Heating a Guest House at Altitude

12 years ago

I've recently acquired a property at high altitude -8000+ feet located in Colorado. The whole guest house is about 1000 square foot. The kitchen/dining/living are all open, then there is the bathroom and bedroom at the back. The main area is heated by a Jotul gas stove. There also used to be a vented gas heater in the bathroom, located at the back end of the house.

I need to replace that heater in the bathroom with something that will warm the back rooms in the house. Would another vented gas heater be the way to go? I find them rather ugly and am considering using this property as a vacation rental. The vent-free gas heaters don't seem to be recommended at altitude. What other options do I have? What is most efficient for small areas? I've seen there are eco-heaters, pelonis radiant heaters, electric baseboard etc -would these be an option or would I be better with the vented gas heater? Are there any non-bulky looking vented gas heaters out there or something else that might work?

Thanks for any suggestions you can make!

Carolyn

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Comments (3)

tigerdunes
12 years ago
Is there room to install a ductwork system for a forced air system?

AC not needed?

Mini split HP system might be viable.

How are the insulation properties of this guest house?

Nat gas is available or just propane?

What is your KWH cost of electric?

The Jotul stove will remain in operation?

How much will this property be used?

You do have many options but I would place safety first and foremost when making a decision.

IMO
equinecpa
Original Author
12 years ago
Is there room to install a ductwork system for a forced air system? There is room for ductwork but I'm not sure where a furnace could go?

AC not needed? No

Mini split HP system might be viable. Sorry for being not up to speed what is this?

How are the insulation properties of this guest house? Old log (as in 1930's) so probably not great.

Nat gas is available or just propane? It is actually on Nat Gas currently.

What is your KWH cost of electric? I'm not sure I've only had one electric bill and it was for the minimum.H

The Jotul stove will remain in operation? Yes and it seems to do a good job.

How much will this property be used? Currently it is rented for the winter, after that it may be a vacation rental so I imagine in the winter only on weekends and holidays.

You do have many options but I would place safety first and foremost when making a decision. I agree. Safety first (especially with renters).

I need something that can go in quickly with a tenant living there. I'm thinking forced air would be overkill for about 400 square feet that I'm trying to heat?

I don't like the vented gas units (I think they are ugly). The vent less don't appear to be a good solution at altitude. So what does that leave me? Baseboards and space heaters? Am I missing anything?
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tigerdunes
12 years ago
For just 400 sq ft, electric baseboard would be cheapest to install but more expensive to operate. Reasonably safe. Electric panel needs to be checked for capacity to handle electric heat.Depends on size. Probably around 5 KBTUs. You may want to see if there is a model that offers two stages, a low and high output with a thermostat.

This may be more for an electric contractor rather than an HVAC contractor.

IMO