burner, by following simple instructions any practical person can fabricate an efficient burner that will quickly melt metals such as aluminium and bronze without effort. The process to build a high output furnace burner is really quite simple, but there are a few small parts that need to be machined on a lathe.

If you don't have the luxury of a lathe in your workshop, perhaps a friend can help you out. Although, many hobby metal workers do own a metal lathe these days, it is almost a must have for the average home engineer in this ever-increasing DIY age. You will also need a MIG or ARC welder (Max 180 Amp) to fabricate the furnace.

Be very careful with your gas pipe & joint connections, although there are no great line pressures involved with the gas feed to the burner, but any small leak could lead to the possibility of a dangerous explosion.

Propane gas expands between sixty and one hundred times once exposed to air. So be aware, gas is the most efficient fuel you can use to fire a crucible furnace, but it can also be an extremely dangerous material. You need to follow any building instructions carefully and not be tempted to take any shortcuts as they may lead to personal injury.

If you are a resourceful, practical person, you could build your own crucible furnace for less than $70.00US, this is a mere fraction of the cost of a commercial unit, and should be equally as efficient, and provide many years of reliable melting service.

Like many things in life, you can learn from established proven methods, or you can spend many months floundering around by yourself, not knowing what to do. To dramatically reduce your journey to metal casting success; learn from fourteen years of metal casting success, visit our web site now. http://www.myhomefoundry.com

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