Wall furnaces are self-contained, vented heaters that are attached or mounted to a wall in a residential, office or small commercial building. They provide heat directly to the surrounding space and are used to heat single indoor rooms instead of whole buildings. The heated air is dispersed into the room by gravity or a blower fan.
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Wall furnaces are cost effective methods of installing a heating system into older houses and buildings that do not contain duct work but need an updated method of heating; they usually have ineffective water or steam heating systems. They are also useful for a single room in a house that is much colder during the winter than all the others, perhaps because of windows, insulation or number of outside-facing walls. Mounting these small furnaces is much less expensive than installing duct work through an entire building, and they greatly reduce heating costs because they only provide warmth for rooms that are being used. Wall furnaces are gas powered and use propane or natural gas as fuel. An unfortunate side effect of wall furnaces is that they produce carbon monoxide as a byproduct. To prevent deadly inhalation, all of these furnaces contain vents to the outside as well as sensors that detect carbon monoxide and alert residents if the room's oxygen level is too low.
Wall furnaces are simple heating systems that use fuel, which is supplied to the furnace in one of two ways. It could be contained in an outdoor storage tank and refilled monthly by a fuel delivery truck. The furnace could also be attached to fuel lines that run from a large, central line. This method is measured through a meter and the residents are charged monthly for their fuel intake. The heat itself is provided by a pilot light and flame, which is ignited by the fuel. A ceramic panel is located above the burner inside an open casing that is covered with a grating for safety. The ceramic is heated up and emits radiant heat. Convection furnaces use a fan to disperse the heated air, while infrared emits heat that is spread by gravity. There are many different wall furnace configurations and sizes, as well as BTU output, which depend on the size of the room and the desired temperature. Some units are 2-sided, and provide heat to two different rooms with a shared wall.
