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Jim Elbrecht

[reading this on alt.home.repair]

On 18 Dec 2007 08:46:13 -0500, wrote:

I just installed a 30K Btu/h natural gas vent-free radiant heater in
a house near Allentown, PA, where kerosine now costs $3.50/gallon
and natural gas costs about $1.50/therm (roughly equivalent).

In how big an open area? I like my unvented gas stove & have never
had a bit of odor, nor has it ever registered more than the slightest
amount of CO on my detector----- But I remember when I bought it
10[?] years ago the main concern was whether or not it was too big.

My house is pretty open downstairs & the stove is in a 12x20 room with
an outside door and 5 windows. We [my gas supplier & myself]
decided that 30K would be doable.

Mine is just used as supplemental [and on the odd occasion that my
furnace goes out or we lose power. But it has never fogged windows.
-snip-
The thermostat only has 5 temp settings, as well as "pilot only." It is
supposed to make the room about 55 F min, with 5 F steps above that, but
the temp sensing bulb is on the back near a cold floor under a cold single-
pane window. When the first setting heats most of the room to more than
70 F, the owner turns the thermostat back to pilot before the heater
turns itself off,

I'd ask him/her to leave it alone until it can even itself out.

-snip-
And it makes condensation
on the indoor window surfaces.

That could be poorly insulated windows, high humidity in the house- or
excess humidity from the gas. [LP adds water to the air- I think
natural gas does, too]

-snip a whole lot of ASHRAE gobbledygook-gook-

We might move outdoor air into the room with a $30 humidistat and a muffin
fan, or (more efficiently) use a homebrew HRV with condensation outside
and fresh air inside Coroplast (plastic corrugated sign material) plates,
or run a dehumidifier or an $80 low-airspeed window AC inside the room.

Call your local fire department and ask them to invite you clean out
the next house they get called to remove a body that succumbed to CO
poisoning because some gadget failed.

-snip-
Kiddie's 900-0113 plug-in CO and explosive gas detector with battery backup
($48 from Amazon, with free shipping) would go well with this.

It [or a similar alarm] 'goes well' with any combustion device in your
house. With a ventless stove you're a damn fool for not plugging
it in before you cranked up the stove. Especially one as big as
you're running there. spend a little of the time you've invested
poring over ASHRAE charts and read what your local building department
suggests in regards to those stoves.

Jim