Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Home Comfort DV21N Direct Vent Natural Gas Heater Review

Home Comfort DV21N Direct Vent Natural Gas Heater
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $546.00
Sale Price: $454.99
Today's Bonus: 17% Off
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The wall furnace looked fine when unpacked, but during the installation process I found the combustion chamber had twisted away from the somewhat flimsy brackets on the secondary bracket that mounts on the wall bracket. I am guessing the unit was dropped on a corner during shipping and the chamber assembly twisted free, breaking the rivets that held it and twisting 2 of the 4 brackets. I could have returned it, I'm sure, for a replacement, but a careful examination showed no other damage. We bent the brackets back and securely riveted them. The gas inlet filter also fell out when the dust plug was removed. This was tricky to get back into position properly, so the unit needed to have a brass fitting installed while the unit was upside down. Then the gas line was attached when the unit was back on the wall.

The cut-out template was accurate. I did a drill through the wall and cut the outside vent hole just slightly down from the inside vent hole to allow the required 3% drop for water drainage. Cutting the vent pipe and rod as specified in the directions resulted in a perfect through-the-wall installation of the vent assembly. The vent assembly covers make for an attractive installation outside. Once in place and running, the heater performed very well, easily heating a 1000 sq. ft. apartment. The outside temperatures are about 35 40deg F, so this is not a severe weather environment. The sealed chamber combustion using outside air which is vented back out through a central exhaust vent means there is no chance of sucking air out of the room or exhausting combustion byproducts into the room unless you install the vent assembly below or right next to a window or other opening into the structure. Follow the guidelines and you have a safe installation. That is, assuming the combustion chamber does not leak. I have no way of determining if that will happen over time, but there were no apparent combustion products of any kind coming from the wall furnace when newly installed. Even the normal new-heater burn-off odor was very low.

I could not give this a 5 star rating because of the flimsy internal mounting bracket issue. The unit cover is also made of materials that appear to be thinner than the painted sheet metal covers one usually encounters on furnace cover assemblies. However, for the price, this wall furnace appears to do an excellent job of heating, and the installed furnace is actually pretty attractive.

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I ordered this from the dent-n-scratch warehouse, and it was described as dented. It has a rugged exterior casing, and a really heavy and solid inside mechanism. But the connection between them is 4 flimsy bent sheetmetal brackets with rivets. I suspect that any force great enough to dent the outside, is great enough to twist the brackets and rip out the rivets--which is exactly how I received it.

I decided to hammer out the dents and rivet things back together. But unless you are willing to do that, don't buy this unit online--buy it from a local distributor. The factory packaging IS NOT ADEQUATE for UPS shipping. It is packaged for delivery to a retail store strapped onto a pallet. I see no way that this unit could survive shipping in the factory packaging, unless it is crated.

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