Subject: Un-Vented Gas Heaters

From: David Kasper <[email-masked]>
Date: 19 Oct 1995 04:04:57 GMT

I have been looking for a propane gas heater for a large 600 square 
foot room.  I was surprised to find that there are un-vented heaters 
being sold for indoor use.  I talked with a sales rep at the 
Comfort-Glo company regarding their un-vented models.  He assured 
me that carbon monoxide from the heaters is negligible, that they are 
99% efficient, and perfectly acceptable and legal for indoor use.  I 
later found out, however, that un-vented heaters are illegal to install in 
bedrooms in North Carolina, which makes me think that they are not 
completely safe.  Should they be used at all?  How safe are they?  Is 
there an inexpensive source for new or used gas heaters?

---

From: [email-masked] (Gallagher - Sean J.)
Date: 23 Oct 1995 15:08:45 GMT

David Kasper ([email-masked]) wrote:
: I have been looking for a propane gas heater for a large 600 square 
: foot room.  I was surprised to find that there are un-vented heaters 
: being sold for indoor use.  I talked with a sales rep at the 
: Comfort-Glo company regarding their un-vented models.  He assured 
: me that carbon monoxide from the heaters is negligible, that they are 
: 99% efficient, and perfectly acceptable and legal for indoor use.  I 
: later found out, however, that un-vented heaters are illegal to install in : bedrooms in North Carolina, which makes me think that they 
are not 
: completely safe.  Should they be used at all?  How safe are they?  Is 
: there an inexpensive source for new or used gas heaters?

Unvented combustion devices like a space heater (kerosene or propane) 
are potentially very hazardous due to the products of combustion that are 
allowed to remaining inside.  The tighter the space, in terms of 
inflitration, the more you are flurting with a deadly hazard.  In 
addition, these devices are very good at converting oxygen to CO2 and 
even worse, to CO.  As matter of fact, that is what they are designed to 
do (convert O2 to CO2 to get heat).  I would never consider using one in 
a house as a permanent heating source.  When ever you burn any 
hydrocarbon, you are using up O2 and producing CO2 and some CO.  Too much 
CO2 and not enough O2 produces DEATH even when there isn't any CO.  CO 
can make only make it worse. 

If people are going to be in there, either use a propane (or other fuel) 
heater with 
its flue gases vented or a heat pump, if you want cheap first costs and high 
operating costs, use electric resistance.  

Sean