Direct vent heater sizing

[BryeGuy]

I need help finding a good size heater for my fish house. It is a 6'x12' Performance engineering. Im going vented. There is a 8,000 at Northern but I am afraid it might be too small. But, I dont want one wall that is half heater.

Any ideas?

[Hawg]

You can always turn a bigger one down but not a too small one up. My guess would be 15,000-18,000, foam insulation maybe 12,000-15,000. Thats just my opinion though after having a 12,000 in an 8x12 that was well insulated and wouldn't keep up with all the in and out I did. The bigger wall mounts aren't that much bigger and work great. I know some of them, Empire and others, can get super expensive. Watch the auction site, I bought a 20,000 BTU Orbis(Changed name now) for about $225. Fan unit was another $40 and well worth it. Plus it's way smaller than Empire and others.

[JSK76]

I've got a 6x12 with a 2' V so its 14' overall. 8000 is going to be too small. When it comes to direct vent look at the output btu on the tag not the input, stoves are sold with the input btu not actual output.. Most of these heaters aren't even 75% efficient so if it doesn't tell you output, take at least 25% to 30% off the rating. If it was me I would say you want around 9,000 btu output min for that size house. I say this because I heated mine with a 9,000 btu vent free 99% efficient for a few years before going vent free and it worked fine.

What are you heating it with now? Non vented? If so, and it was sized right, take that number and add roughly 30% for a vented unit.

[JSK76]

I just looked this up, a Empire brand dv215 vented is rated as a 15,000 btu. heater actually puts out 10,500 btu. This is the heater I have and most will agree Empire is the top of the food chain and that's close to 33% heat loss from the advertised rating of the input btu. I would say any other heater brand is going to be less efficient so you might want to add closer to 40% of what you had as a non vented if using a heater other then an Empire.

[BryeGuy]

I have been reading the last few days and 8,000 BTU is close to running a buddy heater at full throttle. No thanks. My work has an account with Grainger and they have that Empire in stock. I will see if I can strike a deal.

If the little lady gets cold in the fish house it's back home watching Honey Boo Boo.

[minnesotathorn]

have a 7 1/2 x 14 with a v front. started with a 12,00 btu suburban. it kept it warm but never shut off. went to the same furnace in a 16,000 btu & what a difference. better too big rather than too small.

[LindellProStaf]

I have a 14,000 BTU one from L & M Fleet. Works great in my 10' house. Would do good in a 12' too. I think it was about $400. Bought it last year. It is a Homeline or something like that. It is more streamlined than an Empire.

[JSK76]

I have a 14,000 BTU one from L & M Fleet. Works great in my 10' house. Would do good in a 12' too. I think it was about $400. Bought it last year. It is a Homeline or something like that. It is more streamlined than an Empire.

Are you talking about a WarmHouse or maybe HouseWarm? I had one of thoughts too, heated really good but I had a lot of problems with getting the knob lined up to get the pilot to light.

[Hawg]

He's saying kind of what I was, those Empires are great heaters but huge. Watch the auction site.

[LindellProStaf]

Ya JS I think that is what it is. The know does turn hard for the pilot on mine too.

[LindellProStaf]

Ya JS I think that is what it is. The knob does turn hard for the pilot on mine too. I m

[cold one sd]

I have an Empire DV215 in my 6 1/2'x12'. It heats it up pretty fast and I have never had to have the thermostat set higher than 4 when using hole sleaves on a very windy day. I usually start it before I drill the holes and by the time I close the doors it is putting out good heat.

[hunterdave29]

I am building an 8x16+3'v nose, would an empire 15k btu be sufficient?

[Jigging Joe]

I would say its borderline. If it gets below 0 it might be iffy depending on the insulation you have. I have a 8 x 18 and run a 15k empire and a 10k empire. I usually turn both heaters on to get more even heat so I'm not sure if just the 15K would heat it on really cold days. Don't get the 25K or larger empires, they heat up very fast and seems like you're either hot or cold in the house. My buddy has one and I hate fishing out of his house because of that.

[JakeJ_Mn]

I have an 8x19 wheelhouse with a DV 215. Works perfect - I keep it heated even while traveling with no issues. You will need some fans to blow the heat around.