Calcana Heaters - Review/Install

[swd_82]

Thought you all may enjoy a story and some pics about my dealings with Calcana and the heater install.

Bought the heater from 'EnRich', and he's a pretty decent guy to deal with. I bought one of these 're-conditioned' units that he was selling at the end of last year and needless to say I bought it blind. Now when he said that there were a few scuff marks on the heater, I expected a 'few scuff marks'. Needless to say, I got a few dents on the top of the heater and a fist sized dent on the end of the heater. This wasn't acceptable at all because it would have totally been visible, and considering I was buying the Stainless Steel model (the farrarri of heaters as he puts it soo eloquently), I wanted my goods to be in slightly more than banged up condition.

So I come back to 'EnRich' with my issues, and I get the 'you get what you paid for' speech with no redress. I say that's total crap because I did NOT pay for a dented up POS. So after some arm twisting and a few harsh words, he finally lived up to his reputation of being a quality salesman, and promises to build me a complete new unit which will be ready in 3 weeks time.

Rating = 7/10 .... Only reason I say this is because I really had to do some arm twisting and cursing in order to have him come through with a brand new unit. Had I been any weaker of a person, he would have walked all over me and I would be left with a sour taste in my mouth right now. Can't fault him for that though because I essentially got a brand new unit for a discounted price. :D Words of wisdom for future dealings would be if your buying a used/dented/re-conditioned unit, inspect before you buy in order to avoid any surprises when you unwrap your present.

Install went fairly smoothly other than having to hang the heater twice due to being off the gas line we ran before the hanging. *Note* Pipes supplied by them CANNOT be bent due to them being galvanized. Any questions at all, PM me and i'll do my best. Here are the pics. Enjoi!

http://www.ghostlakeiceboats.ca/pics/calcana/p2170234.jpg
http://www.ghostlakeiceboats.ca/pics/calcana/p2170230.jpg
http://www.ghostlakeiceboats.ca/pics/calcana/p2170232.jpg
http://www.ghostlakeiceboats.ca/pics/calcana/p2170233.jpg

[rage2]

Congrats! Lemme know what you think, cuz really, I would not live without one ever since using one, curious if that's how others feel too.

[sneek]

I wanted to get one of these units but I personally think the piping is ugly

[swd_82]

Hmm, guess I could have spoken more about how much I like the heater ;)

If you are going to run this heater for extended periods of time, I would really suggest that you insulate the entire space beforehand. The only reason I say this is because I deal with epoxies that have a cure time of 8 hours or so, so the heater will be left running all night, and its quite wasteful and works non stop to keep the ambient temp up. The ceiling in my garage isn't insulated as of yet, but once it is.... oh will it ever get warm in there and the 40k btu setting really won't be needed other than for a quick warm up session.

However that being said, for when i'm working in the garage, I put the hi/lo switch up to 40,000 btu's and it works like a charm. Within 20 minutes, i'm working in short sleeves with it being -20 outside.

I absolutely love the thing, and it is so much better than a space heater. I deal with wood as well, so dust kicking up from the space heater (Reznor, etc.) is irritating at best... so I would fully recommend a radiant heater by these guys. It's a solid unit that performs and looks great! Now i just have to remove the masking tape from all the fittings :nut:

Anyone else have these heaters installed?

[swd_82]

Agreed on the intake piping... I've got a straight section that i'm going to replace that corrugated Shiat with. That tube crap is just butt ugly.....

You think the custom exhaust is ugly too?

[EnRich]

Thanks for the review!

[Crymson]

Can you post a pick of the external exhaust outlet?

[EnRich]

Originally posted by swd_82
Agreed on the intake piping... I've got a straight section that i'm going to replace that corrugated Shiat with. That tube crap is just butt ugly.....

You think the custom exhaust is ugly too?

You really shoulda cut your wall timble, so that it would be flush with your wall. That exhaust job looks sketchy...


Originally posted by Crymson
Can you post a pick of the external exhaust outlet?

http://www.calcana.com/garage_gallery_3.html

[tc3]

So what was the bottom dollar after install?
Did they provide an installer/recommendation?
Thx

[EnRich]

Originally posted by tc3
So what was the bottom dollar after install?
Did they provide an installer/recommendation?
Thx

My installers charge $750 - $850 including permit and delivery. Thats why 95% of my customers install it themselves.

[swd_82]

I'll post a pic of the exhaust tonight in addition to EnRich's.

As for the exhaust install, i'm just lazy and wanted to finish the drywall/tape mud/paint before I messed with it further. So i'll take the entire system apart when it gets a bit warmer and shave down the gimble so it sits flush against the wall.

And I really have to get rid of that corrugated intake. Man does it look like ass.:thumbsdow

[EnRich]

^^ LoL I dont mind it at all. I think it looks good. It could look great if you shaved that too, made it go straight into the intake instead of sagging...