First, you need to find out the amount of space you want to heat; however, it’s not just about the room size or the measurements, of a gas heater’s warming capability, rather, it’s also about how speedily the heater can warm the space. The local climate and the size of the room will decide what size of gas heater will heat your room resourcefully. Avoid installing unflued or portable gas heaters in a small room considering their rated capacity due to the emissions they generate. To heat speedily, pick the biggest capacity (measured in MJ/h) desirable for the room size. Nevertheless, you can also heat the room with a lower capacity heater but it will heat slowly.
Types of Gas Heater – Portable & Flued
The flue is a pipe that shields your room from being filled with fumes, as it carries exhaust gases from your heater or fireplace to the outdoors. If you’re a renter or just not interested to take all the trouble that comes along installing a flued gas heater, then you would be looking at unflued or portable gas heater. Both flued and portable gas heaters have their distinctive advantages and drawbacks. Let’s go over it briefly, so it might help you in buying the right gas heater for your needs.
Advantages – Portable Gas Heater
Heats rapidly:
Unflued gas heaters have a capacity of up to 25 MJ/h (megajoules per hour), which is equal to over 6kW of electric heating, the same you would obtain from three electric heaters of 2kW.
Cheaper to operate:
Portable gas heaters are much cheaper to operate compared to portable electric heaters.
Extremely Resourceful:
All portable gas heater models sold here in Australia needs to be certified and should have an efficiency label (up to 6 stars wherein 6 is the most desirable). Almost 90% of the energy content of the gas is changed into heat.
Handy:
Portable gas heaters are handy as they can be easily moved from one room to another and you can point them in different directions, as well as, you can store them in a safe place during summer and carry them with you when shifting the house.
Lesser Carbon Footprint:
Portable gas heaters generate just a quarter to a third of the carbon of similar electric heater (unless you obtain your electric power from renewable sources).
Come Bundled with Safety Features:
Modern models of portable gas heater turn OFF if something goes wrong.
For instance:
- It comes with an oxygen depletion sensor – in case the oxygen level in the room gets too low.
- Suppose the flame gets blown out, you don’t have to worry either as it comes with flame failure protection.
- In case of the heater tips over, it has an integrated tilt switch. However, ensure installing a carbon monoxide alarm as well, for added safety.
Let’s Glance at its Shortcomings:
- In the absence of emissions from the gas combustion process, they are expelled back into your room.
- It is illegal to use them in small or poorly ventilated rooms including bathrooms and bedrooms. Thus for these areas, you need a flued heater that expels the products of combustion via a flue to outer space or you may use an electric heater.
- This heater type generates nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide in fairly petite quantities. However, they can still cause problems for asthmatics or people with respiratory problems or certain allergies; thus, a flued-gas heater would be a better solution for these people.
- Water vapour from the combustion process can squeeze on ceilings and walls causing mould, thus, ventilation becomes extremely important.
- Here in Australia, some states have further restrictions for using this heater type. Therefore, you may check this with your retailer, or gas fitter plumber or service.
Flued-Gas Heaters – What to expect
- Electronic ignition is fantastic – it means energy savings, as there is no need to have a pilot light running continually.
- Thermostats make it simpler to set a preferred temperature.
- It comes with remote controls facilitating you to control the temperature settings and speed of the fan. And some models offer both wired and wireless versions, so they can stretch a bit more.
- It comes with a filter-clean warning feature, which reminds you to clean, so you can clean it regularly or as required.
- An LPG conversion kit lets you manoeuvre the heater in areas where natural gas isn’t available, but bear in mind that operating costs will go up.
- Programmable timers will assist with energy-saving and most of them can be programmed to switch ON and OFF during the 24 hours duration.
- On some models, you’ll find child locks – this is a good feature and more products should include this in the future.
Installation
A professional installation is recommended for these heaters. Besides, if you have any type of gas heater including flued, portable unflued or ducted central heating, then installing a carbon monoxide alarm is recommended for safety. You’ll get it from hardware stores. This will act as a lifesaver in case the heater develops a fault and begins to expel risky quantities of this poisonous gas.
Portable Gas Heaters – What to expect
Portable gas heaters (aka unflued gas heaters) are available in two variants:
- Convection Heaters depend on the natural movement of hot air and they have a fan to speed up the heating process. Most of them come with a thermostat and remote control, so they are electronically controlled units. As they are controlled electronically, they also use standby power (some use more than 10W). Need to take adequate care that convector’s external surfaces shouldn’t get very hot.
- Radiant-Convection Heaters also depend on convection, but they have an uncovered area that discharges heat into the room. Though radiant convectors are cheaper, they come with fewer features – it doesn’t have a thermostat, remote control, timer etc.
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking to purchase a dependable gas heater for your home, then look for established and reputed companies as they manufacture high-quality gas heaters to offer you peace of mind. Some renowned and choicest brands include Rinnai gas heaters and Everdure gas heaters.
