Will burning red kero in my wick type space heater hurt anything? I bought 5gal of the stuff by mistake and have little use for it outside the heater.
Thanks for the help
Smoky
Thanks for the help
Smoky
Red Kerosene Question
- Thread starter Smoky14
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As said, there's no harm.
With that said, I prefer either bottled or pump=grade "white" kerosene both for heating and lighting. I don't know about the specifics of red-dyed kerosene, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's held to a lower purity standard than white kerosene. If you got it from a pump you have no way to tell, while if you you bought it in a bottle it should say so.
With the cost of heater wicks, I am VERY particular about what goes in my heaters and I'd be hesitant about putting red dye in them. It would probably burn fine, but again I'd rather pay the $3-4 a gallon for known good white kerosene than buy a new $40 wick every year.
With that said, I prefer either bottled or pump=grade "white" kerosene both for heating and lighting. I don't know about the specifics of red-dyed kerosene, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's held to a lower purity standard than white kerosene. If you got it from a pump you have no way to tell, while if you you bought it in a bottle it should say so.
With the cost of heater wicks, I am VERY particular about what goes in my heaters and I'd be hesitant about putting red dye in them. It would probably burn fine, but again I'd rather pay the $3-4 a gallon for known good white kerosene than buy a new $40 wick every year.
Kerosene is Kerosene, and is interchangeable with Fuel Oil and summer grade Diesel. Jet Fuel (JetA and JetB) is also mostly Kerosene, but has added Naptha to make it easier to light up in a turbine, which doesn't have compression to help initiate combustion. The Naptha evaporates quickly, so if you were to pump some in a Jerry Can and leave the cap off for a few minutes, it turns to pure Kerosene fairly soon.
Tax-dyed fuels are identical to their natural coloured, taxed versions.
Tax-dyed fuels are identical to their natural coloured, taxed versions.
JHZR2
Staff member
Some kerosene types will have lower sulfur. Byrning red dye may create marginally more soot or other chemical constituents. Jet fuel is addditized, not all kerosine is the same.
If you can verify that it is sulfur free clean K1 just with red dye, ok. If its sonething else or you cant tell, Id be a bit more concerned, since youre breathing it...
If you can verify that it is sulfur free clean K1 just with red dye, ok. If its sonething else or you cant tell, Id be a bit more concerned, since youre breathing it...
You just need K1
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Id be a bit more concerned, since youre breathing it...
Ditto. I'd consider a kero heater as a heater of last resort. Really need fresh air with one, and IMO the house is too sealed up for one. Maybe in a draft shed it'd be ok.
Id be a bit more concerned, since youre breathing it...
Ditto. I'd consider a kero heater as a heater of last resort. Really need fresh air with one, and IMO the house is too sealed up for one. Maybe in a draft shed it'd be ok.
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Id be a bit more concerned, since youre breathing it...
Ditto. I'd consider a kero heater as a heater of last resort. Really need fresh air with one, and IMO the house is too sealed up for one. Maybe in a draft shed it'd be ok.
I use a propane unvented heater for 99% of my heat. I also have a bath fan vent running 24/7. It manages to keep the CO2 down to under 2500ppm which I find acceptable.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Id be a bit more concerned, since youre breathing it...
Ditto. I'd consider a kero heater as a heater of last resort. Really need fresh air with one, and IMO the house is too sealed up for one. Maybe in a draft shed it'd be ok.
I use a propane unvented heater for 99% of my heat. I also have a bath fan vent running 24/7. It manages to keep the CO2 down to under 2500ppm which I find acceptable.
I was using "proper" K2, cracked open a door, and the fumes got to me after an hour. Maybe I'm sensitive to it, maybe I sat too close, or maybe I'm nuts. But I decided I wasn't going to use the K2 heater unless if it was last resort. Maybe propane fumes would be more "safe" than K2 fumes, dunno.
I should take it out of the shed and test, come to think of it. It's been sitting for a few years.
