lack of heat in fishhouse

[milkingman]

I have an 8 by 14 with a v-front house. I can never in the 7 years I've owned it to get it above about 67 degrees. Three years ago I put in computer fans and last year I got the floor spray foamed. The heater is 18000 btu and is a vented one. I run two 20lb propane tanks with a dual regulator. If I would upgrade to two 30lb tanks would that increase heat by increasing pressure. Someone told me it would, but what does a regulater do then? Thanks for any replys. I would like to fish in a t-shirt once in a while.

[highlife4me]

I have the opposite problem. It is usually too hot in my house need to keep a window cracked or even wide open at times. I did install a ball valve in my gas line to turn it down even more and that really helped. Back to your problem - I would check to see if you have any obstructions in your gas line or even a pinched line. Make sure you bank your house good to prevent cold air from coming in around your holes too. Your heater should heat your house no problem.

[JeffB]

I would say your losing heat from somewhere bigtime. My house is an 8x17 with spray foam interior and the bottom of the floor also spray foamed. With an 18000 btu forced air furnace you can sit stocking foot comfortably and the furnace shuts down about half the time with the thermostat at 68. I never bank the house and it always heats up fast.

[bowtie]

People need to spend a little cash to get these heaters working properly. Carbon monoxide kills. Please consult a profesional. Regulating a furnace with a ball valve is not the way to go. Pressure and flow are 2 different things.

[dangnear]

Try repacing the regultor

[Acemac]

67? how hot do you want it?

[Pleasant]

Have that heater professionally checked. I fish out of an old 10 x 25 tin shack insulated with2 inch fiberglass, with a 18K heater in it and it is toasty warm in it all the time regardless of the temperature. Also is your floor insulated? that makes a heck of a difference

[chad austin]

People need to spend a little cash to get these heaters working properly. Carbon monoxide kills. Please consult a profesional. Regulating a furnace with a ball valve is not the way to go. Pressure and flow are 2 different things.

I agree, installing a ball valve to regulate the temp is not a good idea as the furnace will not burn as efficient as it should and will more than likely produce carbon monoxide . I would take your house to an RV mechanic or call a local HVAC company and see if they work on these heaters.

I also have an Empire heater and have had no problems with it heating, I would say there is something going on with the heater. I don't mean to be grim about the situation but your better off to spend some cash to get it fixed the right way versus never waking up.

[Finlander]

After 11 years from new the heater wouldn't get the house warm enough, so I replaced the hose and the regulator. Now it heats it up so I only have it barely above pilot.

[milkingman]

The heater is only four years old. So I might try the new hose regulator deal to see what happens. As for the carbon monoxide I am extra careful as I run two co detectors. How about going from 20lb tanks to 30lb tanks. Would this make a difference in heat?

[chad austin]

Running a bigger tank wouldn't make a difference in the amount of BTU's that the heater throws. The regulator is something that I would check as well. Another thing that may be worth checking is the thermocouple, if that doesn't fix the problem then keep the old one for a spare.

[Grainbelt]

When you put your hand in front of the vent, is it hot? Is it blowing out of the duct? You could check and see that your flex tube or what ever you are using is secured to your furnace. If not you may be heating the cabinet that it is in.

[broman]

The question is... is the heater putting out alot of heat and you're losing it from the holes, roof, etc?

If the heaters putting out the heat just fine, then I would also say replace the regulator. We had a regulator go bad in our house. The heater would blow out on it's own. We replaced it and didn't have any problems after that.

[highlife4me]

For all the guys that don't like the valve in my gas line I will let you know I do have a co detector in my house and the highest reading I ever saw was 9 ppm. And that was with 2 guys smoking in it. It is usually at 3 - 4 ppm if I am by myself and nobody is smoking. What is the level in your house or don't you check it?

[hunt fish repeat]

Any rv place can hook a water manometer up to your furnace control box and tell you if your regulator is putting out the requisite 11" wc. output as well as the output to the burner in about 5 min. pretty simple process if you have the gauge.

[JSK76]

Try a non vented heater like a sunflower or Mr heater cooker to test your heater against. your 18,000 heater puts out 14,000 or less because of the loss in the venting and a sunflower is 13,000btu's keep in mind the humidity from the non vented will make it feel warmer but temp is temp.

Also whats it insulated with? if fiberglass does it have plastic over it? moisture in the fiberglass will greatly decrees it's efficiency. Are your windows dual or single pane? Door insulated? Snow melt off the roof?

[outdoorav]

Going up 30lb tank will help, your 20lb must be freezing up? Bank your tanks too.

[broncosguy711]

do you wrap your tanks also? as when we are out on winnie we wrap them with packing blankets from semi trucking companies and bank them and never have a problem. even last winter in 40 below in the morning. (definately made you pee fast in teh morning).

[DRH1175]

I would have it looked at. Honestly it is probably your regulator. Also make sure you have the correct one for your heater. Moving from 20s to 30s will only help how long your heater can run between fillups. The purpose f the regulators is to to keep propane at constant pressure and to reduce the pressure. No heater even home furnaces run at your tank or NG pressures.

[JakeJ_Mn]

I have an Empire direct vent 15,000btu with a thermostat in my 8 x 20. Even losing roughly 15% to 20% my house is always warm. I have 1 1/2 foam in the walls - 4" in the ceiling - and 1" in the floor. I have two fans blowing from the ceiling. I run 40# tanks. Keep your regulator free from moisture. Seems to me you need to have your heater checked if the regulator isn't the problem.

As for CO2 meter -- mine never reads above 0.

[Will]

Absolutely not! Something else is your problem

[fisherman 66]

I had a simular problem in mine. The heater has a thermostat that sense the tempature( copper tube). In the installation instructions it said you could leave the thermostat where it is on the bottom of the heater. I could not get more than 65 degrees out of the heater and it would shut down. I move the thermostat below the heater now I can get 75 degrees on a medium setting. The thermostat was to close to the fire box. Not sure if yours is this type where you set the heat on the top of the unit or has a remote thermostat.

[rickl1968]

Read your instruction manual. Mine said it won't work properly if I didn't use a 100lb tank.

I also had to move my thermocoupler under my heater.

[fishinalot]

They all say 100lb cylinders. I have had several different furnaces over the years that said to use 100 lb tanks. Never had any problems with the 20 or 30 lb tanks.

The biggest problem is the regulators. Don't use the cheap BBQ type, get a good 2-stage regulator and most problems are solved.

If you have a dual regulator ( it should be a 2-stage) and having problems.... sounds like moisture got into the regulator or dirt/dust got into your gas line.

Try taking off your regulator, drying it out indoors and blow back on your gas line ( with your gas line disconnected of course from your heater)

[milkingman]

I'll be bringing it home this weekend. I"m gonna look at the regulator.I currently have one that runs both 20lb tanks. I hope that is it. Also will check for thermostat. It is a calorama 2 heater.