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16x16 Addition needs HEAT

smurphy0806
smurphy0806 Member Posts: 4
in THE MAIN WALL
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum. We live near Chicago and bought our house a few years ago. The house has a 16x16 addition, 3 walls exterior. 3 of the walls have windows on the entire wall, I guess it's more of a sunroom than a bedroom. When we bought the house it had a gas direct vent wall furnace cirque 1970's or about. However, when we did the inspection, the wall furnace was broken and "would be cheaper to replace it than to repair it." So we scrapped the furnace and have essentially only used the room as a 3 season room since then. We now are getting tired of useless space and want to heat the room. What are our options? I've seen those gas fireplaces at Lowes. They look very nice. Will they effectively heat a 16x16 room? Or are they basically just for ascetics. We need the heat, it gets down to probably 45 or so in the middle of winter. Even if we keep the door open. Are those gas wall furnaces expensive?

Any help is appreciated.

Comments

  • smurphy0806
    smurphy0806 Member Posts: 4
    I should add, the gas line still run's to the addition, and obviously we have electricity there.
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 17,498
    What type of heat is in the rest of the house?
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • smurphy0806
    smurphy0806 Member Posts: 4
    We have a gas furnace. Supposedly our current furnace is not large enough to heat the additional room.
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,510
    On the coldest day of the year how much does the furnace run? If it's not close to 100% there is excess capacity there, you might have to supplement it with something on really cold days.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • smurphy0806
    smurphy0806 Member Posts: 4
    Bob- Interesting comment. To be honest, i'm not sure. I would say it's not near 100%. Right now it is 28 degrees outside, and it probably kicks on only a few times a day. Last winter it got exceptionally cold and unfortunately I have no idea how many times the furnace kicked on. During January and February of last year our gas bill was not as high as I expected it to be. Perhaps I will get another opinion on if our current furnace can handle the extra room.
  • inspkerr
    inspkerr Member Posts: 23
    To do it right you need to have a heat loss calculation done . Any heating company can do this. They will tell you how many .b.t. U. You need for the space. Here in Minnesota I have seen some of those decorative gas firelaces heat a space like you have . I would start with a reputable gas fire place store and they will do the heat loss cal. For you and sell you the right size unit.:
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    Its nice to have it all on one thermostat and heat the whole place. If the existing furnace works.

    If you get sticker shock, these will do fine and the cost is good. Especially if you already have a gas line already in place.

    http://www.rinnai.us/direct-vent-wall-furnace

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