Gas Heaters In Bedrooms . . .
By most building codes, any gas appliance can be installed in a bedroom so long as it is rated for that application. Direct vent heaters such as posted above by Louis are fine because they pull combustion air from outside the building and vent waste gases back to outside. Gas fired manufactured fireplaces are also OK so long as they are direct vent. Regular gas furnaces and manufactured fireplaces are not OK because they pull combustion air from the room and in the event of a flue blockage could potentially keep burning and force combustion gases into the living space.
Generally the codes are written so as to not allow any gas-fired device accessed from a sleeping room unless rated for the application. The part about access can be tricky: obviously you can't put a heater closet in a bedroom but the code doesn't address indirect access through a bedroom. The most common place for furnaces in a new house is the attic, and the master closet is often used as an access hatch location since you don't have to worry much about what the hatch looks like on the ceiling. Most inspectors are OK with this, but I've seen a few who won't allow it since access is ultimately through the bedroom.
Years ago I worked on a new house where the water heater closet opened into the master bath/closet. This was a huge area of over 1000 sq. ft. with a high vaulted ceiling over normal 8' walls dividing the space below. The inspector threw a tizzy even though the bath/closet had both a second door directly to a hallway and also a pair of french doors to the outside, so the contractor had to install a direct vent water heater.
Regarding opening a window due to poor control of steam heating, I first saw this back in the '90s in Dresden at a lovely museum near the city center. It was cold outside but very toasty inside the building's upper floors until I got to one room that was demonstrably cooler. The room had exhibits of small antiques like clocks that were of interest to me so I spent awhile and discovered several windows were cracked open. Presumably the building heat ran off an old DDR era central system and nobody cared much about the waste. No doubt this has been fixed by now but at the time it struck me as bizarre to be opening windows to regulate heat rather than having an effective thermostat.
[this post was last edited: 1/3/2014-10:38]
By most building codes, any gas appliance can be installed in a bedroom so long as it is rated for that application. Direct vent heaters such as posted above by Louis are fine because they pull combustion air from outside the building and vent waste gases back to outside. Gas fired manufactured fireplaces are also OK so long as they are direct vent. Regular gas furnaces and manufactured fireplaces are not OK because they pull combustion air from the room and in the event of a flue blockage could potentially keep burning and force combustion gases into the living space.
Generally the codes are written so as to not allow any gas-fired device accessed from a sleeping room unless rated for the application. The part about access can be tricky: obviously you can't put a heater closet in a bedroom but the code doesn't address indirect access through a bedroom. The most common place for furnaces in a new house is the attic, and the master closet is often used as an access hatch location since you don't have to worry much about what the hatch looks like on the ceiling. Most inspectors are OK with this, but I've seen a few who won't allow it since access is ultimately through the bedroom.
Years ago I worked on a new house where the water heater closet opened into the master bath/closet. This was a huge area of over 1000 sq. ft. with a high vaulted ceiling over normal 8' walls dividing the space below. The inspector threw a tizzy even though the bath/closet had both a second door directly to a hallway and also a pair of french doors to the outside, so the contractor had to install a direct vent water heater.
Regarding opening a window due to poor control of steam heating, I first saw this back in the '90s in Dresden at a lovely museum near the city center. It was cold outside but very toasty inside the building's upper floors until I got to one room that was demonstrably cooler. The room had exhibits of small antiques like clocks that were of interest to me so I spent awhile and discovered several windows were cracked open. Presumably the building heat ran off an old DDR era central system and nobody cared much about the waste. No doubt this has been fixed by now but at the time it struck me as bizarre to be opening windows to regulate heat rather than having an effective thermostat.
[this post was last edited: 1/3/2014-10:38]
