With homeowners spending more time at home and wanting to extend their living spaces into the outdoors in the new normal resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it shouldn’t come as much surprise that the pool, hot tub, and spa industry is experiencing record sales, as well as demand for longer swim seasons. And commercial pools and related amenities aren’t far behind.
Learn how pool builders and designers can utilize propane heaters to support this trend.
This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Water heating is a major energy end-use in commercial buildings, and is very significant in certain commercial building types. Many commercial building owners and operators have a critical need for water heating systems which are reliable, able to meet varying levels of demand, energy efficient, and able to fit within a building’s space constraints in order to maintain their business operations.
Propane tankless water heaters are a flexible and energy efficient technology which provides these attributes in many commercial applications. This course will explore how commercial buildings use energy and the potential application of propane tankless systems to provide a solution for water heating needs.
This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Micro-Combined Heat and Power (Micro-CHP) technology brings onsite power generation to homes and businesses. Local generation means convenient, high-efficiency energy at a low cost with minimal waste. Thanks to propane fuel, micro-CHP brings these advantages to locations that have limited access to natural gas, such as rural communities, and areas with poor power supply.
Using multiple case studies, this course covers the hows and whys of micro-CHP systems. We'll detail how power is generated, the best uses for it, and why it makes sense in a wide range of locations and situations. We'll also include limitations and how they are overcome.
This course provides an overview of the home remodeling industry, including industry growth trends, demographic insights, and typical project types. The course also explores the potential role of propane technologies in different remodeling applications, illustrating key performance characteristics and how they can add value to remodeling projects. The course concludes by describing the options for propane storage in residential applications.
Heating oil, also known as fuel oil or Number 2 oil, has been a popular choice for homeowners since the early 1900s. As an alternative to coal or wood as a fuel source for boilers and domestic hot water production, heating oil proved to be a reliable, clean, and economical choice for millions of consumers, especially in the Northeast where other fuel types were often more difficult to acquire or were more expensive.
But it is not an environmentally conscious fuel choice. Propane gas has the same remote fuel benefit, coupled with fewer emissions and higher efficiency equipment. This course details economic and environmental reasons why switching from heating oil to propane is a good choice for homeowners, residential builders or remodelers.
Homeowners, builders, contractors, and weatherization agencies today have a wide range of energy efficiency upgrades to choose from for existing homes. This course compares the popular upgrades and systems available to help you make the best choice for your projects. Making good decisions about improving an existing home's energy efficiency and lowering its energy costs can be challenging for a consumer. There are a wide variety of options available, all with certain benefits and costs. Homeowners and building professionals frequently ask, What are the most cost effective changes that I can make to improve energy efficiency?
This course is intended to serve as a guide in answering questions about prioritizing energy efficiency investments for existing homes. By closely examining a study commissioned by the Propane Education & Resource Council, the Analysis of Energy Efficiency Upgrades for Existing Homes, this course will provide objective information about the most effective measures and/or equipment choices across five climate regions.
Water heaters are often the second largest energy user in the home, costing residents hundreds of dollars each year. Beginning in April 2015, the updated “NAECA” standards from the U.S. Department of Energy increased water heater efficiency requirements, driving major product changes in the U.S. market. “NAECA” stands for the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act and includes the federal regulations for water heater minimum efficiency levels.
Against this backdrop of new standards, products, and decision-making factors, this course will review a detailed analysis of water heating systems. This analysis compares water heating technologies based on their energy, economic, and environmental performance, with a focus on the performance of propane-based systems relative to electric and heating oil alternatives. The course also reviews the new federal standards for water heaters, and describes the market implications for both new construction and replacements.
This course will discuss how architects and business owners can achieve outstanding performance and low-cost operation by incorporating high-efficiency, low-emission propane appliances into commercial new builds or retrofits.
We will discuss the challenges of designing commercial buildings in rural areas, especially those that do not have natural gas service, and how propane can help to meet resilience and sustainability goals, and maximize health, wellness, and occupant comfort. In addition, this course will explore applications for propane in different commercial building types, as well as case studies where propane was used.
Nothing is driving greater change in the home building industry than energy efficiency, but prior to 2015 the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) didn’t address mechanical equipment such as furnaces and water heaters. The 2015 IECC now includes a new compliance path called the Energy Rating Index allowing builders more choices in how to meet the energy code. This course will take a closer look at how high efficiency propane equipment such as furnaces and water heaters provide flexibility in meeting 2015 IECC standards and help reduce a home’s HERS Index, in addition to helping projects gain points in above-code programs such as LEED and the National Green Building Standard.
Propane gas is considered to be a clean alternative fuel by the EPA; it is a versatile and environmentally safe fuel source for healthy and sustainable living. Many people use propane to fuel their outdoor grills or barbecues, but its much more versatile than a cooking fuel in residential outdoor applications. This learning unit will explore alternative uses for propane, specifically for outdoor use in and around a home.