It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => TEOTWAWKI => Topic started by: Glock32 on September 10, 2015, 09:28:35 PM
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When I was a kid, we used kerosene heaters as supplemental heat, since our old house still used baseboard electric heat and it was quite expensive to run. The kerosene heaters we had back then (80s) had electric fans in the back that helped circulate the heated air. They worked very well and were quite cozy on winter days.
I have looked everywhere, and cannot find kerosene heaters with the electric fans. Does anybody know the deal with these? From Internet research, it seems kerosene heating is still the primary method in Japanese homes, and they have developed some very sophisticated heaters. But I can't find anything here other than the usual wick type, with no fans.
I'd like to have one or two for emergency heating during power outages. Wish I could find some like we used to have.
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You got me curious so I did some looking of my own. I'm not sure specifically what you're looking for but there was a fairly large selection at Amazon.
Years ago I bought a portable propane catalytic heater at a garage sale. I spent $15 on it. And then used it every camping season for about ten years. It then went into storage for a dozen years or so. I used it to take the chill off my 800 sq ft garage last winter. It's barely up to that large of a task but at least it made for a spot to warm myself while I was working. I like the catalytic heaters because there's no open flame to worry about. I used to use it in my van and in my trailer.
Naturally I couldn't find anything remotely like it online. The nearest thing to it costs $155.
I bet I get a few more seasons out of it ;')
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The ones we had were basically like these, except they had a fan on the back side of the heater to force the heated air out into the room. The fan was switch operated and the heater would work perfectly well without it, but when turned on it would make the room much more even. I'm just trying to figure out why they apparently stopped putting fans on them, and I am guessing a dumbass government regulation has to be involved.
(http://www.ghpgroupinc.com/qrcodes/heaters/cservice/images/products/DynaGlo/RMC-55R7%28B%29.png)
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I am guessing a dumbass government regulation has to be involved.
Isn't it always.
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Do you need to worry about fumes with these indoors? I have a propane heater I use in the garage sometimes and after while I need to open up and let some air in.
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No, they're made for indoor use and there's something about the design of the wick and mantle that assures the kerosene burns clean without generating carbon monoxide. Obviously you wouldn't run it while you're asleep or when no one is watching it (well, obviously to sane people -- every winter some morons off themselves with barbecue grills inside the house, etc).
ETA -- kerosene is also known as paraffin, and is basically the same thing candle wax is made from, so burning it is fumeless just like a candle.
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I've used those since 82 or 83 and have 3 of them
None have a fan.
Regarding odor, the quality of the kerosene is the biggest factor
Only use K1 kerosene.
That is a designation for how much sulfur.
Sulfur make the stink and also mess up your wick
I suppose if your place is pretty tight, you might need to worry about carbon monoxide but you probably have a detector anyhow
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You mean one like this? (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200329101_200329101) - search for "forced air kerosene heater" - you will get a bunch of them - those most like like variation of the same 3 models made in the Chinese factory.
Generally the forced air models are for large spaces.. the smaller convention based models (without fans) will work just fine in smaller spaces.. Hot air rises and these heaters get really hot, so air within a room will circulate naturally past the heater once it has a good stack draw going.
If you live in home with a forced Air furnace, you also have a "fan only" setting" you could use to distribute the heat - just put the heater near a return vent..
My buddy designed his wood stove this way..and got it as close to the return as the codes would allow. The wood stove will be primary source of heat for the home, but he took a ration of sh*t for putting in a propane based forced air backup. Where he lives everything ( and I mean everything) is done with electric baseboard heat, and they are laughing at him for having the the "more expensive" propane.. You can't really do electric heating and run it off of a PV system. (The system gets prohibitively large-- and you are better off doing hot water heat if you really want to heat with power from the sun... )
I just don't see the downside of having a backup system and 500+ gallons of propane fuel stored on site, even if it costs a bit more in the current realm.
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I used those heaters when building my parents house. We had two 60k heaters that would drive you out of the house from the heat. We started with both cooking and went to one in a couple of hours and that was starting a 30 degrees in a 2400 sq ft house.