Heating

Heating

Heating - Wall Heaters, Floor Heaters, Forced Air

Wall Heaters are essentially like a stove or oven, and share many of the same components, thermostats, valves, and pilots.

With any gas fired appliance, heaters need to vent from inside of the home to the outside. Most tall wall heaters vent through a 4" oval vent that sits inside the wall of the home, up through the ceiling. If the vent is restricted in anyway it can cause the heater to burn abnormally and cause carbon monoxide. If the burner of the heater is dirty in anyway this can also cause carbon monoxide.

This is why it is important to have your heater serviced after the summer season. if you turn off the pilot during the summer, the heater collects dust and will need to vacuumed out. Even after the cleaning, once you fire up the heater, it will still have a burning smell, this is normal, and once the heater has been on for awhile, the smell will go away.

If you try to light the pilot and it does not stay lit after you release the pilot button, you could have a bad thermocouple or pilot generator. This is a relatively easy repair, if you install a new generator and the pilot still doesn't stay lit. It is most likely the safety valve that is bad, and it will need to be replaced.
A lot of the wall heaters here in Long Beach, ca. are very old and need major work. If the heater looks like it has all original parts, and hasn't been serviced in years, we normally recommend a complete rebuild, which consists of replacing the safety valve, pilot generator, gas shut off valve, the gas line, and adding a wall thermostat to make the unit more efficient. We also completely clean and vacuum the entire heater.

Floor heaters are basically the same thing as a wall heater, except that it sits in the actual floor of the home. It still needs to be vented properly and needs to be cleaned regularly as a lot of debri can easily fall through the grill of the heater. Many floor heaters need a considerable amount of work as they are subject to a lot of moisture that comes from under the home.

Forced air heating is a little more sophisticated than wall heaters, and some even use a computer to control heating.
The general principal is the same as all heating, but forced air adds a blower motor that blows heat through ducting in the home.

Venting is also crucial with these, and it is recommended to have the ducts cleaned at least once a year, as a lot of dust and allergens can build up in the ducts.

Whatever your heatings needs are, Don's Appliances can help keep you warm!
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