January 2001 | Sensible Home
Space Heaters
by James Dulley
Dear Jim: Especially in the evenings, our living room gets chilly when we watch TV. I have seen some small gas space heaters at the home center store. Are they efficient, quiet, safe, and easy-to-install? — Larry P.
Dear Larry: It sounds like you are reading from the packaging and it is all true. Using a small direct-vent gas, propane, or kerosene space heater is efficient and can lower your heating bills. These heaters are also quiet and safe around children. The new models are attractive and have ten-year warranties.
If your area has problems with electricity power outages, some gas space heaters generate their own electricity for the controls so they continue to heat. A thermocouple in the flame produces the tiny millivolt current that is needed. A central gas or oil furnace shuts down when the power goes off.
All direct-vent space heaters are simple to install because only a single small flue/inlet pipe is run horizontally out through a wall. This is a special concentric flue pipe. The hot flue gases flow out the center pipe and the outdoor combustion air is drawn in around it and preheated.
If you do not have gas at your home, all of the gas models can be converted to use propane with very minor modifications. New safe direct-vent kerosene space heaters are particularly easy to install since no gas plumbing is needed. The simplest-to-install models you can mount in a window just as you would a window-unit air conditioner.
If you are a couch potato, select a direct-vent space heater model with a TV-type remote control. At the push of various buttons, the gas heater starts and the heat level, room temperature, and fan speeds can be controlled.
The efficiency (over 85 percent) of new space heaters is higher than most central furnaces. Instead of cranking up the furnace thermostat to keep just your living room comfortably warm, run the space heater instead. You will save about 2 percent on your heating bills for each degree you can lower the thermostat.
For the best comfort, spend a little extra for a full-featured heater. Many have built-in humidifiers, seven-level heat/fan speeds, air filters and economy modes. In economy mode, the thermostat gradually lowers the temperature several degrees so that the change is not noticeable. For very large open rooms, consider installing a wall furnace. They fit neatly out of the way against a wall. Efficient counterflow models blow the heated air out near the floor so it distributes throughout the room. Dual outlet models can be used to heat two adjacent rooms with one heater.
If you would like the ambiance of a wood fire, select a model with optional ceramic logs. These create the flame patterns of real burning wood logs.
Write for (or instantly download) Update Bulletin No. 543, buyer’s guide of the seven most efficient, full-featured direct-vent gas heater manufacturers listing efficiencies, sizes, comfort features, and sizing/cost-to-use charts. Please include $3.00 and a business-size SASE. James Dulley, Conscious Choice, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244.