The Advantages of DISTRICT HEATING

When a home is built, most heating contractors install a furnace to supply the heat. Domestic hot water requires a separate heating system as does the pool and hot tub. When a heated garage or workshop is added another furnace is purchased and installed.

Drying grain on the farm requires yet another heating system and in commercial applications more individual furnaces are purchased for air make up in paint booths or air exchange systems is public buildings and manufacturing plants.

In these heating systems each individual furnace is an integral part of each individual heating system. As a result, it becomes more difficult to react to energy markets or take advantage of the more abundant, lower cost fuels. For example, in the fall of 96, when the cost or propane increased by approximately 50%, farmers with propane fired grain dryers and homes and businesses with propane furnaces could do little but complain about the escalating cost of propane.

One Central Furnace
In many situations, rather than use a number of different furnaces it may be better to use one central furnace to supply all of the heat for your home, farm or business. The one furnace heats water. The hot water is pumped to all of the different locations, which require heat. Heat is removed from the hot water and the water is pumped back to the one central furnace for re-heating. There are many advantages to one central furnace. With one furnace it can be set away from your buildings. You won't be piping combustible fuel into your home and other buildings so the risk of fire is reduced.

Better Utilization
In systems where there's more than one furnace each individual furnace tends to be under utilized. For example, a farmer who would have individual furnaces in his home, shop and barn would also require a large independent heating system on his grain dryer even though most grain drying is done in the fall at a time when heating demands for the home, shop and barn are minimal. With one central furnace a farmer would already have all the BTU's required to dry grain without purchasing extra heating capacity or burners dedicated only to drying grain. A greenhouse in another example. They are often only started in the spring when the big heating demands for the home are over.

While any fuel or energy can be used, one central furnace often makes it feasible to use the more abundant, lower cost fuels such as coal, wood, straw, sawdust, etc. With one furnace and a hot water heat distribution systems it is easier to react to the energy market. There's only one furnace to deal with and with some central furnaces changing fuel is simply a matter of changing the burning head.

Already Being Done
Using one central furnace to supply heat for a wide variety of heating situations and heat more than one building is not a new concept. Many towns and villages in Europe have district heating systems. As well, in the early 1920's Winnipeg city council voted to construct a central steam heating system for the downtown business district. It originally served 115 downtown customers. The plant's steam heating activity peaked in the 1950's with approximately 400 customers, mostly business but some residential. A village in North Eastern Canada recently installed a new district heating system. The village is located near a saw mill. The central furnace uses saw dust as a fuel and economical heat is supplied to the entire village through a hot water distribution system.

In the state of North Dakota it is not uncommon to see 2, 3 or more homes on acreages, all being heated with one common central coal fired furnace. Very efficient and very economical. For larger energy users like farms and businesses it is easy to understand the advantages of one central furnace but it is often advantageous for single family homes as well. Either a smaller central furnace can be purchased or if you have neighbors that are reasonably close it is more than feasible for 2 or more families to share one common central furnace. BTU meters are available to measure the amount of heat each party uses.