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To help you choose the right natural gas wall heater for your home, When the weather outside is frightful, you need to find a way to keep the temperatures inside delightful! For many people, this includes having a gas heater to provide a warm spot in your home. It can cut down on your electricity bill and keep you warmer all winter long.
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Is Natural Gas Wall Heaters Your Best Option?
Natural gas heaters are a great option if your central heating unit doesn’t seem to keep up as well as you are hoping. They are often space saving and can do a lot to increase the warmth in the living areas of your home. However, there are some things you should ask yourself before you dive into buying one.
Does It Meet Safety Regulations?
All natural gas wall heaters will need to be tested thoroughly to ensure that it is safe to use in your home. It is especially important when looking into a heater that you will depend on frequently to make sure that you are not introducing harmful carbon monoxide into your living space. To protect your family, make sure that it has passed the regulations.
You may also want to make sure that you can set it up in an area where it may be vented and a compatible heater as well. Vented heaters have an attached duct that will push carbon monoxide outside of your home. There are unvented natural gas heaters that will shut off if not enough clean oxygen are in the room, but may not be ideal for small spaces such as a bedroom, garage, or workshop unless you can keep the doorway open.
Does It Have the Necessary BTUs?
Natural gas heaters will always have a BTU number attached to them. This is designed to let you know the size of the room that it will work best for. A good way to ensure you are getting the right size for your home, you will want to start by measuring the width and height of the room you plan to heat. Then multiply that the length of the room by the width and height to find your total cubic feet. For instance, a space that is 10 x 12 x 12-feet will have a cubic area of 1440. From there, you can find calculators that will make it very simple to figure out the proper BTUs for your space.
A good rule of thumb is that 100-150 cubic feet will require about 5,000 BTU. The size room from our example will need approximately 23,000 BTU minimum.
What Is Your Budget?
As with most things, there are a variety of options available when it comes to wall heaters. Having less BTU will lower the cost for you. Choosing an energy efficient heater may also help you keep the long-term costs down.
Our recommendation is that before you start looking for a heater, figure out your budget and the BTUs that you need. Then look around for the best deal and perhaps even sales to keep your cost down.
What Type of Wall Heater Do You Want?
As a general rule, and beyond vented or non-vented, you will find that there are two different types of natural gas wall heaters available. One is known as infrared or radiant and the other “blue flamed”. At some point, you will have to decide which one will work best for you.
A blue flame heater warms the air in the room, but not so much the objects that may be in that room. It is a more energy efficient option. Most have a blower that comes on automatically to keep the air circulating. It is a little slower to increase the temperature in a room, but if you have a well-insulated space, you should still enjoy the effects of it.
Infrared or Radiant heaters use electromagnetic radiation to heat. They heat objects so that heat is directly transferred. Warmth in the space will be increased faster. However, it is not ideal for all homes since furniture, children, and other things should be kept further away from the heater.
Will It Come with a Stand?
If you live in an apartment, a condo, or some other type of home, you may not always be able to attach a heater to the wall with your landlord’s blessing. In this situation, you will want to make sure that it has a stand included with it. A stand will allow you to place the heater away from the wall slightly. You should keep it close enough to the wall for your natural gas lines to reach, and of course, the vent if your unit requires one.
Even if you do attach it to the wall, it may still be beneficial to have legs under it to keep it more securely in place. Some people also choose to put a board or a platform under the heater, especially if there is carpeting which can upset its balance. If you use a platform, there are fire-safe boards that you can get to take it even one step further.
Final Thoughts
A Natural Gas Wall Heater is a great option for many families. It can produce ample heat without requiring you to have a power supply. The only time power is required is when you need to use the blower. These heaters are great if you want to keep your home warm during possible power outages and such it will promise to be one of the easiest and safest ways to keep your family warm.
In a perfect world, they are best suited to smaller spaces and not heating an entire house. In a pinch, though, it will ensure that your home stays comfortable no matter what may come up. During a winter storm or some other situations, it can help. It also makes it easier for you to use it in your shop or garage.
However, before you buy, we do encourage you to consider all your options. If you choose wisely, you will have a heater that will last years with minimal maintenance. An option that will cut down on your electricity bills and help you avoid the chill that may be in the air outside your home.
