I'm looking for a direct vent propane wall furnace, high efficiency, that does NOT have a blower, or has a blower that can be switched off. Is there such an animal? The ones I've seen all have automatic blowers that come on when you turn on the unit. thanks.

How much heating do you require? The Robur TS2000 requires no electricity (thus no fan). However at only 6000 BTU/h you will not be heating a 3000 square foor house with it.

High-efficiency==active blowers, as a rule.

To get sufficient exhaust flow on a condensing (90%+) burner requires active venting through the fire side of the heat exchanger, and to keep the HX at condensing temps requires an active blower on the conditioned-space air side. It's tough to even get 85% without some draft assist.

Without blowers ~70-75% efficiency would be more likely. It may be possible to do a convective loop radiation scheme with an atmospheric-drafted propane hot water heater that would deliver close to 80%, but it's unlikely you'd be able to deliver the full burner output into the conditioned space without a LOT of careful design (and big radiating surfaces.) Convective loops with a propane fired cast-iron boiler would be easier (bigger I/O plumbing), and you can probably hit the low-80s. But neither the HW heater nor boiler would be direct-vent.

As my Dad used to say "I'm not made of money," so I guess I either put up with the blower on the DV high efficiency units I've seen (which really don't seem to be all that highly efficient), or I get the non blower units with standing pilot and no second burn. Ouch. I hate waste, but the other options are too expensive. Thanks for the replies, folks.

Bigrig, I just looked at Robur products, and the 17,700 BTU DV unit looks exactly like the WIlliams unit I asked the Williams company about. That unit has a blower that can't be turned off. The smaller unit you mention is too small for my needs. But thanks for the info. I didn;t know about Robur. I guess they sell to Williams?? I'm heating two floors, with a unit on each floor. About 750 SF each floor.

Has anyone heard of, or had experience with, Eskabe wall furnaces?

What sort of price range are you looking at for the furnace? The better gas furnace models are typically priced at premium.

Home Furnace Prices - Natural Gas

I was thinking around $1000. I have two floors to heat (though practically speaking one wall furnace on the first floor is enough),and I want to put DV wall furnaces on each floor. I bought an Eskabe and will put it on the ground floor, and if it seems ok I will buy another, I guess, and put it on the second floor. I had bought a Williams, but I had such a bad customer service experience with them that I canceled the order and will never use them again. Any other suggestions?