outfitting new house

[Bryce]

Just ordered a new house and looking for best bets on heating equipment. Thinking of heating with one of the vent free models. Also need tanks and dual tank regulator. Anyone know of some spots Twin Cities, St Cloud, Willmar areas where I can buy these items? Ordered house with trickle solar charger. Is this enough to keep battery going for extended periods or should I upgrade to the bigger solar charger. Probably be running lights, TV/radio, and fan.

[Piker]

I'd agree with MNice on a few things. The heaters should be called exhaust free. You still need venting, as anything that burns, burns oxygen. I have a vent-free heater in my sleeper house. I like it. I have vents and if vented properly, CO is not much of a concern, get a CO detector. Also about the moisture, I think the vents curb that effect quite a bit. There will still be moisture just becasue of the nature of a fish house, but I would recommend a vent free heater. I have an 8x16 and a 6000 btu heater, heats just fine. my vents are just 3" PVC pipe with caps through each side on the walls.

[MNice]

If you have a sleeper house I would never put in a vent free heater. They put a lot of moisture in the air and they burn oxygen, which could still lead to CO. I do know they have an oxygen depletion sensor which is safer, but not 100%. Take a look at the direct vent models which burn 100% outside air. Just my opinion as a Mechanical inspector.

[Bryce]

Piker, you took care of my concern over moisture after reading response by MNice. Appreciate the info from both. Wouldn't even consider sitting in a day use house without CO detector. That stuff will kill you without a clue. Still looking for best place to get supplies for outfitting house. I'm thinking RV suppliers. How are they in price? Will not be able to respond to any replies until after New Years. Going to be in Spicer area bowhunting and or ice fishing and then on to Nebraska for some roosters but looking forward to learning from others trials and errrors. HAPPY NEW YEAR AMERICA!

[mpls_ham]

I heat my 7x14 with the 'buddy' heater and it works great. I also have a CO detector and open my window slightly for ventilation. Fleetfarm has alot of propane accessories.

[minneman]

use a 30000 btu blue flame ventless in a 10x14, keep the heat on all winter and no problems, bought at fleet farm, 229.00, we crack the windows a 1/4" and thats it, well worth the money, went with the larger cause it had thermostat contol,

[Bryce]

Minneman, does your heater have a forced air option? Company building my house has a nice forced air heater with electronic ignition. So far the only price that I've seen includes a cabinet that I don't want and CO detector and gas leak detector which I need/want anyways for about $500. Sounds kind of steep but hope to talk to them after the holidays and get a better price by installing it myself.

[Guest]

I agree with not using the ventless. When gas is burned one of the by products is water. The way they get the heater to be high effcient is to keep the heat inside the house that would normally be vented to the outside. But if the heat is kept in, so is the water. Your windows will be constantly wet not to mention the interior of the house being exposed to the excess moisture.Residential homes benefit from high effcientcy not fishhouses unless your on a budget with propane..

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[Bryce]

Would not the forced air option and fresh air venting offset the production of moisture by an exhaust free system?

[Guest]

I would imagine it would help. i assume this heater needs 12 volts? Find out if the heater has a limit switch wired in series to the fan.If it does you may not be able to use the heater in case the battery fails. Other wise you may want to keep a spare battery on hand just in case. Also make sure the gas detector your installing is for LP not natural.

------------------
MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[minneman]

No it does not, And yes there is some moisture in the house, however once the floor is dry and we have the windows cracked the there is not much sign of any on the glass, sure theres traffic in and out, but the floor is insulated,and the pails to the ice are insulated, so it dissapears quickly, Im still sold!! The thought of a fan to move air around would be nice if they werent batery eaters, mabey a solar charger??

[Bryce]

Sure do appreciate the imput that I'm getting here. D-Man, since your reply was in a foreign langauge to me, I'm going to have to hope that I don't buy what you are warning about. I did order the solar trickle charger with the new house. Anyone have any experience with this set-up? Was also given a Coleman generator for Christmas by the new wife. Going to leave it in the box so if I don't need it, I can return it for cash to spend on other goodies.

[Guest]

I just built a 8X16 foot ice house and have it set up. I have been running a new vented Strike Master heater (30,000 BTU's or so) and have a 3" tack going out, and a 4" intake, but my CO readings still get high (close to 100 PPm) and i had opened that intake up larger than it originally was but it didn't seem to help. With all the holes closed and a 4" intake how many more vents would you think I need, just wondering what any of you do in your houses. The flame also burns orange and quite large instide the heater, I have heard it should be all blue, and i tried adjusting it by way of some screws on the side, but that didn't seem to work. Any info would be helpful, thanks.

[minneman]

Musky, I also own one of those strike masters, 20,000,btu in my 6x8, and have had nothing but problems, when I first lit it the paint smell burning off drove me out, that took about 2 hours before it went away, then it was the CO, I called the companys helpline while in the house, they had several ideas to get the stuff out better but none worked, to my satisfaction anyway, first they said to bend the flap of metal covering the exit in the back of the unit to allow more to go out, Its a 2.5" hole,cut in so that the piece stays in place only bent in towards the flame, mine was pushed in only 1/4"! like thats enough?? so I bent it about 1/2 way open, lit er up, still bad fumes filling the house. called them again, they said to make sure the 3" stack wasnt too tall, the stack needs to stay warm to keep flow going up, so I was able to take all but 1 section off and run it, Now the fumes are better but for 20000 btu It cant keep my 6x8 warm enough to keep ice off the holes!! what to do, there must be a fine line of adjustment between the stack length, and the opening size in the back, I havent put that house out yet cuz of this prob, Call the company and complain!!! they need to be aware of this type of thing,
Anyone else haveing simalar problems??

[Guest]

Musky/ The orange flame indicates water or dust is burning off with the flame. Have you tried to adjust the shutters on the burners to resolve the co problem?