Vent Free Gas Products Alliance Misrepresent Approvals In United States

The Vent Free Gas Products Alliance has a track record for selective reporting of the facts, with regards to all vent free gas appliances and their approvals.  It should come as no surprise that virtually every time I have visited their website, I have found contradictory, misleading and generalized statements that are half-truths, at best.  Their mandate, after all, is simply to promote vent free gas appliances and to so, it seems they are willing to say and use anything and everything they can to support their dubious contentions of safety.

I recented copied this statement from the first page of their website: 

"The Alliance is responsible for the continued success of Vent-Free gas products in the U.S. with more than 20 million units installed in the U.S. Because of their proven track record, Vent-Free gas products are now accepted in most states."

Now, in my opinion, when a large organization makes a broad generalized statement like the one quoted above, the reader shouldn't have any cause to question it's accuracy.  However, in this case, I was motivated to see what "most" means.  I suggest that if you live in San Francisco, Houston, or New York City, you're going to feel okay about going out to buy one of these products, having read that line.  In all of these cases you would be ordering an appliance that is illegal to use in your city or state.  I already knew that, but I wondered where else the city engineers had fought back against the introduction of vent free gas appliances and won.

Where else might you run afoul of the local by-laws prohibiting the use of vent-free gas appliances?

Alaska:          Only allowed in certain areas.
Arizona:        Only allowed in certain areas.
California:      Banned throughout the state.
Colorado:      Allowed in parts of state, not high in altitude areas.
D.C.:            Allowed, but not in bedrooms or bathrooms.
Florida:         Allowed in parts of the state with added ventilation.
Idaho:          Allowed in parts of the state.
Illinois:         Not allowed in some cities throughout the state.
Maryland:     Permitted in Baltimore housing projects.
Mass:          Not permitted in bedrooms or bathrooms.
Michigan:     Allowed in parts of the state.
Minnesota:   Not allowed in cities with populations over 2500?
Nebraska:     Not allowed in Fremont.
NH:             Not allowed in Manchester, NH.
New Mexico: Only propane appliances allowed. (?)
New York:    Banned in New York City.
Nevada:       Allowed in some cities.
N. Carolina:  Not allowed in basements.
N. Dakota:   Allowed in some areas of the state.
Ohio:          Not allowed in Stark County.
S. Dakota:   Allowed in some parts of the state. 
Texas:        Not allowed in Austin or Houston.
Utah:          Not allowed at high altitude areas.
Vermont:     Allowed in some areas within the state.
Washington: Allowed in some areas within the state.
Wisconsin:   Only allowed in homes built prior to 1980
Wyoming:     Allowed in some areas within the state.

I actually found this list on the Vent Free Gas Products Alliance own website.  It's there on an Excel spreadsheet, though not easy to find, as it isn't something they publish in the forefront of their site.

After reading through the above list of entire states, counties, cities and unidentified regions (what does some or various regions mean?) it seems to me that there are still a vast population within the U.S. where these products have not been accepted and it is actually illegal to own one there.   It further occurs to me that the Vent Free Gas Products Alliance has purposely buried this information, making it a grey area that they do not want to talk about.

Something else crosses my mind as I read through this list.  More than half of the United States have taken some very different approaches to the problem of whether or not to allow vent free gas products to be sold.  I.E.  Only in homes built prior to 1980?  Only in towns with populations of up to 2500 people?  Not in Austin, Houston or New York City?  

I suggest that these larger cities have municipal engineers who know a thing or two about gas appliances and don't like the idea of vent free gas products in their backyards.  I don't understand what Minnesota has against small towns. 

Going back to the VFGPA statement:

" Vent-Free gas products are now accepted in most states."

Would it not be more honest to say, "many" states, however, many states have excluded major areas and cities or have additional local requirements to national requirements?  In fact, when one takes the exclusions into account, it seems that "most" states have not completely accepted them.

I wonder how many people living in the states, regions and cities that have still banned them are living with an illegal appliance that is not endorsed by their local building codes?   If you own one and live within one of the places noted above, I suggest you check with your local municipal building inspector, to see if it was an illegal installation that would void any future insurance claims you might try to submit.

The ever present question that keeps coming back to me is, why would so many state, city, and county building officials determine that all vent free gas appliances are not safe for their constituents, while so many others have blindly accepted them as safe?  Is California crazy?  Is New York City, Austin and Houston too uptight?  What about Canada, are they all insane for their country-wide ban. 

Or, as I believe and have ranted incessantly for many years, are vent free heaters and fireplaces dangerous to the health and welfare of consumers.

Take care, check your local codes and check out vented options, before being suckered into buying a vent free gas fireplace/heater.

Regards,

The Gasman