Vent free propane heater

[Lileyfarm]

We were planning on getting a blue flame propane heater, but have found that we can get an infrared one for a good deal less. Any thoughts on which one is better, and approximately how much it would cost to run one that is 20,000 BTU. Thanks

[Windy in Kansas]

Any thoughts on which one is better

You are basically looking at two different kinds of heaters. The infrared heater will act similar to a toaster oven and heat what the infrared waves are aimed at.

The "Blue Flame" unit will act like a conventional oven and heat the air, which in turn cooks the food.

Do you wish to toast yourself on one side at a time, or would you rather sit in a warm room?

Infrared heaters are most generally used in very large open spaces to direct heat to specific work areas via the infrared waves, while the other units are used in smaller spaces to heat the entire room.

[Nette]

I have two of the blue flame kind and I love them both. The first is a modest, wall unit in my kitchen. We got it for supplemental heat (to warm up quickly when we come in from working outside) and as emergency heat when the power goes out. Works wonderfully for those purposes in our small home. The other one is a cast iron job that looks like gas logs in an old-timey heater. This one is in our week-end farmhouse. It cost more than twice as much as the other one and doesn't heat any better, but definitely more aesthetically pleasing. Our gas bills are lumped in with farm stuff that DH pays for, so I'm sorry I can't tell you much about they cost to run, and I can't remember the BTU's. But whatever it cost, it's worth it! My cold-natured DH will agree.

[edjewcollins]

Careful, those vent free heaters put out a ton of moisture into the interior of your home. If you have a tight envelope and/or are well insulated, you'll have terrible condensation problems. Happened to me, had water condensing on the walls.

Ed

[mike3367]

your right bout the condesation have your ceiling fans running will help and add fresh air intakes to the house will help with the condensation too

[drewallen]

They're good for back up and supplemental heat. However, I can attest to the amount of moisture they put out.
We have a 30,000 btu infrared in each former classroom of our two-room schoolhouse.

When we first had them and were running them in the fall while waiting for one of the chimney's to be lined for our woodstove, we had condensation on the insides of our double-pane widows and even our plaster walls.

The fumes from continuous use were a bit noxious as well. Friends noticed it when they would visit.

Now, with the woodstove in one room drying things out, we leave one on "1" in the other room and it keeps the place comfortable if the fire goes out while we're gone. The two infrared heaters also keep the place warm enough so the pipes don't freeze when we take off for a weekend.

In terms of how much it costs to run them, it depends on how well insulated your house is, how large of a space / room you're trying to heat and what LP is going for in your area, among other things.

All the models I have seen are "99.9%" efficient, so theoretically, $0.99 of every $1.00 you spend on LP gets turned into heat. LP puts out about 91,500 BTU per gallon.

If it's a 20,000 btu / hour heater, you'll get close to 5 hours of fired-up run time from a gallon of propane.

[Nette]

I've never had a condensation problem with my vent-free heaters, but I'm mindful of it. Again, I just use mine for supplemental heat, and neither house where I use these heaters is particularly tight. They serve our purposes well. My brother uses a dehumidifier with his.

[teamjnz]

What about a Kerosene heater? Do these create moisture too?

teamjnz

[sisterpine]

Condensation! For sure! We really are in need of moisture in our mountain home. The humidity both winter and summer runs less than 30 % which is killing our sinuses, our skin and keeping everything staticy! We have two humidifiers (large room size) running and have only managed to bring the humidity up 1 percent. We heat with wood only., But I am wondering ifi it is possible to bring the humidity up using a propane ventless space heater, it would be wonderful and well worth the cost!

[drewallen]

teamjnz

Kerosene heaters produce moisture too. Of course, how much build-up depends on tightness of the house, the relative humidity inside, etc., etc.

Anything that burns anything will produce moisture:

02 + CxHx0x => CO2 + H20 + E(nergy)

How much depends on what 'carbohydrate' (so to speak) you're burning. With an efficient propane heater, for every 100,000 btu's of gas burned (propane is about 91,500 btu/gallon), approximately 1.5 gallons of water is created and added to the air inside your home.. I'm not sure what the proportion is for kerosene, though I've read in some sources that it's close to that of propane: about 1 gallon or so of water per gallon of fuel.