I should take it out of the shed and test, come to think of it. It's been sitting for a few years.
Originally Posted By: supton
I was using "proper" K2, cracked open a door, and the fumes got to me after an hour. Maybe I'm sensitive to it, maybe I sat too close, or maybe I'm nuts. But I decided I wasn't going to use the K2 heater unless if it was last resort. Maybe propane fumes would be more "safe" than K2 fumes, dunno.
I should take it out of the shed and test, come to think of it. It's been sitting for a few years.
A lot of having a good kerosene heater is proper maintenance.
At least once a year you should "burn" the wick. Basically what you want to do is put the heater outside, get as much fuel as you can out of the tank, then light it and leave it alone until it burns out. It's not a bad idea to relight it a couple of times after it extinguishes itself. The heater will smell REALLY BAD while doing this, and much of the reason is because you're burning off tar that has accumulated on the wick. Once the heater has been burned, if there is any remaining tar along the edge it can be manually removed. If its especially bad, you might try trimming the wick or just bite the bullet and replace it.
Before you refill and light it, inspect the chimney very carefully and make sure it's completely clear. The biggest cause of soot and smoke is poor draft, which will happen if the chimney is not clean. Once lit and warmed up, inspect the flame to make sure it's completely even and take a close look at the wire mesh inside the chimney. It should be even in color and in most heaters will be a nice cherry red-if you see any high or low spots in the flame, or variations in color around the chimney you have a spot in the wick that needs some additional attention.
Good K1 white kerosene in a properly maintained heater will smoke slightly at start-up and will vaporizes a little bit when turned off, but overall they don't give off a huge amount of odor.
With that said, I always open the garage door an inch or so when I have mine on.
I have a small propane heater that I keep in the garage also. There's no question that it's the cleaner burning of them-although I'd still be afraid to use it with the garage completely closed. It is a LOT more expensive to run, though, and for a unit the same physical size as my kero heater it puts out a lot less heat.
I was using "proper" K2, cracked open a door, and the fumes got to me after an hour. Maybe I'm sensitive to it, maybe I sat too close, or maybe I'm nuts. But I decided I wasn't going to use the K2 heater unless if it was last resort. Maybe propane fumes would be more "safe" than K2 fumes, dunno.
I should take it out of the shed and test, come to think of it. It's been sitting for a few years.
A lot of having a good kerosene heater is proper maintenance.
At least once a year you should "burn" the wick. Basically what you want to do is put the heater outside, get as much fuel as you can out of the tank, then light it and leave it alone until it burns out. It's not a bad idea to relight it a couple of times after it extinguishes itself. The heater will smell REALLY BAD while doing this, and much of the reason is because you're burning off tar that has accumulated on the wick. Once the heater has been burned, if there is any remaining tar along the edge it can be manually removed. If its especially bad, you might try trimming the wick or just bite the bullet and replace it.
Before you refill and light it, inspect the chimney very carefully and make sure it's completely clear. The biggest cause of soot and smoke is poor draft, which will happen if the chimney is not clean. Once lit and warmed up, inspect the flame to make sure it's completely even and take a close look at the wire mesh inside the chimney. It should be even in color and in most heaters will be a nice cherry red-if you see any high or low spots in the flame, or variations in color around the chimney you have a spot in the wick that needs some additional attention.
Good K1 white kerosene in a properly maintained heater will smoke slightly at start-up and will vaporizes a little bit when turned off, but overall they don't give off a huge amount of odor.
With that said, I always open the garage door an inch or so when I have mine on.
I have a small propane heater that I keep in the garage also. There's no question that it's the cleaner burning of them-although I'd still be afraid to use it with the garage completely closed. It is a LOT more expensive to run, though, and for a unit the same physical size as my kero heater it puts out a lot less heat.
The propane is 99% efficient. Most of the fumes are water vapor and CO2. I have a CO2 monitor set up that will kick in the big furnace fan when it hits 4k ppm; this drops the CO2 down rather fast. Only time it is not a good idea is when the temp gets down below 0F then it needs to run too much. I then run the oil furnace.
