We have an old Empire gas heater that is on its last winter or last couple of months even. The technician couldn't get a good blue flame and recommended we start looking.

I like the looks of the Vermont Castings gas stoves and we would like to go vent free with a catylitic thingy to make it burn cleaner. The house is small and can be adequately heated with the reduced btu output of a vent free. What I would like to know is if any of you have any experience with Vermont Castings? are there other companies? (Woodstock Soapstone does not offer a vent free model) Do you have any info or experiences that would be helpful in making a decision?

Thanks, Heather

-- Heather Gorden (heathergorden@hotmail.com), November 21, 2000

Answers

Heather, we have two vent free LP gas log heaters, as back-up and extra heat, they are great, but have two draw backs, they do have some smell they give off (we both have allergies, so our noses are sensitive to odors), and they leave a white, hazy film all over your windows after about a week of using them.

If we could start again, we would have spent a little more money, and went with the vented models, but we believed the salesman when he said that they are clean burning, no smell, etc. Live and learn, I guess! Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 21, 2000.

Heather! My $2.00? Buy a vented heater! Products of combustion [fumes] will be throughout the house and you'll be breathin it. The infared jobbies are great for additional heat but not as a primary heating source. The tolerances are so close that just a little lint in the burner venturas' will change the whole configuration of the "burn cycle" of the unit. Carbon Monoxide will be the by product then instead of carbon dioxide. I've worked on'm for years and never seen any that I'd trust my life [or anybody else's life] with. All of'm have the Oxygen Depletion Saftey Shutoff installed but if you look at'm and see how they work---Ain't no way I'd trust my life on that little jury rigged gizmo! Empire makes a direct vented heater that attatches directly to the wall and vents straight out the back. They are probably the best on the market now since Warm Morning sold out several years ago. The Empire is fairly easy to install and not hard to service at all. You'll lose a little heat via the vent but if it starts to burn lousy with CO as a by product---you'll still be alive! Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), November 21, 2000.

tomorrow morning we have the guys from the stove store coming to install 2- Vermont Castings non-vent LPG heaters. We plan to use them for primary heat, our house is old and drafty so I don't think I will have a big problem with lack of fresh air, (I could be wrong). we have a empire direct vent heater in our barn, I have not used it much but have it fired up as I write seeing I have to let the wood stove go out tonihgt so we can remove it from the house to make room for the VC gas stove. I will let you know how they are working later on.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), November 22, 2000.

Thanks for the info you guys/gals. So far we 2 to 1 for vented.

Here is a little more about the current situation: Our house is about 175 years old, maybe even 200 yo. It not airtight and I too figured there would be a decent exchange of air. However, it is dusty especially in the winter when we dry the clothes in the house. One thing I will miss about our Empire heater is that it is wide enough to accomodate a wooden clothes rack on top of it. The heater is vented through the old chimney and sits on a 55"x47" brick hearth. The old fire place is bricked up. We do not know yet if the chimney is lined. It would have to be lined if we put in a vented model.

For looks, I would really like something like the Vermont Castings cast iron models. I would have to settle for the "sand" colored enameled or the classic black because they do not offer that model in black enameled, the red enameled is too much $$$ and the blue and green models are just not the right color.

That is good to know about the windows getting hazy.

I'm going to call our propane distributor and have the salesman come out and show us some more options.

-- Heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), November 22, 2000.