Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2013 5:02:14 GMT -8
I've read up quite a bit about these old catalytic heaters. The problem with these units is that the exhaust consists of water vapor and carbon dioxide, they also burn up oxygen which is the main danger in running a catalytic heater.
I've heard of people setting up some pretty crazy ventilation systems so they can run their heater safely.
One idea I had was this...
If the majority of the heat is transferred by thermal radiation and not convection, this would work nicely, but I never got any specifics on that..
My idea is to build a small hood over the top of the heater which should capture all of the exhaust fumes, and then venting the exhaust up and out. The hot carbon dioxide and water vapors should just rise straight out and create a vacuum effect as they leave. A cracked window somewhere combined with this vacuum effect should draw in enough fresh air to replenish the oxygen supply.
Since the majority of the water vapor from the propane exhaust would be venting up and out, this should eliminate the majority of the condensation issues people have when they're running these heaters.
Would a setup like this work?
