Which Heater to Buy for the Fish House

[Ben Trod]

My wife is having a 7x10 retractable wheel ice shack built for my birthday. It will not come with a heat source. What btu is recommended for something that size. The height will be 6 1/2 - 7 feet.

[MNice]

I would guess a 20,000 or 25,000 BTU would work good. I would also strongly recommend a vented heater. The ventless heaters put out a lot of moisture.

[Guest]

I am also in the market for a vented furnace. I'm looking for a wall mount variety to keep the floor space open. I'm having problems locating any. Fleet Farm is supposed to be carrying some by the brand name of Orbis but they haven't come in yet and nobody knows when they expect them.

I've seen many places where you can order Empire furnaces over the net, but I'd like to avoid another $40 worth of shipping charges. Anyone know where a guy can go buy a wall mount vented furnace?

[Kaz]

Ben: To sleep or Not to sleep, that is the question.... If your going to sleep in the fishhouse, then you must have a vented one. The NO-vent heater will use up the oxygen in the house and you could sufficate. The vented are more expensive, but much safer. A lot of the rental units use the No-vent, because they are more efficent and cheaper to purchase... I'd go with the safety, and buy the vented. Check out Northern, formally Northern Hydraulics, they have several to choose from... Kaz

[This message has been edited by Kaz (edited 09-19-2003).]

[Guest]

I've called Northern in the past as well as looked at their HSOforum - no vented wall furnaces.

Menards - no
Home Depot - no
Fleet Farm - no (at least not yet)
Northern Tool - no

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 10-06-2003).]

[Ben Trod]

Thanks alot guys. Keep the information coming.

BT

[Rick]

They are also available from Road King Outdoors. Click this Road King link.

I also highly recommend that you consider Empire direct vent heaters. A few bucks for peace of mind can be money well spent.

For the size house you have, you only need 15,000 btu's as long as it's well insulated.

That should do fine for around 700 cubic feet of a well insulated fish house. Yours is under 500 cubic feet.

Depending on where you live, they may deliver it to you or an agreed upon time and place if they happen to be heading your way?

Call Road King Outdoors and see if you can work out something that works for both of you.

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 09-22-2003).]

[tightlines]

I have noticed that 95% of the builders are installing direct vent empire heaters. They claim to be the best. I talked to a propane dealer here in Fargo that sells both empire and orbis and the dealer said the same thing about the empire. They cost more but this is the one area that is critical. We are talking about sleeping in a small well insulated house with a gas burner going and I personally think this should be by far the most important item to not skimp on cost. After all, you or your loved ones don't want to wake-up dead one morning.....

[chadice]

I bought a direct vent Orbis brand 15,000 btu last fall at Fleet Farm for my 6x10 and it has worked great. Empire's are very nice as well, but they are essentially the same thing and the Orbis was $299. Whatever you, go with direct vent, it is the only way to go.

[Aqua Eye]

I was in Menards tonight and saw that they are offering 10,000 btu heaters that are actually advertised for "fishing shacks." Went by the name of remington. It seems the ventless heaters are safe enough that the big store isn't afraid to sell them that way. Thought maybe you guys planning shacks of your own might find that info interesting. -TROY

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 09-24-2003).]

[Rick]

I have to add something about the hoses used for gas heaters.

They do work fine. However, if you can use copper tubing it is much less likely to puncture and has a longer life than the hoses. Go with copper tubing for added safety when you can.

[swampman]

Good point about the copper tubing inside the house Rick that was a concern of mine when i built my house, with that said i do have a ventless heater in my house as a direct vent wasnt in the budget after i got into the project. i do have two crank out windows that i always crack before i even start the stove just so i dont forget later.also if you dont have a direct vent you still have to take precautions even if its not a sleeper house ,you can go to sleep for good just being out fishing for a few hours if your house doesnt have some sort of fresh air supply. if you can a direct vent is the way to go but if you have to make do, with some precautions a ventless should be ok. you can die in your own home if your furnace isnt functioning properly too.

[hawkeye43]

Why would you even think about a ventless heater in a fishhouse ? What if you let a friend use your house and they forgot to open the vent. Would, no, could you live with that if something happen to them? If you are building a house and cannot afford a vented heater, dont build it. It does not cost any more to have the best, just takes a little longer to pay for it. There was a guy on Circle lake a few years ago that died in his fishhouse because he thought he had enough air flow. You dont get a second chance to get it right, so do it right the first time.

[This message has been edited by hawkeye43 (edited 09-25-2003).]

[tightlines]

I have come to the conclusion that if a manufactor of most any item is copying someone elses excellent product and advertising it as "as good as" , I would rather just buy the "good " product. Example: A Couple years ago a new flasher hit the market claiming it was as good as or better than a Vexilar. I fell for that advertisement and bought the " as good as " flasher and what a pile of junk it turned out to be. I now try to buy the product that all the competiion tries to copy. It really is less expensive in the long run...

[Rick]

The big stores have been known to make mistakes before. All the ventilation experts I've talked with recommend that you stay away from ventless heaters in a tightly enclosed space like a fish house.

Just ask yourself, are you willing to risk your life because a big store said they are for Fish Houses?

For my peace of mind and my children's health, I'll go with direct vent heating.

Cheap materials are cheap for a reason.

Empire and Orbis are NOT the same units or even close. The shielding is NOT there for the orbis. This means the liklihood of severe burns is much greater with an Orbis heater. Again....cheap is cheap for a reason.

I urge all of you to stay away from ventless heaters unless your fish house is very well vented and you do not intend to sleep in it.

We were told by Aqua Eye that Fleet Farm was discontinuing selling Orbis heaters and that's why they were selling them so low last fall.

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 09-24-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 10-06-2003).]

[Guest]

I've used ventless heaters for years and stayed in fish houses for up to 4 days at a time with these heaters. There is nothing wrong with them IMO. CO detector is a good idea!

It is important to make sure the house is vented. You can't just stick these heaters in the house and expect everything to be ok.

I would recommend installing 3" PVC pipes thru the walls for venting. This allows fresh air to enter and old air to exit. Install (at least) 2 sets of pipe vent through the wall on opposite sides of the fishhouse. You can also find pipe with shut off valves that you can control air flow if it's a windy day, etc...

[MNice]

CD, do you have any problem with moisture build up on the walls or windows with your ventless heater?

Thanks, Jeff

[Bryon]

There is a vented heater that takes up only 1 sq. foot, it is about 5 feet tall and only 1 ft. around, 15,000 BTU I believe. Works sweet.

[This message has been edited by Bryon (edited 09-26-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 09-29-2003).]

[Guest]

MNIce,
I can't say I noticed that problem. Then again, I have never seen a "dry" fishhouse either! Everytime the door opens the rush of cold, foggy air rolls in. Then the snow off your boots get the floors soaked and moisture builds.

The walls didn't drip with water, I know that. The ceilings were completely dry. Windows always seem to get wet/freeze cause they are cheap windows.

Like I said. At least 2 sets of PVC pipe drilled through the walls. One is set up as an air intake and the other is the exhaust. I forgot how the system was set up, but the pipes had 90 degree angles on the inside and outside ends and a control valve if the wind was really blowing on one side of the house. There needs to be fresh air coming in for these ventless heaters.

[Guest]

Go to a camper supply dealer, they have tent camper furnaces or may have used ones that are vented or put an ad in the paper for a damaged tent camper I have friend that got one for free.
God love your wife for her architecural gift ideas.
Tim

[This message has been edited by frozenminnow (edited 10-18-2003).]