Pondering heater for new 6X14 fish house

[MNice]

Read the instructions. Usually they have a cover your but statement such as supplemental heat only, or not for sleeping areas. I am very experienced in the plumbing/heating/gas field, and there is NO WAY I would have one of these units in a sleeper house, O2 sensor or not. They put a ton of humidity in the air and they do require ventilation.

Be careful & have fun in your "new house"

[Ole1855]

I'm with MNice, I've had fish houses for years and I'd never have one without a vented heater. I also have screened vents at the ceiling line as well as down near the stove.

Ole

[This message has been edited by Ole1855 (edited 09-21-2004).]

[GRAND DAD]

Well I have had a ventless heater in my fishhouse for the the past oh 3 years or so with out a problem I all so have c0 alarm thats not on the heater just to play it safe I had the same worriers so thats my two cents put also we I sleep at night a always mke sure to have a window open two at least a crack.

[Ole1855]

Grand Dad,

Do you ever wake up in the morning groggy? A slight headache? Very dry mouth? Do your eyes ever feel dry or burning? I've been in a fish house with a ventless heater and all of the above have occured to me.

Ole

[This message has been edited by Ole1855 (edited 09-21-2004).]

[hanson]

For all of the reasons listed above so far, I decided to go with an Empire direct vent furnace. My opinion, the extra $300 or so is worth peace of mind to me. I'm not going to possibly mess with my life over that amount of money. Just my 2 little cents.

[mudman]

I also have a ventless heater in my 10x20 on mille lacs. the only time I have ever had those kind of sypmtoms was when there was a 3am curfew with some carbonated beverages

[Bryce]

You may want to look into a camper style forced air model. Very nice to have that air flow to keep things dry. Need a reliable source of power is the drawback. Heating a 8 x 16 with I believe a 15000 btu. 2 deep cycles wired together will get me 2-3 days.

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IBOT's # 17 & 248

[woodman]

Thanks for all the info, I will be checking with my local gass man about this issue, but I wanted to get some info from all of you.

Any of you have a good suplier of a vented heater that you would recomend me purchasing?

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Keep the lines wet!

Woodman

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[woodman]

I am almost finished building my new 6X14 fish house on wheels. It has come to the point where I need to decide which heater to put in it. I have talked to lots of people and they have been telling me that the ventless heaters are the best. They have an O2 depletion shut off valve in case the O2 is gone in the house. This is my biggest worry. I don not want to find one of my clients stiff when I check on them.

Your input is very important to me while I finish my home away from home!

Thanks,

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Keep the lines wet!

Woodman

Today's Tackle
Air Plugs

[stmichael]

menards has a ventless heater for around 150 bucks box says made for a fish house with a picture of a fish house on it. mounts to the side of the house, out of the way. 10,000 btu.

[GRAND DAD]

OLE 1855 I HAVE NEVER WOKE UP LIKE THAT IF I DID MY HEATER WOULD BE IN THE GARBAGE!!

[Guest]

GRAND DAD,
I have a Dyna glo in my house also, I had a problem last year, when it was hot enought for the thermostat to kick in and shut it down, it made a horbile hissing noise and the flam actually grew bigger instead of shutting down?? you ever have a similiar problem????
IP: Logged

[GRAND DAD]

Ya I did last year it was the way It was sitting on the wall if you look on the back you will see the termastat and above that I think you will see two things sticking out two keep it spaced from the wall I put a block of wood back there to make sure the heater is sitting stright up and down because it was sitting at a angle a little bit and it made it all better either that or you have a draft!!

[woodman]

Keep the thoughts comming guys.

Have any of you used an old pop up camper direct vent heater in your ice hoouse? I have a friend that has one that I may have to trade a couple days of fishing for.

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Keep the lines wet!

Woodman

Today's Tackle
Air Plugs

[kevfish]

I have a 10000btu vent free heater in my 7x16 house. I slept in it numerouse times last winter and never had any problems. I too was worried about CO. I had the local gas company come out and check it. It was putting out no CO. This made me more comfortable with the thought of a vent free. I do have a couple small vents in the house just in case. I do notice that it is hummid in the house

[woodman]

Kevfish- do you get any condensation running down your walls or dripping off the ceiling with a ventless?

