ELGAS Knowledge Hub

Indoor gas heaters are extremely safe. Outdoor heaters used outdoors are also very safe.

However, using an outdoor propane gas heater indoors is a really bad idea that is both dangerous and potentially fatal.

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Can You Use a Propane Heater Inside?

You can use a propane heater inside only if the propane heater was designed for indoor use. Using an outdoor propane gas heater inside can produce poisonous Carbon Monoxide – CO – as part of their combustion gases.

Indoor propane gas heaters can be used inside because they are designed to minimise or virtually eliminate the production of carbon monoxide. Some indoor gas heaters simply pipe combustion gases outdoors, using a flue.

Are Patio Heaters Safe Indoors?

Patio heaters are not safe indoors. Quite the opposite, patio heaters are dangerous to use indoors. Patio heaters can produce poisonous Carbon Monoxide – CO – as part of their combustion gases.

What is an Outdoor Heater?

The most common kind of outdoor heater are patio heaters. These are typically either the tall mushroom style or the shorter round area heaters.

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There are also garage and industrial blow heaters. These are intended for very large spaces and should never be used in a home or other smaller enclosure.

The use of a gas cooking appliance as an indoor heater is also a dangerous practice.

Different Specifications

Australia has some of the most stringent standards on gas appliance combustion emissions of any country in the world.

This makes our indoor gas heaters very safe to use. The gases of primary concern are CO (carbon monoxide) and NOX (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide).

These gases can be produced during combustion. To be certified for use in Australia, indoor gas heaters must meet or surpass these strict standards. The same is not true for outdoor heaters.

Because they are intended for outdoor use, with unrestricted ventilation, they are not required to meet the indoor heater emission standards.

Why Don’t They Build Them the Same?

Meeting the indoor standards adds expense to the design and manufacturer of the indoor models.

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If you compare the prices of two types of heaters, you will see that indoor heaters do cost more.

The manufacturers of outdoor heaters, trying to keep the price of their units down, don’t design and build their outdoor heaters in the same way.

There is nothing wrong with this practice as long as the consumer only uses the heater outdoors, as intended.

Radiant Outdoor heaters

To be used safely, outdoor gas heaters need continuous ventilation. This makes heating the air with a convection heater impractical. For this reason, most outdoor heaters are radiant heaters.

Radiant Heaters warm you much like the sun.

Radiant heaters allow specific spaces within an area to be heated, primarily warming only the people and objects positioned in front of the unit. Amongst the advantages of radiant heaters is that they are generally a low cost option and require no electrical connection, which would be problematic outdoors. These are great heaters, as long as they remain outdoors.

Combustion and Carbon Monoxide (CO)

All gas appliances, domestic and industrial, produce water vapour, Carbon Dioxide and heat, and usually very small amounts of Carbon Monoxide.

If installed and maintained correctly, the operation of the gas appliance provides quick and efficient heating, cooking, hot water and more, and the products of combustion do not create any hazardous situations.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor