11/12/2012
A friend wants to give me a 100,00 BTU Updraft furnace for free, most ducts and thermostate included. It's propane and there is no A-frame or compressor but for now, it can give me heat in winter.
How can I install it in my 20x30 countryplan? Could I make a little box for it under my house (It's 4 feet off the ground) and then run the ducts throughout the bottom, under the floor? The house will be skirted but it'll still be cold under there. Or, I could just put it on the floor in a closet space and run the ducts through my wooden I-Joists?
100,000 BTU is a huge furnace. Unless you lived at one of the poles, maybe :)
Sizing a furnace properly requires looking at many factors, insulation, heated space, climate, windows and doors, etc etc. There is a rough sizing online calculator at Alpine heating. (http://www.alpinehomeair.com/estimator.cfm)
I think for your area you'll find that 25,000 BTU is about as big as you'd ever need.
Too big a furnace means too frequent cycling, maybe overshooting the thermostat setting, but getting too cold between runs if you try to compensate by turning down the thermostat.
Thank you for that great information once again MountainDon.
I decided against getting the free 100,000 BTU updraft furnace. I'm just going to
go with our Ashley Wood Stove and 2 propane heaters being helped by way of ceiling fans.
Your an awesome help sir.
Take the furnace and sell it. Find something better suited.