Originally Posted By: darthur This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I inspected a “ventless” fireplace today and smelled a considerable amount of gas when initiated. The developer said he puts notices in all his maintenance agreements that say to run the unit for at least two hours in the beginning of the season and open the windows. Now, I’m not from the wintery north, but it does get a little chilly on the Fla panhandle. I would not like to have my windows open some nights. Can someone give me some fresh insights? I’ve read a bunch of manufacturer propaganda and it doesn’t seem to address this issue.
Originally Posted By: dspencer This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
There will be a little gas till it ignites. I see no need to open windows to start it (no one would buy one if that were the case). Did you also perform a co2 test, that is the concern with a defected ventless system.
Originally Posted By: darthur This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
After the system was up and running for about 20 minutes, it almost got into the upper 50’s today, I broke it out and recieved no reading, but the smell lingered for a long time. I also recommended a permanent co sensor be installed.
Originally Posted By: darthur This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I didn’t notice any misalignment or uneven flames. I believe the problem lies when it was initially started, but after I cut it off and turned it back on there was no evidence. I don’t think I like these types.
Originally Posted By: dspencer This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I have installed many of them and when a heavy gas lingers for a period of time the log placement or fibers used to place around logs is usually the problem. This is an electric start system?
Originally Posted By: ddivito This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
First I do not operae or inspect gas logs. There are too many different units for me to spend time trying to figure them out. If the homeowner is there and they offer to start it up, I say fine. I will spray soapy water on the gas joints if I notice a gas odor when I inspect teh interior of the firebox.
Second, I have lived with a vent free gas log set for two heating seasons and have never had an odor or CO problem. I recommend to all clients that they have the gas log set checked when the HVAC tech comes to service the other gas or oil appliances in the house.
I have never heard of any problems with these fires from any sellers or buyers.
Originally Posted By: rcooke This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Not legal In Canada. The only time I would even consider one is if I lived in a home with Big draughts from the out side . No way I would have one in My Home if it was built in the last 50 years . To me this is the same as bringing in your gas BBQ into the home these have signs not for use inside .
Originally Posted By: dspencer This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Vent free gas appliances have an ODS (oxygen depletion sensor). If the oxygen level drops to a 18% level (from a normal of 20.9%), the set shuts down. The vent free gas logs use the same technology as the vent free wall space heaters that have been around for several years. Do they produce CO (Carbon Monoxide)? The answer is yes, they produce trace amounts. Most produce about 9.5 PPM (parts per million). the AGA code for vent free gas heaters and logs is 20PPM. A gas range is 400PPM. And a cigarette is 800PPM. So yes they do, but not a harmful level. Note on safety, there has never been a fatality with a gas appliance due to a faulty ODS and there are more than 10 million operating in the United States and more than 50 million in use world wide.
They are not intended to run as a total home heat source! and when you find a home with one ALWAYS recommend that a CO2 detector be installed. Easy as that. I love em!
Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Study Links Unvented Gas Heaters to Asthma Symptoms
Combustion gases pose risk to students, researchers say...
So-called "vent-free"fireplaces, gas logs, and heaters are found in many homes and permitted in most jurisdictions. Researchers are still investigating the potential health effects of breathing the carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and nitrous acid vapor that unvented burners emit into the home.
Replacing unvented heaters with vented or electric units cut the risk of asthma attacks for Australian schoolchildren with asthma. The full study is posted at ije.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/33/1/208.
Previous statistical studies have yielded inconclusive data about whether fumes from invented burners could trigger asthma symptoms or exacerbate existing asthma. But a recent Australian study seems to have found a clear link between gas heaters and asthma attacks.
Unvented heaters are widely used in Australian schools, 18 of which were selected for the study. In eight randomly chosen schools, unvented heaters were replaced by vented heaters or by electric heat, while in a control group of 10 schools, the unvented units were left in place. Student sin the schools that received the change-out showed a sharp decline in asthma attacks, reporting a lower incidence of tight chest, difficulty breathing, and "rescue medicine" use.
A randomized, blind experiment of this type is better able to identify cause and effect than the more usual backward-looking statistical analysis, researchers say. To ensure unbiased results, school authorities agreed not to inform staff or faculty about why heaters were being modified. Students and their parents were not told that the heaters were part of the study, and interviewers were kept in the dark about why the children were being asked about asthma symptoms.
"It is likely these results could be extrapolated to other countries where unflued gas heating is present in schools," said the authors of the study, "and it is also reasonable to suggest this is further evidence for minimizing the use of unflued gas heating in other settings, such as in the home." ? Ted Cushman
Originally Posted By: bpartlow This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
If you read the directions on many of these units, they say to open a window when in use. I have heard many complaints of odors and asthma problems with these units and always recommend the buyer thoroughly reads the manufacturers directions before use.
