Review: Fahrenheit Technologies Endurance 50F
Reviewed August 06, 2009 by
Frank
Overall Performance:
Efficiency:
Ease of Use:
Fahrenheit Technologies Endurance 50F
I kept a daily log during my first Canadian winter (2008-2009) using the 50F, which is hooked up to the existing oil furnace's duct work. It definitely works, even at -30C (-22F) on our 30 year old, 2 story, 1500 SQ/FT house. The temperature inside the house is more even than with the oil furnace as the hot air is more constantly delivered instead of bursts.
I set the oil furnace 1 degree lower than the F-50 and it kicks on occasion at -30C. (Both can work at the same time. I didn’t have to open the oil furnace for the hook up. The F-50’s duct was simply added to the existing duct with 2 dampers.) The F-50 is set at +22.5C (72.5F) for the house interior. It uses 1.7 (40) pound bags per day on average from October 15 to May 15 for a total of nearly 7.5 tons per chilly Canadian winter.
I can go a week with one bag in higher outside temperatures and 3 bags a day in extreme lows (see graph below). The ash pan needs to be emptied every 12-15 bags. The hopper holds exactly 100 pounds of pellets (2.5 bags). The exhaust duct's grill outside needs to be cleaned every 50 bags or so as it clogs up with suet accumulation. A 1C (1.8F) lower setting on the thermostat reduces the daily average amount of pellets burned by a lot... about half a bag a day. I had initial issues but they were dealt with promptly by the dealer, within a few days I received parts. After a month's use, fumes could be smelled and I sealed the exhaust fan's unit gasket properly.
In December the panel fried and this happened 2 more times, but this issue is now fixed with the addition of a small electrical component which acts as a buffer every time we ran out of electricity following a power surge. It takes a bit of getting used to when it comes to disassembling the fire pot, and I got great on-line assistance from the F-50 tech, but now I can do it all with my eyes closed. When it's -25C (-13F) and colder outside, the F-50 holds the inside temperature at a very respectable +20C (68F) but needs oil assistance to raise it past that and a little assistance to maintain it there.
In January 2009, the actuator arm started scratching metal on metal after 3 months of use. This issue has been solved by replacing it with an actuator arm that is not as wide. To solve the fume issues inside the house when the electricity goes out (my F-50's air intake isn't extended to the outside, which contributes to the issue. but I will fix it this summer. I added a battery operated generator; this gives me time to start the big generator outside for prolonged power outages to eliminate fumes which exits from the air intake when the exhaust fan isn't working. The fuelmizer works so well that the F-50 stops completely when long periods of heat are not required and starts all by itself when needed, saving pellets.
The F-50 makes less noise than the oil furnace. At -15C (+5F), the F-50 is on most of the time. Once I didn't install back the burning pot lower enough after cleaning and the pellets wouldn't ignite... Got a same day e-mail solution from the F-50's tech. As the F-50 is relatively a new machine the kinks needed to be found and solved… I believe this has now been achieved and the F-50 team seems to be very serious and prompt about this.
Morning temperatures and pellet usage from my location, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada:
15-20C (59-68F) = .1 bag/d
10-14C (50-58F) = .3 bag/d
5-9C (41-49F) = .8 bag/d
0-4C (32-40F) = 1.3 bags/d
-1 to -5C (31-23F) = 1.9 bags/d
-6 to -10C (22-14F) = 2.2 bags/d
-11 to -15C (13-5F) = 2.4 bags/d
-16 to -20C (4 to -4F) = 2.6 bags/d
-21 to -25C (-5 to -13F) = 2.9 bags/d
-26 to -30C (-14 to -22F) = 3.0 bags/d
My overall impression:
I like it with the double benefit of getting back at the oil industry for spiking their prices in the middle of winter. The cleaning frequency, depending on how many bags are burned (from once a week to once every 3 weeks) can get dirty with suet all over my clothes, skin and floor but you find tricks around it: coveralls, gloves, mask and wipe floor immediately. Emptying the ash pan should be done with a metal garbage bin outside to avoid dusty ashes flying all over.
I like the feeling of providing heat (filling the hopper), giving a homey touch. In 2008-2009 I bought 4.5 tons of hardwood premium pellets and didn't have enough; this year with 7.5 tons already in the basement I will have more than enough. I bought them at a bargain price of $225/ton last year and $285/ton this year... I might heat on corn in the years to come if this increase keeps up. Oil at $2.40 per gallon costs me the same to heat the house as pellets do at $285/ton: I saved about $1500 last year, and with the current low oil prices (August 2009) I'd save almost $1000 but if oil prices take off again I would save over $2000 a year. Will the price of oil rise and really make it worth it? It will likely be yin and yang as it has always been, and the same with pellet prices.
I'm very happy with my F-50 so far and the same with their awesome tech support. It will be nice to fire it up again this fall 2009-2010.
Frank