PTFE / Teflon in Cozy™ Gas Wall Heater?

[BoomBoom]

Hello all! Hope you and your birds are well. My sun conure and two parakeets send their regards.

Our apartment owner recently replaced my non-operational gas wall heater to a new one made by a company called Cozy Heaters, seen here: Gravity Wall Furnance - Cozy Heating System LLC . It looks like a standard wall heater. I wanted to make sure it did not contain PTFE or Teflon chemicals so I checked their manuals and website but found no mention of it. I called the manufacturer but they would not release the information to me because "I was not the owner of the heater." HUH!? Spoke to several people including a supervisor but I could not go further up the chain. I could tell they knew who I was at some point because they would always tell me, "You're the guy with the bird." Some were actually very rude and dismissive of me, maybe because they felt the issue was not important since they're "just birds." Supervisor even told me, "You're making a big deal out of this." I told them as manufacturers you have the obligation to disclose to your consumers potentially harmful contents in your products. All they said was they "think" it's safe but they can't disclose information to me because I did not purchase the heater, my property owner did.

I am upset because the weather's getting colder and my portable electric space heater isn't cutting it. One of my parakeets has special needs (fatty liver disease) so I need to make sure he's comfortable this winter.

It's something only bird lovers would understand. Does anyone have any experience with Cozy Gas Wall Heaters? I searched extensively about the product but nothing came up. The inside looks pretty standard, made of some kind of uncoated metal with welded joints / edges. The exterior is natural bone baked enamel according to their spec sheet. It looks kind of 'old fashioned' for a new product. Does anyone have advice / info for me? Am I over-thinking this?

 

[Flboy]

Hang them with reviews 1

 

[SailBoat]

I am really not sure why they had been so overly-protective of the construction of this style of heater, other than it being overly basic and the only new tech is the electronics.

As with any combustion style heater, the concern is the venting to the Great Outdoors! If it vents straight-out of the wall, you're good to go! If it doesn't vent outside, they are dangerous and should be avoided. It has been years since any North American based manufacturer has provided that style unit.

Take the time to walk outside and look at what comes though the wall in that area. If nothing, that's an issue. If there is what looks like an oversized vent hood, you got the upgraded unit. If the vent looks fairly simply, you got the standard unit.

Note: If you have not started this unit, the first day could /can produce some smells as the manufacturing coatings to keep the chamber metals from rusting heat-off. So, plan on having the Parrots out and about for the day.

 

[BoomBoom]

FLboy, I was actually considering making a twitter account (I've never used twitter ever) and blasting them. Was thinking of reporting them to Better Business Bureau but it feels like I'd be wasting my time since they probably won't even care.

Sailboat, yes it does have outside venting up through the wall. Their product manual confirms this. While I can't see my vent pipe outside, I am certain there is one because all my apartment complex neighbors have one atop their roof. Great idea on taking the birds out on the first run. I will do that. I was fuming the past few days on account of this, but your post eased my mind a bit.

I'll hold off running the heater for as long as possible. I'll continue my research in the mean time. If anyone has other information / experiences to share, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[PetoftheDay]

Tell you what, send me a PM with the phone number, and I will call the manufacturer. I will have more "clout" as I own and run a long-running pet website with both a forum, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter presence with many followers world-wide. And before all that, I can be quite charming when I need to be on the phone, and used to co-host a bird-based radio show.
That it vents to outsides great, But we still want to know!

 

[SailBoat]

Lets slowdown a bit. Just what do you plan on getting by slashing this company on social media anyway? Just because they choose not to provide a Non-Buyer the inter-workings of product that has been around since gas burners came onto the market does not provide anyone here the right to slam them.

Yes, they could have easily just stated that they do not include those products, but I am going to guess that your question may have been more general. The reality is that this type of product does produce smells at start-up and they have likely been advised by an Attorney to not answer such questions as what is safe and what is not is a moving target driven by the vast majority of junk science out there.

Please advise me of what part(s) of that unit would have PTFE / Teflon products. Or, why would they choose to use those products as part of their unit. After all this type of product is designed to provide heat, to have warm to hot surfaces and as a result move heat into a room. Human hands may find their way to the outer covers for a moment of warmth, but the product is not designed to be worked with and held like an Iron, etc... So, why use a product that is counter to the needs of this type of unit.

Your time would be better served by simply asking your Landlord if you could read the installation / operation manual. Within that document would be a section of warnings. Near all your questions addressed by simply reading the manual.

 

[Kiwibird]

I agree with Sailboat here. If they were rude to you, that's one thing to call them out for it, but not violating company policy for you isn't really a reason to complain. I have never heard of a gas furnace having teflon in it anyways. Why would it? Also, teflon doesn't even start off gassing until it gets above 400 degrees. A genuine concern in kitchen applications as ovens and pans on the stove easily reach those temps, but if your gas furnace is reaching the internal temps necessary for teflon fumes to be produced, you have far bigger issues to worry about.

We had a beast of an old POS gas furnace in an old apartment. Sucker smelled of burnt dust and a (very faint) gas smell when you'd turn it on the first time of the season, the pilot was finicky and more heat vented outside than remained inside. A big, inefficient, costly PITA to run but it was harmless.

 

[SailBoat]

So, I went to their website using the address you provided and quickly found that under Support, one finds Product Manuals and based on the style you stated, I found the manual for the unit you have.

As I had guessed, this unit is a basic wall style heater that has been around since the fifties. The only changes have been the heat exchanger and burners to meet changes in the early 1990's and every few years since than to update to the new requirements for the starter system and gas flow shut-off valves.

I would recommend that you run it at normal temperature before it gets really cold and you find yourself not wanting to take your Parrots out for the day!

 

[BoomBoom]

Thank you, everyone for your comments and support. I guess I was over-thinking this. Thank you, Sailboat for looking at the manual. It was probably the same one I downloaded from Cozy Heater's site a few days ago. Back then, I was focused on searching the terms "teflon" or "PTFE" but did not study the design. Even so, I probably would have not been able to grasp the changes you described, so thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I feel a lot more relieved and calm now. I don't intend to take it to social media anymore. Yesterday was a different story. I was just angry at the fact that they already have the information, they just chose to withhold it because I was not the purchaser of the product. So I wanted to take my question to a more public arena (i.e. Twitter). BBB was a bit overboard now that I think about it, even though they were rude to me. I still firmly believe that manufacturers have the obligation to answer these questions pertaining to safety concerns, regardless if the person asking is a buyer, a potential buyer or merely a user of their product. I would have accepted a simple, "We don't know."

I'm putting that behind me now. All that matters is my birds will be nice and warm this winter. I'll turn on the heater this weekend after an exhaust run. Thank you once again!

 

[LordTriggs]

some people are just rude. Unfortunately call centre people get the worst of it every day so they're dismissive of everything

a potential other line to go by would be to call under a different name and say you have a respiratory problem yourself which teflon is harmful to. They'd be a lot more concerned if they were to have a dead person on their hands than a bird