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THERMALATOR® I
The Thermalator I system is an electronic timing and
switching method which modulates the operational cycling duties of the
thermostat – when the need for heat is detected. (The thermostat is an
integral part of any natural gas fired/forced air heating control
system.)
A normally operating natural gas fired forced air heating appliance
performs its purpose in the following manner:
The control thermostat senses a need for heat and closes a switch in its
circuitry permitting power to flow through the thermostat and on down to
the gas valve in the furnace. The gas valve then opens and allows gas to
flow through to the burners where the gas is ignited by the pilot light.
Natural gas - methane, burns between 900 and 1000 degrees F.
The exhaust heat provided by the burning gas is directed upward inside
the steel heat exchangers in the innards of the heater and then outside
through the chimney. While these hot gases are moving around in the
belly of the furnace, they lose part of their heat to the steel heat
exchangers, making the heat exchangers very, very hot. When the burners
are burning and the heat exchangers are heated from the hot exhaust
gases inside them, the furnace blower (fan) starts blowing cool
re-circulated air up past the outside of the exchangers. This cool air
gets heated by contact with the very hot heat exchangers and is directed
through heat ducts to the heat registers which are located in all parts
of the space that needs heating.
The blower (fan) does not start until the fan control switch sensor
indicates that the circulating air between the exchangers has reached a
preset temperature.
This process continues until the thermostat breaks its electrical
circuit – thus indicating that enough heat has been produced. By this
time the steel heat exchangers will have reached a temperature of 300F
or more. If the exchangers get too hot, the fan control switch high
limit sensor will shut off the gas valve and stop the burners. The
blower fan does not stop, at this point, when the burners shut off. The
blower keeps on blowing air past the heat exchangers until they are
cooled to a level satisfactory to the low level temperature sensor. At
that point the fan control switch heat sensor mechanism will shut off
the blower.
There are several weaknesses inherent within this traditional type of
heating appliance. Although the gas burning, hot air systems have been
around for many years, the cost of natural gas was so low that very
little attention was paid to heater efficiency. When it got cool, you
just turned up the thermostat, the gas ignited and you had heat – very
simple and easy. A few years ago, the heating appliance manufacturers
came up with an electronic ignition system that did away with the
ever-burning pilot light. The big advantage of this was in being able to
advertise and sell a "newer - more advanced" furnace, for a higher
dollar, of course!
Next came the "Conservator" type high efficiency furnaces that yield
only water and very cool exhaust gases as byproducts. These furnaces are
a different story altogether. We won’t discuss them now or consider
their pricing!
Now that we understand more clearly how the standard natural gas
burning/hot air system works, we can go on to show you how it is
possible to make these furnaces much more efficient in turning natural
gas into usable heat.
One thing to remember during all of this discussion and in any
conversations you may have with anyone regarding furnaces, efficiencies
etc., is this simple indisputable fact: A cubic foot of natural gas
delivered to your home is the same as a cubic foot of natural gas
delivered to your neighbors system. There is no "Regular", "Mid-grade",
or "Premium" – all domestic natural gas is of basically the same grade.
Having agreed to this, you must also agree that a cubic foot of natural
gas has only so much heat energy stored in it. The trick is to convert
as much of that energy to usable heat as you can, and deliver it to the
space to be heated as economically and efficiently as possible.
SO, HOW IS THIS DONE WITH THE Thermalator® I?
There are three stages of the heater operation that are made more
efficient to produce major gas usage savings. The object throughout is
to produce and distribute heat in a manner the user finds most
comfortable and satisfactory.
The heater fan should be turned on to the manual (or summer) setting and
left running on that setting forever. Calculations and actual practical
experience have proved that this will cost about $10.50 to $12.00 per
month more on your electrical bill. This constant operation of the fan
motor does not affect the life of the motor. An electrical motor suffers
most wear and tear from frequent stops and starts. The motor should be
serviced once per year, as usual, for oiling, cleaning and the such.
