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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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Propane heater help needed
On Jun 11, 8:47*pm, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
I have two 30,000 BTU propane heaters that I want to install high in my shop. *Make is Schwank and they are of no help. Problem is that I want to mount them about 10 feet off the ground and do not want a pilot light burning all winter. *In order to light them you have to hold the starter button in for a good long minute. *No fun on a high ladder. Would like to convert this to electric ignition but unable to find any information that would help me. *The advantage of the pilot light is that it is a safety in case the flame should ever blow out. *The pilot (thermocouple)keeps the solenoid valve open. *If flame goes out the main gas valve shuts in about 1.5 seconds. Anyway, anybody have any ideas oh how to reconfigure this and still have a safe system. *Would putting an electric ignitor BUT keeping all the existing controls work? *Guess not, ignitor would be able to light the main burners but not the pilot since there is nobody there to push the button. *This must have already been solved somewhere, somehow. All ideas appreciated. *Buying new units not an option. *How about the freestanding heaters used in outdoor restaurants? *How do they work? *Does somebody stand there for a minute lighting a pilot??? Thanks, Ivan Vegvary The first question I would ask is what are you saving by changing from a standing pilot? What I mean by this is a building looses heat faster the greater the difference between the inside and the outside. Since the pilot is inside the heated space, you have no problem having the pilot on while the building is occupied in between the times the thermostat calls for heat and when it is in stand by mode. So at night if you shut off the thermostat the building will cool, but the rare of cooling slows as the building gets closer to the outside air temp. The gas that is burned at night when the building is unoccupied first off is not really much gas but secondly the few BTU's that are expended when the building is cooler tend to stay in the building and so the next morning the burner will run just a little bit less. If I recall correctly a standing pilot gives you something like 600 BTU's per hour. If your main burner consumes 30,000 BTU's per hour, that is, by my calculations, about 3 1/2 minutes of burner time per day of overnight pilot if you didn't factor in the heat that was banked. If you are trying to save money on propane, it seems to me that you would be better off spending the same money for insulation or a programmable thermostat. Roger Shoaf |
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