Doesn it cost a lot to run a ventless heater?
It costs pennies per hour to operate a ventless gas supplemental heating appliance. A typical ventless fireplace consumes 26,000 Btus per hour. Assuming the unit operates at peak operation for one hour based on the DOE’s 2006 unit cost of natural gas, it would only cost 36 cents an hour to run the appliance. Operating the appliance for two hours per day for a month and adding the minimal cost of the pilot, the monthly cost would be approximately $26.64 per month.1 Note: Most ventless units have thermostats that lower the heat when they reach a pre-set temperature, so these appliances DO NOT operate at peak output all of the time. Consequently, the operating cost of a ventless appliance equipped with a thermostat is even less than the one given in the example above.
