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To: Think4Yourself who wrote (82587)	12/24/2000 12:32:51 PM
From: Think4Yourself	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

Don't Jump if Furnace Goes Bang MUD injects propane to stretch its natural gas reserves and to keep heating bills lower Source: Omaha World-Herald Publication date: 2000-12-22 If your furnace has been making a banging noise lately, it may have more to do with the Omaha area's natural gas utility fighting the cold than with the furnace itself. The Metropolitan Utilities District on Dec. 16 began adding propane and air to the natural gas going to some customers to supplement the natural gas coming from interstate pipelines, said Mari Matulka, an MUD spokeswoman. The utility takes the step whenever it gets extremely cold. It plans to continue adding propane for the rest of the month. Propane helps keep customers' gas bills down because it can be purchased and stored earlier in the year when prices are lower. It also helps keep the utility from using more natural gas than the utility has reserved space for in the pipelines. Exceeding that amount can mean extra fees. By staying under its limit, MUD avoids $6 million in reservation fees a year. But when the utility adds a small amount of propane from its stored reserves, it may cause a "slight banging noise" in furnaces calibrated to burn natural gas, Matulka said. She said the practice is safe and won't harm furnaces. Some people may notice more yellow and orange in the flame. Typically, a blue flame is a sign the fuel is burning efficiently. The popping comes because of air in the mix and generally goes away. Propane burns hotter than natural gas, so customers actually get more heat for the gas burned, Matulka said. Peoples Natural Gas, a division of UtiliCorp United, uses the same practice, although it's not currently adding propane, said Jan Davis, director of community relations. The company injected propane briefly earlier in the season as a trial run and had a couple of calls about furnace noise. Leo Costanzo, operations manager with Controlled Comfort in Omaha, said that in some cases, furnaces have been making "a howling sound, a real roar" because of the propane. And sometimes the flame burns inside the linear burner, where it usually doesn't. He agreed with utility officials that the practice is nothing new and does not harm furnaces. "It's not hurting it at all," he said