The most common wall heater is the electric wall heater.  Other alternative types of wall heaters include both the propane and the natural gas wall heater. Wall heaters are commonly installed in dens, basements, attics, garages, bathrooms and offices, or any room that is not reached by central heating.

There are two separate types of wall heaters. One is the heater that is attached to the wall via brackets or other fasteners, and then hooked up to an energy source.  Then you have the in-wall heaters, which are actually inset into a wall.

The in-wall heater is generally installed after the wall is finished, and not while the room is being built. Most come with a built in thermostat, which is important in regulating the temperature in rooms with single heating units. In-wall fan heaters are not cheap, and a good 2000 watt unit will end up costing you somewhere around $100 or slightly less.  If you are going to buy an in-wall electric heater, make sure that it comes with a good warrantee. Usually you should get ten years on the element and at least one year on all other components.  A 1,500 to 2,000 watt unit should be able to adequately heat up to a 150 square foot room without any difficulty.

The so called blue flame wall heater is usually fired by either propane or natural gas.  There are actually quite a few dual fuelled heaters on the market too, these days, which can use either energy source. When checking out these type of heaters, it’s good to make sure that there is a blower included, as often these end up being sold separately meaning you pay more for the heater than you originally planned.

The great thing with wall heaters is that they can be used to heat an entire house, if you like, or they can be installed and used to heat ‘add-on’ rooms, or workspace. They can also be added to a room or area that needs additional heat to what is already installed.

Gas wall heaters are generally more environmentally friendly and they are actually more efficient at heating their surroundings. However, in spite of this, many people still choose electric over gas. Why?  Well, it goes without saying that electric heaters are generally much easier to install than gas or propane heaters, and they can usually be used wherever there is electricity available.  Electric heaters also often end up being less costly than installing and running a gas heater.  Think about  it. Electric heaters simply plug into a power socket, but gas heaters require access to a gas run which is very expensive to install as an extra.

When all is said and done, the single unit electric wall heater is the most common wall heater currently in use in homes.  It is simple to install and fairly cheap to run.

More and more people are beginning to use the natural gas heater as their primary heating source. In fact, in America natural gas heating is more common than any other type of heating, including the much more expensive electrical heating.  Consistently, when renovating, home owners are often doing away with the more expensive heating systems and converting to a natural gas system. While it does cost a little to do the initial conversion, enough savings are made by heating homes using natural gas to make it worthwhile.

Just about any kind of heater, or heating system, can be run off natural gas from home central heating to small wall or space heaters, and even ventless gas fireplaces. It is also easy to install a natural gas water heater, thus cutting back electricity costs even further.

There are many other reasons, besides the savings made from installing a natural gas heater, that people like them.  The warm, sometimes blue, flame and glow they give off and the consistent heat makes rooms cozy and comfortable. They heat up fairly quickly, are practically noiseless and don’t give off any unusual odors or smells.

Also, having a heating system independent from electricity means that even if the electricity goes off for a time your home can remain warm.

It is said that natural gas heaters are more environmentally friendly than many other types of heating, especially wood or propane heaters.

One thing to note is that due to problems that could result from improperly installed systems, it is recommended or in some cases required that the gas heating system is installed by a gas technician. If you’re switching to a gas system from an electric system, this can usually be accomplished fairly quickly and easily, at minimum cost.  It is, naturally much more expensive to install an entire system from scratch although the money saved from installing natural gas heaters over an electric system will soon make up for installation costs.

If you are only looking to install a heater in one room, then a simple natural gas wall heater, natural gas space heater or natural gas fireplace should suffice.  It will give plenty of heat, enough to heat up one room comfortably.  Likewise, if you’re looking into heating up your garage you will likely find that the natural gas garage heater will be perfect for what you need–simple to operate, and fast at heating up the single room or garage.

There are a few safety functions to look for when buying a natural gas heater. One of the first things you should make sure your gas heating unit has is an oxygen depletion sensor.  This helps protect oxygen levels in the room by shutting off the heater if oxygen levels are depleted below what is healthy for you.

If gas flow is interrupted at any time, it’s important that the pilot light is shut off. So, look for natural gas heaters that automatically shut down the pilot light whenever gas flow is cut off. Otherwise the unit may overheat and become damaged, or if the gas suddenly comes on it could even explode.

If the gas flow into the heater is regulated you’ll find that the heat will be steady and more even, and the heater will work so much better. A well regulated gas flow also helps to conserve gas consumption.