gas heating stove questions

[featherbottom]

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[fordy]

.............My suggestion would be to Buy yourself a good , used Dearborn gas heater until , you can research and decide on a more expensive wood fired heater . They have supplied heat for years for homes at a modest price . They will work on either propane or natural gas. The ONLY difference being that you have to have a different Orifice for Natural gas. You can also hookup a Thermostat so they will cycle off<<>>on automatically . They last for years and there is no Ash or trash to deal with..........fordy....

[oldhoot]

I would buy either an Empire or a Warm Morning direct vent. Of the two I prefer the Empire. They are much easier to work on [to clean the pilotlight and/or burner] than the WM. oldhoot.

[mtman]

Originally Posted by dbthomas

Hi all,

We are fixin' to buy a new house heating system. We want to use gas and currently have propane. Using another source of heat is not an option. Our house is only about 1200 sq ft. I've been looking online at the various makes and models. I'd really like some "real life" experiences with some of the propane direct-vent heaters/stoves (do not want non-vented). We're looking at the Rinnai, Majestic, Vermont Castings, Quadra-Fire, Lodi, Avalon and Toyostove. If there are others that I've not mentioned, and you are happy with the stove, please give me the name.We're looking to spend what we need to to get a good quality, well made stove that will last 20 years that we can also convert to natural gas if we decide to go that route in the future. We're still in the mid 60's at nights here but it's gonna get cold soon. We need heat!! So tell me what you think about your propane heating stove - good, bad, ugly - maintenance, etc.

Thanks all.

Deb in New Mexico

PS: We can't do under the floor radiant heating, there's no place for a furnace, and don't want a gas heat pump.

try looking at these www.acdirect.com

[MorrisonCorner]

We use a Monitor which is a direct vent gas system, not pretty though, which PUMPS out heat as efficiently as a gas heater can. Kero, by the way, is one of the most efficient heat sources.

Friend of mine uses a Hearthstone soapstone stove which also pumps out the heat and has the added advantage of heating the stones, which continue to radiate heat after the stove has been turned off. Hers is very pretty.

We use a Hearthstone woodstove, and I'm assuming the experiences are similar: if you're using the stove to take the edge off a cold morning you need to turn the stove off before the room is "warm" or you'll find yourself a few hours later openning windows.

T

[featherbottom]

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[Mudwoman]

Deb,

The unvented infrared Rinnai has no fumes. You would have to experience one to believe it.

[mtman]

Originally Posted by dbthomas

Thanks all for the advice so far -

fordy -- We had a Dearborn in a house a few years ago. It worked most excellent and a friend of ours has two that we could use. Problem now is I've developed emphysema/copd and can't tolerate the fumes from a non-vented heater.

oldhoot -- I will look at those. I thought Warm Morning just made wood stoves. I'll do some research and see what I can find.

mtman -- thanks for the link. We're not going to use air conditioning - we are going to go with a swamp cooler. Plus our old house is only wired for 60 amps right now. It will be a while before we can upgrade.


MorrisonCorner -- I didn't think to mention it - we wanted to use kerosene. Being from the east we were use to using that and know how efficient and WARM it can be. I checked the cost and they want $3.00 per gallon out here. With propane at $1.34, and the house already plumbed for gas, we just can't afford to use kerosene. We wanted to use a vented kero heater but that's not likely now.

I do like the idea of the soapstone. I like to be warm.

Deb in New Mexico

you dont have to get the ac iff you have a crawl space it can all be done under the house put registers in the floor along the outside walls makes for toasty house