Cadet Heater replacment?

[Gary]

Overview of home: My wife and I are in process of buying 1990 1700 sq ft home out of Washington State (mild/touches of harsh climate). The inspctor notified us of faulty/DANGEROUS in-wall CADET HEATERS in home. The home has 4 bedrooms upstairs, with the “living spaces” mostly downstairs. The home also has a woodstove, which I hope to use often in the future. (we have 3 toddlers, so current safety is a factor with the woodstove for now). We are also hoping to convert to propane, or Natural Gas (not likely available) to heat the water, dryer and perhaps run a gas stove /furnace. Due to current equity in home we are selling, and the great deal on the home, we will have a few thousand dollars available to apply towards housing improments/cost efficiency if we desire. Any advice?

Questions:

Can a person such as myself simply buy the “replacment inners” to these wall units for the bedroom units?

I am conserned with ducting/alergies with heating. Is this a realistic consern with residential systems? (is it costly to replace the filters?)

[Harold hydronicnetwork.net]

Ask if the owner had replaced the units under the recall notice:

http://www.kidsource.com/cpsc/InWallHeaters.recall.html

If so, the units might be safe by now.

Check the cost per btuh delivered between propane and electricity as electricity is usually less expensive in your area. If you install ducted systems include a very effective pleated filter in the return. The Air Bear media has to be changed twice per year, but it prevents dust and allergens from entering the ducts to create allergy problems. $100 for high-efficiency filters is a reasonable investment in health.

[tomh]

Best wishes for your new home. Right off the bat I would be inclined to replace the electric wall heaters with a propane gas fired forced air furnace. The feasibility and cost will be affected by whether ducts can be economically routed. One way is to obtain 2-smaller units and locate one downstairs (crawl space?) and the other in the attic. This would give you an efficient zoned system. The propane units will cost far less to operate than electrical units and much of the cost of establishing a tank and gas line may be subsidized by taking a contract with a local propane company. (They often set tanks and route gas lines without cost). This also sets you up for the future hot water and dryer.

Ask a local heating and cooling company to provide you a bid to see if this option, or one they might suggest, fits in your budget. It would be a far better investment to get an efficient comfortable and safe heating system in place rather than continue to renovate the electric units. And just think how much space you will recover without having to work around the wall heaters.

If money is an issue, A DIY option may be possible if you are knowlegable in routing electrical and gas lines, or even just the flex duct lines. If the hookups are already in place, and you route flex ducts, the furnace installation cost may be negligible. The furnace vendor / installer would provide equipment, and fabricate a connection plenum, mount the furnace, make connections, and hook up your flex ducts. Your work would probably save you at least 1/3 on overall cost.

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