So what's
the downside to flueless gas appliances? So far as we are aware,
there are none! Several urban myths would have it otherwise,
but all have been categorically proved to be just that - myths.
Here are the facts:
The Safety
Record
Fixed flueless gas fires have an outstanding safety record and
by the end of 2007, approximately 15 million flueless gas fires
had been sold in the USA and some 40 million in Japan.
In
the USA, forty-nine of the fifty states already approve flueless
(or vent-free as they call it) gas appliances because
of their proven safety and reliability record - California is
the last to follow.
(See: www.ventfree.org/content/view/36/53/).
Further information about the "rumours and misinformation"
regarding the safety of flueless gas appliances is found at
www.ventfree.org.
In
America, the ANSI Z21 11.2 Standard and National Fuel Gas Code
was revised in 1994 to permit wall mounted installations of
vent-free gas heaters of 10,000 Btu or less in bedrooms and
6,000 Btu or less in Bathrooms. As always check local codes
Safety
Standards
Flueless gas fires are also extremely clean burning and under
stringent European Standards test show that Burley flueless
gas fires are more than four times better than the stringent
code requires.
Reliability
Catalytic conversion is also extremely reliable, and there are
no recorded occasions when any Burley catalytic converter has
had to be replaced through component failure.
Oxygen
Depletion Safety
All of our Burley flueless/vent-free gas fires have an integral
dual purpose Oxygen Detection Safety (ODS) pilot (also known
as Oxygen Depletion Sensor) which automatically shuts off the
flow of the gas in the rare instance that the level of oxygen
in the room falls from the normal 20.9% to 18.5% or an interruption
in the fuel supply occurs. 18.5% is lower than the normal level
but still well above safe levels for human occupation.
There have
been a few incidents surrounding vent-free appliances, but in
every case the fault lay in below standard, unqualified or unregulated
fitting of the appliance, and the failure to fit the legally
required extra ventilation.
Smells
& Odours
One myth has it that catalytic converters give off unpleasant
odours. This is largely based on people's experience of automobiles,
where there is undoubtedly additional odour added to exhaust
gases by catalytic conversion. But, in our Burley domestic flueless
gas fires, only the highest quality and most appropriate materials
are used in their manufacture, and as a result, our flueless
gas fires and stoves are totally odour-free.
Condensation
Another popular falsehood is that flueless gas appliances cause
a great deal of condensation, as water vapour is one of the
by-products of combustion. This is not the case. Most fires
in a modern home are used as a secondary heat source in any
case, as the major source is from central heating. Given normal
ambient room temperatures, any water vapour or moisture is naturally
dissipated by normal air movement. There will only ever be slight
condensation on windows in cold rooms, especially where windows
are only single glazed - as is the case with all conventional
gas fires - so there is no difference whether the fire is flued
or flueless.
