A comparative study of a direct current heating system and a gas furnace heating coil

Abstract

The objective of this research is to compare the efficiency of a direct current (DC) heating system with an electrical furnace coil. This was done using a house lab as a test bed located on the Durham College Whitby Campus in Canada. The house is approximately 1000 square feet, originally built circa 1950's/1960's, with an existing gas furnace of 60,000 BTUs and an energy efficiency EnerGuide rating of 95.5. Three options were tested during winter 2016 along with the electrical heating element. Weather normalization was taken into consideration using data provided by the weather network. The analysis showed that the direct current heating system option 3 had a higher BTUH/Watt= 3.73 compared to the furnace heating element=2.25 BTUH/Watt which represent a difference of 39.6%. An energy simulation was run using the HOT2000 software to evaluate the direct current technology vs gas, oil, propane and electricity. In each case the direct current technology showed an energy savings better than the comparative technology. From the data collected and analysis, it can be concluded that the direct current system is a valid technology for heating buildings. It is more efficient than the industry standard electrical heating coil with an efficiency of up to 40% better.