advice for small NG space heater

[mdheatpump]

My parents currently have an un-vented, natural-gas fired, open flame (!) space heater installed in a sunroom/porch off of their dining room. For obvious reasons, I would like to buy them a direct vent space heater that draws outside air for combustion. The room is small (~200 sq. ft.), and I would really appreciate it if someone could recommend a good name-brand heater. They don't see any problem with the heater they have now (they are old and stubborn!), so I will have to buy it for them and ship it to them, but I really don't know much about this or what companies manufacture the best product. Advice would really be appreciated.

Thanks,

Greg

[Shophound]

Hmm...if your folks are as stubborn as you say, it could be you buy and ship the heater to them and they would just let it sit there in the box while they continue to use their old heater. I can almost hear them saying, "It's a perfectly good heater! Why should I replace it?"

If this is a sunroom/porch, why not consider a packaged terminal heat pump? It'll cool in the summer and heat in the winter, all without any carbon monoxide worries. It would only need the required electrical ran out to it.

[mdheatpump]

Thank's for your reply. And you're right, I'll totally have to harrass them to install the new one. I'll probably have to call an HVAC company to make the appointment and pay the installation bill too. But I'm willing to do this to eliminate this health and fire hazard.

As for the heatpump: 1) my mom is always cold, and loves the massive heat the gas space heater pumps out. I would NEVER hear the end of complaints about the "cold" air the heatpump would produce; 2) my parents live in Rochester NY which gets brutally cold in the winter and heavy snowfall. A heatpump would not work if only for the fact that someone would literally have dig the outside unit out of the snow 5 times a week. Guess who's going to do that? No one! A simple, direct-vent space heater works well, and it would involve no change from what they currently have. We all know how old folks like change, right?

Thanks again.

Greg

[mdheatpump]

O.K., I just did a quick search on the internet and found small NG space heaters available from Empire, Orbis, Williams and Eskabe. Does anyone have any experience with products from any of these companies? I'm interested in the most reliable and well built product.

Thanks,

Greg

[johnsp]

Empire is a good brand name. Also look at Cozyheater and Monitor Products in NJ also has some nice units. Toyotomi is another name to look at.

[nwgasman]

Empire is pretty solid, but dated in their design IMO.

Rinnai has some pretty good units although I would expect them to be on the upper end of the price scale...

http://www.rinnaina.com/

[badbatch]

I've always had good luck with Empire.

[beenthere]

If some one would have to constantly dig out the outdoor unit of a heat pump, are you going to be able to keep the intake, and vent above the snow level?