Unvented hydrocarbon-fueled space heaters represent an alternative source of heating comfort for the consumer. Included in this category are kerosene, natural gas, and LPG-fueled convective heaters. The increased use of these heaters has drawn concern from some sources as presenting a potential health hazard as a result of decreased indoor air quality from the unvented combustion products. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in particular, has instituted a major program to bring about the adoption of voluntary standards for the emission rates of trace gases from unvented space heaters.

Both the kerosene heater industry and the gas industry have established technical task groups to work with the CPSC to identify and resolve the technical issues associated with the need for an emission standard from unvented heaters. All three groups are supporting research to support these task groups. The research currently underway addresses problems associated with emission measurement protocols, emission product concentration distribution under controlled test house conditions, heater user studies, and field surveys of emission product levels. The gas industry's research projects are described and preliminary results from some of them presented.

Units: SI