torpedo heater for garage

[Donald]

I bought a used Remington kerosene heater for my garage. It kind of "breathes" as part of the roar, is that normal. Also the kerosene smell when running is worse than expected. I was looking at a cordless propane torpedo heater for around $160 on Amazon. It runs while plugged in, but having it be able to run with no power even for a few house is a good idea. So is the propane heater a much better idea, less fumes, or if I adjusted the kerosene heater it should be fine.

 

[abycat]

i have a 30,000btu - 80,000btu propane heater for my atco trailer. it is a cylinder shaped one with holes around it for the heat to escape. I run it quite a bit in the winter and it gives great heat and no fumes. I would definately suggest a propane heater.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: abycat

i have a 30,000btu - 80,000btu propane heater for my atco trailer. it is a cylinder shaped one with holes around it for the heat to escape. I run it quite a bit in the winter and it gives great heat and no fumes. I would definately suggest a propane heater.

Your is called a top hat? No fan right, and vertical?

 

[meangreen01]

Originally Posted By: Donald

Originally Posted By: abycat

i have a 30,000btu - 80,000btu propane heater for my atco trailer. it is a cylinder shaped one with holes around it for the heat to escape. I run it quite a bit in the winter and it gives great heat and no fumes. I would definately suggest a propane heater.

Your is called a top hat? No fan right, and vertical?

They make horizontal "bullet" type heaters in both kerosene an propane. So, it's likely that appearance wise it probably nearly identical to yours. Propane is a much cleaner burning fuel compared to kerosene. The downside is you have to lug around the heater and separate propane cylinder. Upside to kerosene is there is more BTU energy in it than propane. Downside is the fumes are stronger, and usually when new the heater itself costs a bit more. Both will do the job with their upsides and downsides. Pick what's best for you.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: meangreen01

Originally Posted By: Donald

Originally Posted By: abycat

i have a 30,000btu - 80,000btu propane heater for my atco trailer. it is a cylinder shaped one with holes around it for the heat to escape. I run it quite a bit in the winter and it gives great heat and no fumes. I would definately suggest a propane heater.

Your is called a top hat? No fan right, and vertical?

They make horizontal "bullet" type heaters in both kerosene an propane. So, it's likely that appearance wise it probably nearly identical to yours. Propane is a much cleaner burning fuel compared to kerosene. The downside is you have to lug around the heater and separate propane cylinder. Upside to kerosene is there is more BTU energy in it than propane. Downside is the fumes are stronger, and usually when new the heater itself costs a bit more. Both will do the job with their upsides and downsides. Pick what's best for you.

What should a kerosene torpedo heater sound like? Somewhere between a whir and a roar? Should it be very constant or should it vary some (like its breathing)?.

 

[meangreen01]

Mine had a constant somewhat loud roar. When it began to sputter it was about to run out of fuel and it stunk more. Maybe you have a fuel delivery problem?

 

[Smoky14]

Clean all the jets and the stink will be much less. Worked with one for years and it required cleaning about weekly.

 

[abycat]

Originally Posted By: Donald

Originally Posted By: abycat

i have a 30,000btu - 80,000btu propane heater for my atco trailer. it is a cylinder shaped one with holes around it for the heat to escape. I run it quite a bit in the winter and it gives great heat and no fumes. I would definately suggest a propane heater.

Your is called a top hat? No fan right, and vertical?

I dont know what its called but if i were to guess that sounds like what it looks like. It is a vertical one and does not have a fan. it has about 5 nozzles that blow upward in a star pattern and the cylinder has numerous holes in it. works very good and is fairly good on fuel.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: abycat

Originally Posted By: Donald

Originally Posted By: abycat

i have a 30,000btu - 80,000btu propane heater for my atco trailer. it is a cylinder shaped one with holes around it for the heat to escape. I run it quite a bit in the winter and it gives great heat and no fumes. I would definately suggest a propane heater.

Your is called a top hat? No fan right, and vertical?

I dont know what its called but if i were to guess that sounds like what it looks like. It is a vertical one and does not have a fan. it has about 5 nozzles that blow upward in a star pattern and the cylinder has numerous holes in it. works very good and is fairly good on fuel.

Its a high-hat not a top-hat. I must have been thinking of Odd Job in Goldfinger when I said top-hat.

 

[Donald]

I scored a 50K-80K BTU All-Pro torpedo heater and new 100 lb FULL propane tank for $220. It was going to be $225, but no change for my $10 so it was $220. The All-Pro heaters seem to command a higher price than a normal Mr Heat one. This one has kind of a roll cage and you can angle it somewhat. I will now have time to fool with the kerosene torpedo heaters in a warm garage.

 

[ATS-V]

Depends on how many BTU's you need. I run an old Aladdin kero heater in my garage when I need to. Once it comes up to temp I close the door and within an hour it's warm enough that I don't need a jacket on a very cold day. Heater is about 15k BTU I think and best of all it's totally silent. My garage is a partially insulated 2 car. One gallon of kero burns for about 8 hours.

 

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted By: meangreen01

Mine had a constant somewhat loud roar. When it began to sputter it was about to run out of fuel and it stunk more. Maybe you have a fuel delivery problem?

I have a multi-fuel heater and it is a steady roar, most of the time it runs on diesel and I haven't notice too bad of a smell. Of course I leave the garage door open when I am using it.

 

[TPMS]

I don't know how you guys use these things at all. I bought a kero torpedo a few years ago for my 2 car garage.I left the side door open and partially opened a garage door.In no time I had a headache and nausea; sure signs of carbon monoxide.I opened the doors more.By the time I got enough fresh air in there I had the doors open so much I couldn't heat the garage. I returned it.The salesman said that despite the fact that warming a 2 car garage was advertised right on the box they were only safe in very open areas. I have to agree. >