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List Price: $342.62
Sale Price: $248.84
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First off, I got this nat gas heater at the end of November of 2010 for a 17'x 22' finished basement room with a 7' drop ceiling. I live in the Northeast so we get pretty cold winters here. This heater was purchased for a secondary back up heating system in the event of a power failure however, I use it daily and love it. My initial concerns before the unit was installed: plumbing gas pipe, ventless emmissions, CO2, odors and function(s). I'll address all the concerns as best I can.
-Plumbing gas pipe: Don't do it yourself, hire a professional, you'll sleep a lot sounder, a small price to pay for safety (it'll pay for itself in the long run anyway)
-Ventless Emissions: I researched here and there and everywhere, this camp is split from what I can see, some say there is and some say there isn't any, I don't know. The next thing I cover may or may not be related to this.
-CO2 and odors: I installed $40 Kidde CO2 detector 12 feet away from the heater and it still reads 0 all the time (I was expecting 5-7 ppm but I got 0, that's great). Now onto, the odors, yes there are odors, I'll admit that when I first fired this unit up I was greatly impressed with the heat output but wasn't at all happy about the smell. It was a chemical smell, which after the heater stopped running the smell soon went away within a minute or two. I would masked the odor with an air freshener when the heater ran and it was fine. It has since been a month and a half now and the heater has ran frequently on a daily basis and the odor/smell is virtually gone. A relief to say the least. I do smell it briefly at start up sometimes but that's only for a second or two. I think it was the paint/parts burning off that new heater smell so to speak.
-Function(s): Although it looks like there is, there isn't a digital thermostat, It's a 1 through 5 dial type which runs the duration of how long the heater runs with some internal temp setting (ex. setting 1 = 68-72 degrees). Flame height is the same always, temp dial does not regulate height. Flame is not like pictured, it's better, it looks like what's on your stove top. Flame is a nice blue, at start up I get orange streaks, I found out that's its only dust in the air, it goes away in about 15-25 min. The fan, basically is useless, poor design, could be a lot better, I don't use it. I have a 10" Honeywell table top swivel fan blowing across the heater, left to right, it's even with the top of the unit to circulate the heat in a circle around the room. My unit is not wall mounted, it is free standing on carpet, carpet does get warm to the touch but never hot. No electric required (unless you use the fan), the spark igniter runs on a AA battery (supplied), there is no pilot when it's off.
So how well does it work? Well, Freaking Amazing!!! It's instant heat!!! To get an idea of the heat output, if you have a gas stove, turn all stove top burners on at the same time, don't run the vent, put your hands near the vent away from the flame. I have 4 burners on my stove and that is what is feels like for me. The burner is this unit is about 16" long. At setting 1, once my room is warmed up, the heater runs for a minute or two then knocks off, it'll do this 3-4 times an hour. As for energy savings, I can already see it, I used to use a electric ceramic tower heater to heat (pointed at me) the room at $50+ a month more on the electric bill, that's no more and the whole room is toasty and to boot my gas usage went down slightly compared to the previous year at this time. Win, win, win.
Pro's:
Heat, heat and more heat. Instant heat.
Energy savings (it will pay for itself)
CO2 not an issue in my setup of a basement room
Looks it looks nice as a unit alone and when its running.
Con's:
Blower fan, useless
Dial temp gauge No digital temp setting (it would be a great feature and for setting lower temps too)
Odor goes away over time with use
There ya go I hope this helps you.
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The only glitch on this heater is the picture of a digital reading on amazon's site. The heater came in with a sticker where the digital reading should have been. Set up was easy, I had a guy at lowes plumbing dept help me with the parts. Make sure and buy the leak checker fluid and watch for bubbles. I also used a flexible coil they use for gas stoves and dryers. The flexible hose also has a built in union so you don't have to install one. The heater works really well with a cracked window or overhead fan on to keep humidity down. The room heats up fast but does have some cool spots. It's ok for what we are using it for. There is an odor and will go away in time. The odor is not natural gas but the heater itself burning off impurities. The built in thermostat works well shutting on & off the heat on its own. I would suggest getting a cheap digital thermometer to help you regulate the heat.
Best Deals on Mr. Heater 30,000 BTU Natural Gas Blue Flame Vent Free Heater
After a few power outages last winter, we purchased this heater today and installed it. Wow! It adequately heats our living room and kitchen and if the downstairs bathroom door is left open, covers that as well. Better yet, with it running, our furnace has yet to kick on with the thermostat set at 68 (it's 37 outside right now with a wind chill of 30).
The only con I can think of is that the blower really isn't very efficient. We are using a small pole fan behind the unit to distribute the warm air more evenly, although a ceiling fan would do the same if you have one.
Definitely well worth the purchase price. We were debating whether to get this one or a different non-vented natural gas heater with logs and "flames" but decided for $100 less, we could do without the esthetics and stick with pure function.
Honest reviews on Mr. Heater 30,000 BTU Natural Gas Blue Flame Vent Free Heater
Model # IR30NGT uses a simple thermostatic control,Turns burner off or on.Burner is always on full burn when on. Model # BF30NGT uses a different thermostatic control,This model modulates the flame size,control knob can be set to any level between 1 and 5 ,setting 5 will cause the burner to stay on. Setting # 1 has a verry low flame,setting #2 and #3 put out a nice comfortable heat supply.Amazon sent me the BF model,I also have the BF20NGT,both operate the same.I used the Mr. Heater 12 foot hose assembly # F273720 to hook up the heaters ,Fan is switched off,on,auto. The fan on these units work OK. They wont blow you'r hat off but they do incress the air flow. These heaters preforme as advertised,Happy and warm in Pa.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Mr. Heater 30,000 BTU Natural Gas Blue Flame Vent Free Heater
It does a nice job, I bought it to be back-up heat if the power goes out. I wish it had a thermostat that had a lower setting as it kicks on around 66 to 68 but it still does a great job. I have not used the fan but where it is set-up in my house the fan is not needed.
