While this person’s state was in accurate, I do take their point. Natural gas bruning water heaters are the most common way to provide hot showers in the United States. Mea culpa. I oughtn’t be so neglectful because I value those hot showers more than a warm house, probably! But the truth is I find the area kind of, well, boring. There aren’t nearly so many different options concerning water heaters as there are people heaters. Go find some other blog if you want to talk about them, we’re sticking to the sexy stuff here.

Back to the inaccuracy I mentioned, though. I haven’t really been talking about air heaters at all, I’ve been talking about people heaters. It is true that many gas heaters acheive their people heating goal by heating air that then gets moved around (this is called convection heating). Central air heating is an obvious example of this and so are space heaters that have electric blowers attached to them. But many heaters don’t rely on heating the air at all. Remember the post about outdoor gas heaters? Right. Radiant heaters. And radiant heaters work indoors as well. Indoor space heaters that are only designed to heat a smaller area can operate soley radiant heat. The nice thing about them is that they are quiet. All you can hear is (sometimes) the gentle hiss of gas flowing to the burner and the pleasant pings of the metal pieces expanding and contracting.

I suppose you could consider gas ranges and ovens to be food gas heaters too if you really want to be pedantic about it!

Central air heating systems differ from ‘local’ indoor space heaters in that instead of the heat being generated in the place it is desired, it is generated in one central location within the building. In your home, this is generally going to be the furnace in your basement. Air heated in the furnace is then blown through a series of ducts to all of the rooms in the house to be heated. In the simplest case this results in all rooms in your home being delivered the same amount of heat, though in more complicated (and expensive) systems the home can be divided into zones and the amount of heat delivered to each zone can be independently controlled.

Though central gas furnaces can be incredibly efficient in their own right, sometimes this isn’t the most efficent heating method available. For example, if you’re entire family is in the den watching movies for the whole night, it might make a lot more sense to use space heater rather than “efficiently” heat your whole home.

That said, though, central heating is often the way to go since you will have different people throughout the house and keeping the entire living space at a more constant temperature is easier as well as more comfortable. With central heat you don’t need to worry about putting on extra clothing when you leave the warm comfortable room or dragging that space heater into the next room with you.

Obviously, though, the infrastructure required for central heating is quite signficant and most homes will have it installed at the time of construction, though certainly if the duct work exists adding a furnace to your home is something that any heating contractor would be able to handle.

If you already have a gas furnace and find that your heating bills are expensive you should consider upgrading to a more efficient model. Newer furances can provide a lot more heat while burning a lot less fuel. Tax credits are available to soften the immediate blow of the new purchase and in the long run you can definitely see huge savings. Not to mention you get the fuzzy feeling of knowing you are contributing to less global warming.

One great thing about small space heaters is that you can easily choose the size, type, and fuel source that is best for you. If you only want to heat a very small area for relatively short amounts of time a small electric space heater might be the way to go. Similarly if you need to move the heater around a lot, electric might work. But if you want to provide heat for more than one person at a time and for longer periods (for example a few people sitting no a couch watching a movie) you should seriously consider getting a propane space heater. For one, they are cheaper to operate for a larger heating job and I think you get more bang for your buck in terms of initial cost of the heater.

For even larger jobs, like heating a whole room a larger gas space heater really is the only way to go. You have lots of options regarding depending on your needs here. Propane heaters can be had for under $200 that will heat a 600 square ft. space. For heaters that size you wil often also want one with an electric blower (part of the heater) so the heat generated can be moved around the for a more even heating job.

Another really nice option for space heaters is to install a more permanent one in an old unused fireplace (even one that has been blocked off from use for a wood fire). If your home already has natural gas plumbing, consider instaling one in your unused fireplace for heating that can simulate the romance and coziness of a wood fire but with out the cost, environmental impact, and mess of a real wood fire.

Because of this versatility, gas heaters are ubiquitous. Even in warmer climes where heaters might not generally be needed and full home heating might be seen as excessive , they may be kept to help in those relatively few times times when the temperature dips and some local room heating is desired.

Certainly where the cold is more of a way of life they play a larger role. They can be used as both a primary source of heat or to supplement existing heating methods. Or even both! Growing up my family had central gas heat to warm the entire house. This wasn’t always efficient, though, since often we were all in a single room. So we had a smaller room gas heater we would use as well.

Now my home has electric heat. With the high costs of electricity I installed a gas heater in an old fireplace. Not only is my apartment warmer but my energy bills have gone down!

Outdoors you have seen restaurants or cafes use various sorts of gas heaters to warm patrons enjoying their patios or sidewalk seating. Maybe you’ve basked in the warm glow of one of thse devices (I fondly call them ’suns’) and thought you might want one of your own so you can sit in your own backyard and pretend it is a balmy summer evening even when it is really sweater weather. You’re in the right place!

In this blog I will be discussing in more detail all the different sorts of gas heaters available and what considerastions should be taken when in the market to purchase one. In different articles I will discuss what you need to know about indoor and outdoor use and the various attendent safety concerns. Stay tuned!