Within hours of turning on the fan, you will find that the heated area
has begun to assume an even temperature in every part of the building in
which the heat registers are open. No more hot spots, cool spots or any
areas of temperature differential unless so determined by the user.
Most homes have humidistat controlled humidifiers which turn off and on
with the off/on action of the fan motor. With the fan running
continuously, the humidistat is constantly powered and automatically
turns the humidifier on and off to produce the humidity you have dialed.
This results in humidity very close to what you require – all the time.
Because of the constant activation, you can fine-tune your home humidity
to precisely what is best for you and your home. Humidification of this
sort is not usually the case in commercial/industrial installations.
When your natural gas fired/forced air furnace is activated by the
thermostat, the burners ignite and continue to burn until the thermostat
is satisfied and shuts them off. During the burning time, the heat
exchangers will be heated to a temperature of about 300F. The air
blowing through the heat registers is often so hot that you cannot stand
barefoot on the register without burning your feet. Once the thermostat
is satisfied, the burners are shut off but the fan continues to run
until the heat exchangers have been cooled. This causes a heat over-run
that often puts the building temperature 2-5 degrees over the setting on
the thermostat. The thermostat will often not call for heat until it is
2 degrees below the actual selected, set temperature. This manner of
operation allows for a space temperature swinging from 2 degrees below
the actual setting to as much as 5 degrees above the actual setting – a
7 degree variation! This is a very uncomfortable swing but is quite
normal to natural gas fired/forced air furnaces.
The Thermalator prevents the large "end-of-cycle" over-run and the
"burn-your feet" scorching air of the mid-run period. This is done by
electronically controlling the burn cycle to a few minutes at any one
time. In between these shortened burns, you will have timed harvest
cycles that draw re-circulated air over the very hot heat exchangers and
distributes it through the heated areas at a much more comfortable
temperature.
This burn/harvest cycle continues until the thermostat is satisfied and
the burn cycles are discontinued by the regular thermostat. The harvest
cycle will continue until the exchangers have been cooled. Because of a
maximum exchanger temperature of 150 to 275 degrees F, instead of the
standard 300+ degrees F, the heat over-run at the conclusion of the
cycle is much shorter and much more moderate.
With the Thermalator in operation, a very substantial natural gas usage
saving is quite normal because of the continuous, comfortable harvesting
cycles which do not allow the burners to continue pouring hot exhaust
gases into your heat exchangers when the heat exchangers are already
saturated with heat. In normal furnace operation, heat supplied by the
exhaust gases, that is excess to the absorptive capacity of the heat
exchangers, is simply dumped up the chimney into the atmosphere. Vented
heat is, of course, wasted.
As a matter of interest, you should set your thermostat at a setting of
30 degrees C, or so, to cause your heater to ignite its’ burners. After
it has been burning for about 2 minutes, put your hand close to the
exhaust chimney/stack from that heater. DO NOT TOUCH THE CHIMNEY STACK!
From this exercise, you can get a little idea of how much heat energy is
going up the stack without doing you any good whatsoever. The object of
the Thermalator system is to harvest as much of that heat as possible
and send it into the space to be heated. After all, that is what you are
buying the gas for, isn’t it?
During the late spring, summer, and early fall seasons, it is obvious
that very little, if any, gas is used for space heating. We recommend
that customers do not go on a budget – auto/deduct payment system. By
being billed each period for what gas you actually use, you pay only for
the gas you actually burn in that period and will thus be able to enjoy
your savings all year round.
Oh, by the way, when the installation is complete and the system is up
and running as it should be, do turn the thermostat back to your usual
setting. Enjoy!!
Thermalator® I is designed to allow the standard natural gas
fired/forced air heater to deliver as much of that burning energy into
the space to be heated as economically feasible without major refit or
huge dollar expenditure.
Thermalator® I unit price: $289.00cdn plus postage and applicable
tax.
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