need advice for heating

[Erin K.]

We recently bought a duplex that has a small one-story, no basement, very old brick house on the property.  We evicted the tenant we inherited and are now rehabbing the house.  The primary concern I have is that the prior owners had installed 2 ventless gas wall heaters that are the only heat source.  The heaters are infrared and like: this heater.  I am concerned about having this type of heat, as it is at a low level from the floor and I am concerned about young kids getting burned, something touching it and starting a fire, etc.  With no vents or basement to make running vents easy, I am not sure what options we have.  Electric heat would be crazy expensive I think due to it being brick and not insulated.  Anyone dealt with this issue and have any suggestions?  

Thanks! 

[Jeremy Tillotson]

@Erin K.no old ductwork? Is it on a crawl? One could run ducts through the attic and possibly lower the ceiling on the first floor. We are doing this currently on a rehab too install ductwork to the second floor. If you do keep these, make sure to install carbon monoxide detectors in the house (really should be in any house that has any gas appliance). These are not vented but they do remove oxygen from the air.