I have one of these to heat up a space that is pretty drafty, solid stone little living area. Wood is free on my land (lots of dead trees) but I wanted something that would be positive, not negative for ventilation. (Wood burns, needs air, air goes up chimney, cold outside air comes into house, repeat.). So I put this backed up after sealing the fireplace as soon as the temperature drops enough.
This heater works great. My notes are:
1.) First firing: this will get hot and you'll smell a strange smell. That's normal, you are smelling the coatings used to protect it.
2.) After hooking it up, you *are* going to have air in the line. So be patient with starting as it needs to purge since the pilot uses hardly anything. You only have so much life in that ignitor.
3.) Get the fan unit. It's worth it. The grease in the bearings seems to wear out; after the 3rd year I had to remove it and use some 3-in-1 on the bearing. (barely moving/slow to speed up when cold). So if wall-mounting this, do so with the mindset that in a few years you may need to take it off again.
4.) You *can* make this portable if you get an LP gas regulator (similar to one used on RV's, visit a shop or look online) and good rubber LP hose. Just use common sense and get a length so the tank and hose are not near nor routed near anything where they can get hot.
5.) The feet shouldn't cost that much, but they do, and are flimsy to boot so watch out; don't over-tighten, don't leave them loose, use oversized nylon washers if you got 'em laying around somewhere. After one started to crack I made my own set out of rolling casters and metal legs from an old desk chair that was trash-bound. Bad mold design and brittle (when cold) for lateral movement, could've been avoided with "X" inserts. If you aren't moving it much for cleaning or anything, they'll do.
6.) The ceramic will get brittle with age and moisture. Ceramic is fragile.
7.) If you have a ceiling fan set it to the winter setting, this thing pumps out lots of hot air via convection as well as radiant heat.
8.) If you wall mount this, when not in use my advice is to shut off the gas to it completely (after that, let the pilot run out) and put a cover over it. If portable and disconnected, just throw a large trashbag over/around it and stuff a little bit of plastic in the gas inlet. Mounted or portable, anything to keep moisture, dust, bugs etc. out; spiders will hole up everywhere.
9.) For an idea of fuel usage: I ran this test twice. First for burn-in in a garage, second just for the heck of it the next year. I hooked this up to a 20lb (5 gal) propane tank (filled by someone in front of me, you only get 4 gallons in the "exchange" ones at stores) and let 'er rip till it ran out. I got just a hair under 24 hours of continuous use. At anywhere between $2-$4 per gallon for LP (depending on where you live), you can do the math, but roughly this will be hitting your wallet within the range of $0.75/hr. That's for the 30k BTU, but I don't really think it's truly 30k. Maybe when it's operating in 70f ambient; the ceramics don't really get to optimum temp at *really* cold temperatures.
Definitely worth the price, definitely a solid unit. If you take care of it this will bring warmth into your heart and home for a long time.
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On my 4th day with heater set up in a 2,500 sq ft open basement. Heater throws plenty of heat, radiant and convective. This time of year, basement is about 61F with no heat. Most I have run heater is 5 hours at full blast and two thermometers about 8 ft away and out of line of sight (radiant works) registered 70F. I suspect If I left it on "HI" (30,000 btu) and used a fan to circulate air, it would heat the entire basement, (which I don't need) to 70+.
While heater is inexpensive, plumber bill was $545 to hook it to gas line with 20ft of flexible gas hose and all the fittings required, including those to connect to heater. Pilot lit at first "click" and heater operates at three settings: 6,000, 18,000 and 30,000 btu. The settings light independent burner elements and instructions say NOT to try to operate between settings.
Don't buy the advertised feet for floor setting. Gas hookup is vertical thru bottom and extends about 6 inches out of bottom (with required sediment sump and shutoff valve). I used two 8x8x16 concrete blocks ($1.42 each) which work fine for basement.