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Keep the lines wet!

Woodman

Today's Tackle
Air Plugs

[Ole1855]

I guess I have a few questions for all the guy's that use the ventless heaters and say they have no CO.

When you burn propane doesn't that create CO? Maybe I'm missing something here??? Maybe I don't completely understand how ventless furnaces work??? But every year we hear stories on the news or read them in the news paper about people dying because of a improperly vented gas furnace or water heater in their home.

Ole

[soultwist]

The byproducts of the ventless heaters are H2O and CO2, so if everything is working properly you should have no CO.

Edited to add: I'm certainly no chemist, I just found this info on the web so who really knows for sure if it's right. I'd add vents and a CO detector for getting rid of the added moisture and for if the unit stops working "properly".

[This message has been edited by soultwist (edited 09-22-2004).]

[kevfish]

The only place I notice Condensation is where a cushion sits against a wall-Not sure if this is because of the heater-----It is my understanding that these heaters do not need a vent because of the design of the burner- I actually know one person that heats his whole house with these heaters

[KidWalleye]

I also have a vent free. When I installed it I took a plug in co detector and ran the heater for three days, not a trace. I have the ceramic style, they are supposed to be more eff. I got it at Northern. I've slept in it probably 50 times I also run a battery powered co detector all the time.

[korn_fish]

Just out of curiosity, if both ventless and vented heaters running efficiently, don't they both produce the same thing? And isn't moisture more present with ventless heaters because they don't produce circulation like most vented heaters do?

Just wondering because I used to only use a Mr. Heater in my sleeper, and yes I had a window cracked open about 6 inches from my face. But at first I had lots of moisture, but once I put fans in I didn't have any problems.

Any feed back is welcome. Even my stupidness for sleeping with a Mr. Heater.

[Tahoe2349]

Ventless heaters exhaust 100 percent of their combustion products into the house.
carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and water vapor enter the house air.
Depending on your house charectoristics (insulation,paneling,windows,ventilation,air movement) you can only "limit" the safety concerns, moisture and house damage with a "ventless" heater.
The "only" situation I would even consider a "ventless" would be in a simple house I only visit for short stay fishing...

Between myself, brother and Dad we have three Empires and two ventless/blue flame and they fill the house with water vapor and a totally different type heat...

On the other hand all the "VENTED" produce dry consistant heat/air.. We cook in my Dads alot and can boil water (spaghetti, hot dogs) and within five minutes the windows are free and clear of any condensation. Five different house and three different heaters. Both "Ventless" in the dumpy houses create the same problems. They are insulated good but donot have the high buck windows which sweat condensation constantly even with a 12V fans moving the air..

VENTED is the only way to go for many reasons !!

[arbuck]

Ok, I know that I want a vented heater for the reasons stated in this thread ie. condensation and waking up dead, but is there a cheaper LP vented heater out there. I have been to the Empire site but there a little more than I was wanting to spend. It wouldnt have to be anything fancey just something to make heat.

Thanks arbuck

[Tahoe2349]

Arbuck:
You can find a simple stove/heater with a 3" vent requirement for about $150.
Your basic floor mount and wall or ceiling vent installation. Valve control heat setting... Try Fish House Supply .com

Your Empire or any other type will all be $450 minimum for a 10,000 btu but they are by far the common application in fish houses and well worth the $$$ in a nice house..

[MNice]

"The byproducts of the ventless heaters are H2O and CO2, so if everything is working properly you should have no CO.”

This is exactly right, but let’s look at what we have:

H20, 2 parts hydrogen, 1 part oxygen.

CO2, 1 part carbon, 2 parts oxygen.

The problems arises when the oxygen gets consumed, then the carbon molecule can only grab one oxygen molecule.

CO, 1 part carbon, 1 part oxygen.

CO & CO2 are only one little oxygen molecule away from each other. Please, if anybody puts a ventless in their house read the directions very carefully!!! I personally don't every want to read about some ice fisherman dieing this year.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeff