They are fine, nice ambience. Right now, however, propane is running $2.50 a dollar, and until prices come back down (to $1.65 per gal, or so)it's more expensive than electric heat.
Electricity here, costs $0.07 cents per kWh.
1 kWh............................ 3,413 BTU's
1 gallon LP ...................92,500 BTU's
1 Therm. of Nat. Gas .........100,000 BTU'S
1 gallon #2 Fuel oil..........140,000 BTU'S
"I'd prefer to refrain from running gas lines if I can help it, but I wanna allow for some decent local heat gain when these units are in use...if I can disguise the tank aesthetically, do the units make economic sense?
Yer a math whiz, and with the above fuel chart, it should be easy fer ya' to pencil out the cost comparison. Natural gas is almost always the cheapest way to go.
Nat. gas water heaters are .50 cents on the dollar, over electric.
You can't desguise propane tanks by painting a dark color, as they will absorb heat, and expand, and that ain't a good thing. Propane tanks need to be out in the open, for air flow. You can put lattice work around them, or something.
"And are they idiot/tenant proof?"
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA.....HOW LONG YOU BEEN A LANDLORD???
Generally speaking, yes. Depends on how big of idiot yer talkin' about. I still don't understand yer objection to Nat Gas, which is stable price wise, volatility wise, etc. (Propane is heavier than air, natural gas has a .60 specific gravity.)
Plus with nat. gas, you won't have tenants callin' you in the middle of the night, sayin, "My pilot light went out, because I was too stoopid to refuel on time, and I ran out."
FRegards
Since '87, with increasing consternation at how ridiculously inept Renters can be...garbage disposals usedta be standard in all my rentals until I realized that renters are incapable of keeping forks from jamming them up and me having to go do the repair, over and over again, now you couldn't pay me enuff to specify a garbage disposal in any property that was not owner-occupied...LOL!! I think you convinced me to go with the natural gas...I was lookin' fer shortcuts, but doing it right is always the best solution.
"what am I gittin' fer all this info."
Future considerations, Dru, future consideration...MUD