Ventless Gas Heater - Smell

[kenmac]

If listed. These heaters have been tested & approved by the AGA( American Gas Association) similar to UL . They are also approved by the IFGC as a back up heat source only. Some states/ cities may not allow them for use at all. I've been in the business for 25 yrs & have installed many of these heaters with ODS pilot. Haven't had any of my customers die from 1 yet From time to time the odor may be stronger than others. Never can tell when someone will add too much odorant to the gas

 

[Sigarms]

If listed. These heaters have been tested & approved by the AGA( American Gas Association) similar to UL . They are also approved by the IFGC as a back up heat source only. Some states/ cities may not allow them for use at all. I've been in the business for 25 yrs & have installed many of these heaters with ODS pilot. Haven't had any of my customers die from 1 yet From time to time the odor may be stronger than others. Never can tell when someone will add too much odorant to the gas

Been piddling in HVAC field for the last 17 years.

I needed to replace my first floor system and couldn't justify the money for a two stage variable speed 95% gas furnace for back up heat only on the first floor (and that was at my cost). Also couldn't justify the cost of a wood fireplace insert for back up heat. Went with a 14 SEER variable speed heat pump and used a vent free fireplace insert and absolutely love it with no problems. Best bang for the buck money I spent for heating. I have another system upstairs and another one downstairs, and both ECM fans move the warm air from the vent free fireplace very well. Run the gas logs for a couple of hours in the morning to bring up the heat, then let the heat pumps take over. Usually use the fireplace for no more than three months out of the year. Again, no complaints.

Forgot to mention, that ventless heater was the first one I ever put in because I really never thought that highly of them in the past. Figure there is no better advertisment than having something in your own home. I now have no qualms reccomending one.

Also knew of a licenced plumber who installed a water heater in his own home and killed himself due to the venting. Point being there are many small things that can get you.

I've got six various gas dectectors in the house.

Sure beats running the heat pumps..........

Depending on how much you're paying for electric, the heat pumps could be much cheaper to run (less electric strip heat). Complaint on heat pumps from people use to gas or oil is the air discharge temp from the registers. On average, with a properly installed duct system with R22, your discharge temp will be under 98 degrees, less than your body temp, so the air actually feels "cool" even though you can/could maintain 72 degrees no problem.

However, with a proper ducted system using R410A, your average discharge temps will run over 98.6 degrees (warmer than your body temp) thus the air will feel warmer coming out of the registers.

General rule of thumb out in the field dealing with homeowners is that if the customer is over 60 years old and has an oil furance or gas furance, worst case is duel fuel the system (running gas/oil with heat pump) but do not put in a heat pump only because you WILL get a call to come back out telling you that the system is not heating properly even though the t-stat is set for 74 and guess what, using three different thermometers, it is actually 74 degrees in the house, but it still feels "cold"

 

[ragkar]

I've had ventless propane logs for nine years now. They are the largest logs that can be legally be sold and I use them every night for ambiance and heat. There is no odor, condensation or carbon monoxide problems. And I've never had visitors comment on the smell. I don't understand why you guys have had problems. I think that you need to have a technician look into your problems.
Every so often, like once a season, the pilot light fails. A smoking-pipe cleaner, two feet of tubing and my breath cleans out the pilot assembly.
I often have a problem with the flame roaring (sound) due to ordinary air in the pipes. So I turn off the flame and a second later relight it. That always works.

 

[Dougd]

Yes, it's a blue flame, Pro-Com is the name on the heater. It pretty much makes the space nice and warm but unusable due to the smell. My furnace has a plastic "flue" that exhausts outside the house, the exhaust of the furnace smells the same as the heater, but not as strong.
I'm going to try one of the catalytic heaters, just for comparison sake.
This kinda sucks, that was a $400 heater all-told and I had such high hopes.

 

[kenmac]

if you have a neighbor or friend in your area that uses a different propane company. Try the heater at his place & see if you still get the strong odor. Like I stated, sometimes they add a little too much odorant by mistake. Once added they can't remove it

 

[Pirate]

Did you read that link? My guess is it's written by the same people that write the manuals for Harbor Freight tools. English is clearly the second language.

Chinglish

 

[timswi]

Well while we are on the vent less heaters I got a question.
I with a friend to his cabin last weekend he has one for heat.
The neighbor turned it on before we got there so the place was warmed up for us.
All the surfaces had condensation on them the temp was in the low 20's so the place was really cold.
It did dry off through the night but it seemed unusual to me.

tom

I put a ventless gaslog set in the gameroom of my mom's house...they kick out a ton of humidity ..in fact, the drop ceiling rails started started to get suface rust on them...They were brand new

It does thow a lot of heat however.

Combine that with 20 degree temps, and you're going to get a lot of condensation, at least until the place is completly warmed up..Direct vent is the way to go.

 

[Egon]

Sometimes off spec propane will get into the market place as the suppliers are dead ended with it. The H2S makes for a nice smell. Mercaptan also has sulfur elements in it.

When the heaters are tested for emissions pure propane will most likely be used. This burns with by products of water and carbon dioxide. In the real world propane may contain various impurities that may affect what by products are present.

These impurities will vary as to the source of condensate from which propane is fractionated and they may not all be removed.

There are spec's that propane has to meet to be saleable but there are many times off spec product is blended with on spec. to make a saleable product. And at times an off spec product gets through and is delivered to the consumer.

 

[beenthere]

I'd suspect the gas supplier, and additives. Talk to them, and see what they have to say.

I had one in my garage, but finally quit using it and removed it. The moisture from the gas combustion just was causing too much problem. Bringing in cars that were wet from snow and roads didn't help any either, but better off without heat than have everything dripping wet.

 

[kyspartan]

it's been my experience that ventless lp heaters stink,at least with the local lp suppliers around here, i would rather use a kerosene heater, they stink too, but not as bad.