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We all need to keep warm, especially during cold weather. Therefore, every home must be able to keep its occupants warm all through the seasons. To achieve this, you need to have the right heater in your home; otherwise, it may be impossible to remain comfortable and cosy.
With a gas heater, it should be pretty easy to achieve this feat, and it remains an excellent choice for heating in many homes. However, as with many other things, gas heaters come in various designs and sizes.
For efficient heating of your home, you need to find the right size of the gas heater you can use there. In this article, we will look into how you may decide on the right size of gas heater for your home. Read on!
Does the Size of a Gas Heater Matter?
As far as energy appliances are concerned, size does matter. If you decide to buy a gas heater that is too big, you would have wasted some good money upfront with the procurement. What could be worse is that you will also continue to waste energy and money because gas heating above what is necessary will be produced.
On the other hand, if you decide to buy a gas heater that is too small, it will not be able to provide sufficient heating for your room. There is a rough guide you may use where you can estimate that 1 kWh would heat approximately 10 square metres. Based on this rough estimate, you can calculate the size of the gas heater you need.
However, it would be best if you noted that this would only provide you with an estimate at best, as other things count in determining the right size of the gas heater. For example, the climate zone of your area is a factor that must be considered in this regard too.
In the same way, the height of the ceilings in your home, the absence or presence of insulation, the direct impact of sunlight on the property, the size of the windows, the type of curtains, and whether you use double-glazed windows also count.
Types of Gas Heaters
If you are interested in gas heating, you need to familiarise yourself with the types of gas heaters available. There are two primary types of gas heaters: flued and portable. In gas-ducted heating, cold air is drawn in from the outside into a heater, which becomes warm before distributing around the room. Duct heating is made possible because the warm air is distributed via ducts.
Flued gas heater
A flued gas heater can be identified with its ‘flue’, a pipe connecting it to the outside. It carries exhaust gases, so your room will not be filled with fumes. The option could be a great one, but you will need to install it.
Portable gas heater
If you are occupying a rented property, you may not want to bother with the flued option, and the other option of a portable gas heater may very well serve you in this regard. As you may already know, all devices have pros and cons, and these two are not left out. Therefore, you need to conduct your initial research to know what type of gas heater is right for you and your home.
Pros of a portable gas heater
You stand to enjoy apparent benefits if you plan to use a portable gas heater. One such benefit is that it can be moved around as you wish, meaning you can make it face any direction you like.
It can be easily put away during the summer when it is no longer needed, and if you decide to change your location, you can easily take it with you. Portable gas heaters are considered very efficient, and it has been confirmed that about 90% of the energy content of the gas used gets converted into heat. Additionally, it produces large amounts of heat, and it is instant.
Apart from this, portable gas heaters are considered relatively safer because they have a switch you can use to turn them off. They have oxygen depletion sensors, a tilt switch in case the heater tips over, and a flame failure protection switch.
Although it could be more expensive to buy portable gas heaters compared to electric heaters, they are cheaper to maintain in the long run. It is also important to note that portable gas heaters produce a quarter to a third of the carbon in the atmosphere.
Cons of a portable gas heater
Emissions from the gas combustion process in a portable gas heater are vented back into the room. This is so because there is no flue to release them outside, so using them in bedrooms, bathrooms, or any other type of small room is not advisable. Mould could be formed on walls and ceilings due to the condensation they produce.
Although portable gas heaters produce small amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrous oxides (NO2), they can still be a source of problems for asthmatics or those with specific respiratory problems or allergies. On the contrary, people with these issues may find flued gas heaters the better option to settle for.
How to Identify a Good Flued Gas Heater
If you would rather have a flued gas heater, you should look for one with remote controls. This will allow you to control the temperature settings and fan speeds even from a distance.
Sometimes they also come with programmable timers, saving you energy and money. With an electric ignition, some energy would be saved since the pilot light will not always run.
Choosing a flued gas heater with a thermostat will make setting the right temperature for your home easier. If your one comes with a filter-cleaning warning, you can know when you should clean it. You can also get a heater with child lock features if you have children.
How to Identify a Good Portable Gas Heater
There are two portable gas heaters: convection heaters and radiant-convection heaters.
Convection heaters use the natural movement of hot air, although they also use a fan to speed up the heating process. Most are controlled electronically because they have a thermostat and remote control.
These help to provide better temperature control, although it means they use standby power which can cause energy wastage. In radiant-convection heaters, there is an exposed area from where heat is radiated into the room. They are usually cheaper to buy than convection heaters but have fewer features.
For example, if you buy one, there won’t be a thermostat, remote, or timer control. You will have to use an electronic ignition to operate it manually by pressing and holding it down for about 20 seconds.
When is it Time to Shop for a Good Gas Heater?
The process of getting the right size of gas heater for your home may not be much different from what you need to go through when searching for the right size of an air conditioner. A lot of information has been documented about the different brands and models available in the market.
You may have gathered a lot of information already, but you can still speak to retailers to give you more information about their brands and how they work. Remember that, in most cases, these are salespeople, and they may be more interested in getting you to buy from them rather than offering you the best option for your needs.
Consult a Certified HVAC Technician
You can expect that you will get more reliable information from a professional with lots of experience in the HVAC field. These experts can even help estimate what you need, such as the number of ducts necessary if you want a gas-ducted heating system, the size of the gas heater that best suits your needs, and so on. Consulting your technician is always a better route, as you get your money’s worth in the end.
