Ventfree - Blue flame -vs- Radiant?

[KENLUDE97]

I'm buying a new (to me) house this weekend and i will need to start right away on the garage to take it from a parking spot to a work shop.

I will be doing the wiring, lights, speakers, Gas line, Insulation and OSB on the walls. So with all of these costs the added cost of the Mr heater 45k btu heater and needed accessories is just not in the budget at this point.

So i have narrowed down my search to either the Blue flame Vent free or the Radiant vent free.

Blue flame
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200442160_200442160

Radiant
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200332735_200332735

One of the advantages to the Radiant is that the local Tractor supply has them in stock so i don't have to pay for shipping

Thoughts?

Thanks
Ken

The new place

 

[Fastback]

Get the one with the slabs (Radiant), it works better in my experience. We have had many of those things of both types.

 

[knewt66]

I would not recomend the blue flame at all. Mine makes the garage very hummid and after being in there for awhile my eyes burn. Putting in a big maxx to try to get away from all the issues.

 

[Ominous_Z06]

I've been considering the Radiant version as a low-budget heater option. Humidity concerns with these ventless gas heaters have been holding me back from pulling the trigger. Does anyone know if the radiant model puts off lower humidity than the blue-frame model??

 

[6768rogues]

I would not heat with a vent free heater. Our code requires that heating equipment be installed in accordance with its listing. If you read the listings, you will end up with a small heater in a large space with a window cracked open. Secondly, you will have big issues with condensation from the moisture a vent free heater creates. Finally, our code does not allow vent free heaters as primary heat, they can only be used as a decorative secondary heater or a small "chill chaser". Any way you look at it, you will be breathing the products of combustion.

 

[wildosvt]

I have had the same 30K BTU BlueFlame heater in my (16'x22') garage since November '10, It is set as low as it can go when I am not out there. My garage is fully insulated, I do have a slight draft from a bad install of the garage door seal (thanks lowes) and I was worried about this humidity that I have read online.

The fact of the matter is, In my case anyway it is simply untrue.. My interior windows are dry and so is the rest of my garage. A friend of mine has had the same heater for over 4 years and has a piece of bare metal in his shop that was there the first winter with the heater, Not a trace of rust! That was the exact reason why I bought this heater.

 

[MrBill]

Do not use a vent free heater in a garage, they should be used for power loss only and even then they are not healthy. You are using all kinds of chemicals in the garage not to mention gasoline. Get a vented heater and work safety and breath better!!!

 

[Ominous_Z06]

We can separately debate whether or not a vent-free should be used in a garage. I was asking whether there is a difference in condensation from the radiant model versus the blue-flame. Maybe not, but I was curious.

 

[Plump]

Do not use a vent free heater in a garage, they should be used for power loss only and even then they are not healthy. You are using all kinds of chemicals in the garage not to mention gasoline. Get a vented heater and work safety and breath better!!!

Just wondering how a vented heater will help with any chemical/gasoline use in the garage.

The byproduct of any combustion is going to be CO. Unless your garage is so tight as to not allow any air exchange (which isn't healthy anyway) there is no reason not to use this heater in a garage situation. That's why they are sold for this purpose.

 

[6768rogues]

Any source of combustion that is accessible to combustible vapors is a source of problems without regard to what brand it is. A given volume of gas burned in any vent free heater will create the same amount of water without regard to brand of heater. The reason vent free heaters are made for garages is that many garages are not very air tight. Large warehouses have long used unvented heaters because it was assumed that the large volume of air and a leaky building would eliminate a build up of the products of combustion. I prefer to have a tight building and a vented heater.