If I spend %200 on fuel for heat all winter here in Illinois it is a bad year.
If I spend %200 on fuel for heat all winter here in Illinois it is a bad year.
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
I did likewise. Maybe it's just a bad heater then, or I didn't adjust something quite right. Time to kick it to the curb.
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
I did likewise. Maybe it's just a bad heater then, or I didn't adjust something quite right. Time to kick it to the curb.
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
I did likewise. Maybe it's just a bad heater then, or I didn't adjust something quite right. Time to kick it to the curb.
Did you have the flame at the proper level. I don't think they're designed to run efficiently except at full steam.
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
I did likewise. Maybe it's just a bad heater then, or I didn't adjust something quite right. Time to kick it to the curb.
Did you have the flame at the proper level. I don't think they're designed to run efficiently except at full steam.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
I did likewise. Maybe it's just a bad heater then, or I didn't adjust something quite right. Time to kick it to the curb.
Did you have the flame at the proper level. I don't think they're designed to run efficiently except at full steam.
Yep-crank it up. You want the screen inside the chimney to be red or even orange along its full length. That not only maximizes the amount of radiant heating(the flame actually only indirectly heats-the screen does most of the heating) but makes sure that the combustion conditions are maintained at an ideal temperature inside the chimney. Making sure as much as possible burns will kill most of the kerosene smell.
I also spent about $40 on a platinum-plated screen that hangs right over the top of the chimney. Much like a catalytic converter, it helps oxidize any remaining unburnt hydrocarbons as well as oxidize CO to CO2. It's obviously not a perfect solution, but does help some. I've used the same screen now for 3 years, although admittedly my heater has been used very little so far this year.
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: supton
It's been years since, but I think I only used it 2-3 times. Major use during a storm, then once or twice in the basement, until I realized how much I hated the fumes. I know I let the flame burn out at the end of that winter, and it's been sitting since. Probably been 5 years, so it may well be rotted out now. Will dig it out now that I think about it.
The fuel was the expensive stuff at Home Depot in a sealed can. I had figured it'd store well, and I could use when actually needed without worry.
I light, and shut down, my heater outside. No smell at all when it's warmed up.
I did likewise. Maybe it's just a bad heater then, or I didn't adjust something quite right. Time to kick it to the curb.
Did you have the flame at the proper level. I don't think they're designed to run efficiently except at full steam.
Yep-crank it up. You want the screen inside the chimney to be red or even orange along its full length. That not only maximizes the amount of radiant heating(the flame actually only indirectly heats-the screen does most of the heating) but makes sure that the combustion conditions are maintained at an ideal temperature inside the chimney. Making sure as much as possible burns will kill most of the kerosene smell.
I also spent about $40 on a platinum-plated screen that hangs right over the top of the chimney. Much like a catalytic converter, it helps oxidize any remaining unburnt hydrocarbons as well as oxidize CO to CO2. It's obviously not a perfect solution, but does help some. I've used the same screen now for 3 years, although admittedly my heater has been used very little so far this year.
Used a Kero heater for 30 years, Aladdin brand, had CO2 monitors in the room as well, they never went off. Never burned it at night or when we were gone of course. Did us clear Kerosene tho.
Worked very well till the price of Kerosene went up in price.
Worked very well till the price of Kerosene went up in price.
Originally Posted By: hatt
Did you have the flame at the proper level. I don't think they're designed to run efficiently except at full steam.
Honestly don't remember now. I don't recall using it at a low setting, but it's possible. I recall adjusting something, for burn level, making sure low/no smoke, but been too long.
Did you have the flame at the proper level. I don't think they're designed to run efficiently except at full steam.
Honestly don't remember now. I don't recall using it at a low setting, but it's possible. I recall adjusting something, for burn level, making sure low/no smoke, but been too long.
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