Propane Space Heaters

ChrisJ

SWEI said:

Headache, flushed face and neck, dizziness, and tiredness.

We were roasting a leg of lamb in an unvented natural gas convection oven in a very drafty 1919 house during cold, dry weather. Wife and I were both feeling out of it and suddenly the light went on. Ran outside and grabbed my analyzer, which registered 70 PPM ambient. Opened two windows which dropped it to 5 PPM in under three minutes, at which time we immediately started feeling better. Dropped to zero in less than ten minutes.

Stuck the probe in the flue of the oven and saw 1-3 PPM. Apparently it just built up in the space. Gave me a good scare.

So once again,
Why isn't an outside vented hood required by code over any gas stove or oven?

I don't understand.

Even if it's producing 0 ppm CO isn't it still consuming O2 and do we really want to breath whatever other byproducts it's producing?

SWEI

ChrisJ said:

Why isn't an outside vented hood required by code over any gas stove or oven?

It is on commercial installations. Between GAMA and the homebuilders lobby I would not count on seeing it mandated for residential anytime soon.

ChrisJ

SWEI said:

ChrisJ said:

Why isn't an outside vented hood required by code over any gas stove or oven?

It is on commercial installations. Between GAMA and the homebuilders lobby I would not count on seeing it mandated for residential anytime soon.

So once again commercial jobs get what's actually required and residential gets the short end of the stick.

If it was bad in your drafty house, imagine a modern fairly well built home. A modern home should require an outside vented exhaust hood with an automatic makeup air damper right by the appliance.

rick in Alaska

The local gas company here will not turn on the gas unless it is vented to the outside. I have had a lot of unhappy customers, who had a propane oven with no vent, when I told them they had to vent it. Especially the customers with the oven on an island in a vaulted ceiling space.
Rick

Tim McElwain

I recommend everyone get a CO Experts CO detector which alarms at 9 PPM immediately instead of the UL standard over the counter version which is 70 PPM after 240 minutes. Contact me and I will forward you the brochure on CO Experts detector. Phone 401-437-0557 or gastc@cox.net

jimma01

I am not a pro but a consumer with personal experience with an unvented propane decorative propane stove/fireplace . Except for extreme emergence I would not use as a heat source. It's in a 1000 sqft tightly sealed house. If you run it long enough the oxygen sensor will shut it down (usually 8 to 10 hours). The air in the house gets "heavy" after a while . It's fine for a little extra heat but I usually open a window a crack. I shut the gas off to the device when renting to tenants . I don't want them running it. If we ever move into that house, the first order of business will be to replace that stove with a properly exterior vented stove or fireplace

Jack

jimma01 said:

I am not a pro but a consumer with personal experience with an unvented propane decorative propane stove/fireplace . Except for extreme emergence I would not use as a heat source. It's in a 1000 sqft tightly sealed house. If you run it long enough the oxygen sensor will shut it down (usually 8 to 10 hours). The air in the house gets "heavy" after a while . It's fine for a little extra heat but I usually open a window a crack. I shut the gas off to the device when renting to tenants . I don't want them running it. If we ever move into that house, the first order of business will be to replace that stove with a properly exterior vented stove or fireplace

In other words, the unit is operating exactly as designed. A tight house with little infiltration, oversized, run to long and it correctly shuts off if the O2 in the room declines, and the heavy air is what you get.
What is the btu input on it and what part of the country do you live in. I'll size it based upon your information and the DOE Sizing Guidelines.