PuMA Fuel Meters Capture Fuel Use in Fairbanks Homes

ACEP employees Dominique Pride, Alana Vilagi and Baxter Bond have been busy installing 45 pump monitoring apparatuses (PuMAs) on fuel oil-fired, vented heaters in single-family homes across the Fairbanks North Star Borough since December. The PuMAs use a noninvasive sensor attached to the outside of the fuel pump to monitor heating fuel consumption. Households using fuel oil-fired, vented heaters as their sole source of heat were recruited to participate in the study. The data collected through the study will be used to assess the accuracy of engineering estimates of residential heat demand.

 

Baxter Bond and Alana Vilagi install a fuel meter on a Toyostove in a Fairbanks home.  Photo by Dominique Pride.