What instructions don't say is that carbon dioxide (CO2)is a principal product of natural gas combustion. I bought the SUPCO IAQ50 co2 meter(on Amazon) and the Kidde KN-COPP-3 carbon monoxide (CO) meter. Heater may produce CO (a stealth killer)when not burning properly. CO meter has not budged....reading zero at startup and zero 5 hours later. However, carbon dioxide reading went from 465 parts per million (ppm) at startup to 3,668 ppm after 5 hours on highest output. I read on internet OSHA max for residential house is 5,000ppm, 30,000ppm make most sick and 40,000 ppm = get the hell outta there. CO2 meter is about 8 ft from heater, out of line of sight.
According to owner's booklet, water vapor output is about 1 ounce per 1,000 btu of gas input. So, when burning 30,000 btus per hour, you are putting 30 ounces of water into the air per hour. On two separate hygrometers about 8 ft from heater relative humidity at 61F was 40% before start. After 5 hours on HI, it was 50% at 70F. Doesn't bother me because I have a dehumidifier to the side of the heater if I want to bring humidity down.
CO2 is a concern to me. I'll be keeping an eye on the meter (which sounds an alarm if a set ppm is exceeded). I think this heater is too big for a small room, while it heats my office space in an open 2,500 sq ft basement just fine. I turned it off at 70 F because CO2 was over 3,600 ppm and I was warm enough.
JAN 4, 2012 FOLLOW-UP: It was 13F with 20mph wind outside this morning and 58F in basement. Turned heater on full blast when CO2 meter read 456 ppm. Two hours later, office space was 69F with CO2 at 1895 ppm. After 10 hours on highest setting, office space at 71F, CO2 at 3090 ppm. Temp at other end of basement, about 40 feet from heater, is 68F. Water vapor not a problem. Relative humidity at 30% after 10 hours on high. Carbon monoxide meter has not budged off zero. CO2 no longer concerns me. Pilot lights on first click every time. I love this heater for its intended purpose. Now 5 stars from me.
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As everyone else said, this thing does its job well....it makes a cold room warm. Peroid. The look of it is much better suited for a garage or workshop not inside a home. (but, of course, this is an opinion)
One thing that is nice to know is that the lowest setting on this uses 7,000 BTU's, so plan accordingly. Get the right size for your room, do not get a larger one just because it is only $20 more or so.
Installation is easy, they give you all the screws, and you can even hang it only on sheetrock if you have no studs available. It only weighs 29lbs or so.
No gas line is included with this, and the input size thread is 3/8".
Honest reviews on World Marketing/Kozy World Model # KWN321 Wall Heater - Natural
I've recently been looking for ways for my family to trim its budget. I bought a few books on weatherproofing your house, and as I read these books I realized that since we moved into an old 3000 square foot house 18 months ago our electricity bills have been through the roof both in the summer and winter months.
Our house actually had 1 gas log natural gas heater, but we needed another one to heat the other side of the house. After a lot of investigation, I chose the Kozy World KWN321 because it had a great price for a vent-free natural gas heater that had a lot of BTUs (30,000). Also, I measured carefully, and it fit perfectly into the other fireplace we had but which had been without a heater in it when we moved in.
We just recently received it and have had a few very cold days (at least cold to us down in Texas). This heater has worked beautifully! It's easy to use, starts putting out heat immediately, and provides heat for a large portion of the house if we leave it on high. It even got the house so warm that I had to turn it down off of high and down to medium, and then low. The 3 different settings allow you to use only as much energy as you want. I haven't had time to check my gas bill yet, but I know it will be a lot cheaper than my electricity bill at this time last year.
The Kozy World KWN321 is a great long-term investment if your house has a place for a vent-free natural gas heater. I highly recommend it, especially if you want to save on your winter energy bills year after year.
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Wonderful hotspot in the kitchen to cozy up against while my big ole house in south-west Ohio stays cool in the winter.
This is a great heater, it uses natural gas, which is mostly CH4, and goes to CO2 and 2H2O (carbon dioxide and water (vapor)). It is NOT vented so these exhaust gases remain inside. The water vapor could make real problems in your house so you have to be careful about this. These heaters also burn the little dust particles in your air so the room will start to smell a little. I am certain there is also a little bit of CO, or carbon monoxide but I have used this heater for a year and similar ones for years and have never had a problem. I do have a CO monitor in the room where this heater operates but it always reads 0.0.
