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Impact of a natural gas fireplace on home heating energy consumption
Armstrong, M. M.; Burrows, J.
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I m pa c t of a na t ura l ga s fire pla c e on hom e he a t ing e ne rgy c onsum pt ion
N R C C - 5 3 6 0 8
A r m s t r o n g , M . M . ; B u r r o w s , J .
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A version of this document is published in / Une version de ce document se trouve dans: Home Builder, 23, (5), pp. 1-2, September 01, 2010
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Impact of a Natural Gas Fireplace on Home Heating Energy Consumption
By Marianne Armstrong and John BurrowsThis article summarizes the results of a study designed to assess the impact of operating a natural gas fireplace on the heating energy consumption of an R-2000 house.
It is estimated that about one quarter of Canadian households have a gas fireplace, many of which are used daily during the heating season (2007 Survey of Household Energy Use, NRCan). When a fireplace is located in close proximity to the house’s central thermostat, the heat introduced by the fireplace can cause the heating system to delay its normal cycle of
operation – affecting energy consumption and temperatures in the home. Over two winters (2008 to 2010), researchers at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology (CCHT) assessed the impact of operating a natural gas fireplace in an R-2000 house. The interaction of the fireplace with the central heating system was explored, including impact on the furnace’s gas and electrical consumption, and room and surface temperature effects.
The study examined three modes of fireplace operation: continuous evening fireplace operation from 18:00 to 24:00 with the furnace providing continuous air circulation; continuous evening fireplace operation from 18:00 to 24:00 with no continuous air circulation provided by the furnace; and fireplace operation by dedicated thermostat. In addition, the impact of pilot light operation was also investigated. The experiments were conducted in the CCHT twin house facility and compared conditions in a house with and without a gas fireplace.
Evening operation of the fireplace heated the main floor family room, the location of the gas fireplace, well above the 22°C set-point of the furnace thermostat. During this time, furnace gas consumption and furnace fan electrical consumption decreased. Overall, however, evening fireplace operation resulted in an increase in total energy consumption (natural gas and electricity for fan operation), 12.5% for continuous furnace fan operation and 11.6% without continuous fan operation. When furnace and fireplace efficiencies were taken into account (76% measured fireplace efficiency, and 94% measured furnace efficiency), the net energy supplied to the house by the fireplace and the furnace was higher by an average of 2.8% than a house with no fireplace, and up to 12% greater on the warmest days. This is likely an indication of
overheating from the fireplace on warm days.
Operation of the fireplace by dedicated thermostat control resulted in a large reduction in furnace operation, owing to the close proximity of the fireplace to the central thermostat of the house. On average, this mode of operation resulted in an overall increase of 9.8% in total heating energy consumption. Despite this increase in consumption, the total heat output was 2.3% lower. This was reflected in the cooler temperatures on the second floor (1 to 2°C cooler), evidence that the furnace did not cycle frequently enough to sufficiently heat that part of the house.
Only one fireplace thermostat setting was examined. A lower setting would likely reduce fireplace operation, increasing furnace cycling and circulating heat more readily to other rooms (with high speed air circulation during heating). During warmer weather, the effect of thermostat
operation on furnace operation could be even more pronounced – the fireplace may be able to satisfy the requirements of the house thermostat, eliminating furnace cycling. Higher furnace fan air circulation speeds at standby (when not supplying heat) could be explored to determine if increased air movement would improve the distribution of heat to the second floor.
Pilot light operation also had an impact on energy use. Keeping the fireplace pilot light burning consumed an average of 38 MJ of natural gas per day. Pilot light operation decreased furnace gas consumption by 5.6%, and furnace fan electrical consumption by 1.7%, but increased overall energy consumption by 5.0%. It resulted in a ~ temperature increase of about 0.3°C in the family room and a small decrease on the second floor (about 0.2°C).
The fireplace efficiency testing showed that the operation of the circulation fan built into the fireplace did not affect steady-state efficiency – this model of fireplace showed the same efficiency with and without the circulation fan operating. This means the fireplace could be operated during a power outage and still provide the same heat output. Without electricity, the furnace fan would not operate to circulate the fireplace heat to other areas of the house. A future experiment could examine the impact of such operation on room temperatures, to determine under what conditions and for what duration a fireplace could be used as a backup heat source during a power outage.
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For more information, see the full report at http://www.ccht-cctr.gc.ca/eng/projects/fireplace.html or contact Marianne Armstrong at Marianne.Armstrong@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
The Canadian Centre for Housing Technology isjointly operated by the National Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Marianne Armstrong is a research council officer in the Building Envelope and Structure program of the NRC Institute for Research in Construction. John Burrows is an engineer and technical writer.
