Installing a Vent Free Gas Stove

A vent free gas stove is relatively easy to install and usually comes as standalone packages. This means that no renovation of the premises is required. Most units come as freestanding units with their own standing legs.  Other units can be anchored to the wall using screws or bolts.

• Exhaust gases namely carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide
• Water vapor
• Heat

Exhaust gases are produced when the combustion is incomplete due to insufficient air flow. In this case, a chimney, flue, or vent is required to channel the gases out of the home.

How a Ventless Gas Stove Works

When the combustion process is very efficient such as the combustion found in a vent free gas stove the amount exhaust fumes produced is minimal to none, and therefore a vent is not required to heat your home safely.

A simple example of efficient and inefficient combustion is as follows. Have you ever noticed that when you heat a container over a yellow flame, the bottom of the container becomes all sooty and dirty? However, if you adjust the flame to a blue flame, the bottom of the container is no longer sooty. Yellow flames produce a lot of exhaust fumes because the flame is not getting sufficient air or oxygen. The blue flame, on the other hand, burns very efficiently and therefore produces very little exhaust fumes. A ventless gas stove operates like the blue flame. They have a very high efficiency compared to conventional vented heaters, some as high as 99%. This heating efficiency enables them to operate without a chimney to direct the exhaust fumes outside the home.

Selecting the Right Heater Size

From our previous discussion, recall that a ventless gas stove only operates efficiently when it has access to sufficient oxygen levels. The amount of air available is directly proportional to the volume of the room the heater is located in. Therefore, the size of the heater needed is determined by the volume of the room it is meant to heat. The National Fuel Gas Code provides guidelines on the ratio between the size of a gas heater to the volume of a room. The size of the heater selected should be equal to or less than the prescribed size. Installing a vent-free gas stove that is too large for space can result in inefficient operation leading to excess gas fumes in your home.

Managing Water Emissions

The water vapor produced by ventless gas stoves can be managed in the following ways:

• Ensure that the room is well ventilated to prevent the accumulation of water vapor and humidity.

• Ensure that you don't run the ventless gas stove longer than the recommended duration which is around 3 to 4 hours.

These two steps will ensure that the air circulation in the room will distribute the water vapor rather than allowing it to build up.

The Types of Gas Used by Gas Stoves

Either propane gas or natural gas can be used in a gas stove. However, for safety purposes, most ventless gas stoves are calibrated to work with only one type of gas. If your gas stove is designed for use with propane, only propane should be used. You cannot switch back and forth between natural gas and propane. The exception to this rule is if the manufacturer's instructions explicitly allow for usage of both natural gas and propane. This exception is known as dual fuel technology.

Safety of Vent Free Gas Stoves

A good quality brand should come with an oxygen depletion sensor, abbreviated ODS. When the oxygen levels in the room are too low for the gas heater to burn gas without producing carbon monoxide over an acceptable level the ODS will detect this and trigger automatic shut-off of the gas stove. This mechanism prevents carbon monoxide poisoning

Maintaining Your Ventless Gas Stove

• Do a quick clean once a week and thorough maintenance check at least once every three months.

• During maintenance, ensure that the air inlets are clear

Any signs of soot indicate inefficient burning. If after cleaning, soot build-up persists, it is time to engage the services of a technician.