kerosene heaters

[JHZR2]

Hi,

I have wanted to get a small kerosine heater for a while. The only ones Ive seen are at wal-mart, are pretty big, nd sell for about $100.

Im looking for reccomendations for a compact (the smaller the better), efficient space heater, burning either kerosine or even #2 fuel, though clear kero is preferred, for heating smallish spaces.

Emphasis on size and price would be great. Any good online distributors, etc would be good to know. Right now Im leaning twards buying one on ebay, since theyre hard to find in stores.

Thanks for any help you can give,

JMH

 

[Al]

I think the smaller one at K-Mart is around 100 bucks and I believe that is around 13,000 BTU/hour. The other is around 23,000 BTU/hour. Both require K-1 Kerosene. Anything less than K-1 will destroy the wick and would not be suitable for a living space. Exactly what are you looking for? For a living area?? How much area are you expecting to hear?? I use mine for a backup for my heat and also to heat my garage. I prefer not to use them as a normal heating source in a living area except for an emergency.

 

[JHZR2]

I thought a low-sulfur k-1 type fuel would be necessary... I live in an apartment with electric heating, and it works VERY poorly in my room, no matter how I configure the ducting. Usually I deal with it, but Ive always wanted a heater like that for short-duration space heating. I also want it for when working in my parents' detached garage. 5-10k BTUs would be fine. In a lot of ways, it would be more of a novelty than for real use. My parents have an emergency propane heater, it is a nice size, maybe 14"x14" by 4", including cannister.

Id just rather have a liquid fuel burning device.

Thanks,

JMH

 

[Bob Woods]

As a kid I remember a fireplace and kerosene heaters. What ever you do invest in a CO monitor, maybe even two. It might even be cheaper in the long run to get a small ceramic heater, they are safer.

 

[Shannow]

We used to use a kerosene heater to augment a heat bank (a device that uses off peak electricity to heat up a thermal mass, then blows air over the thermal mass to heat the living space...would be illegal in Shannow's world).

It was a rental place, and the heat bank would die at 8:30/9:00PM.

The kero heater was used from then until bed-time.

Inefficient, smelly, dangerous.

Still got it in the shed, but wouldn't risk it inside the house.

 

[Ugly3]

Electric ceramic or oil filled heaters are safer. Would not run a flame based heater without adequate and proper venting.

 

[msparks]

quote:

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Originally posted by JHZR2:
Hi,

Im looking for reccomendations for a compact (the smaller the better), efficient space heater, burning either kerosine or even #2 fuel, though clear kero is preferred, for heating smallish spaces.

Thanks for any help you can give,

JMH

---

Where are you wanting to heat??? I would not advise using a Kero heater in small places. You can kill yourself becuase of the CO.

I have the larger 23,000 BTU for the garage when I have to do work out there. I put it on for about 1 hr before and it get pretty warm (I can use my hands without gloves)

I have also used it as an emergency heater in the house when we lost power for 3 days back in 1992 (Yes I've carried this thing around for that long)

 

[JHZR2]

I understand and acknowledge the dangers of CO, etc. I also realize that they are especially now no longer a preferred manner of heating. I cant really explain why I want one, I think it would be neat to have though. Limited augmentation of heat in my 1200 sq ft apartment, in the areas where the ducting is poorly designed will be nice, and then heat in the garage would also be nice sometimes.

Safety would of course be paramount.

JMH

 

[Scott P]

Home Depot had some oil filled radiator units for $20 on Saturday when we were in there. Might be worth checking out. It was an upright model. Quiet, clean and gives off a good amount of heat.

 

[kenw]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Scott P:
Home Depot had some oil filled radiator units for $20 on Saturday when we were in there. Might be worth checking out. It was an upright model. Quiet, clean and gives off a good amount of heat.

---

an oil filled radiator is an entirely different animal. It is only using the oil as an internal heat transfer mechanism, it does not consume the oil as does the kerosene heaters previously mentioned.

The "fuel" for an oil-filled heater/radiator is electricity.

 

[1sttruck]

I have a 30k btu propane ventless 'blue flame' heater as a backup unit. I was initially interested in a 'direct vent' unit that draws and exhausts air from the outside, but they were much more expensive and hard to mount on a temporary basis. Kerosene direct vent heaters seemed popular in New England, at least a few years back when I was investigating heaters. Direct vent units are a good choice where flammable vapors, wood dust, etc are present. The kerosense heaters tend to have a bit more odor while the propane units are typically more expensive to run. For a backup now I'd consider one of those 'little buddy' units that take the Coleman propane bottles, where they offer a 9k btu model as we bigger one now. Get a battery powered CO detector that has a CO level readout in any case, even if you have a fireplace, wood stove, central gas heating, gas appliances etc., as several neighbors with gas have had problems over the years.

 

[Al]

Yea. I agree with the CO detector. And honestly I would use the propane heater in the garage. They are a backup only for the house.

 

[tweeker43]

i got a propane heater from northern tool for the garage and i couldn't be happier. many times better than kerosene in my opinion.

 

[Scott P]

quote:

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Originally posted by kenw:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Scott P:
Home Depot had some oil filled radiator units for $20 on Saturday when we were in there. Might be worth checking out. It was an upright model. Quiet, clean and gives off a good amount of heat.

---

an oil filled radiator is an entirely different animal. It is only using the oil as an internal heat transfer mechanism, it does not consume the oil as does the kerosene heaters previously mentioned.

The "fuel" for an oil-filled heater/radiator is electricity.

---

I realize that. I was just pointing out options that were out there since many others were explaining the problems with Kerosene heaters.