Last fall I bought a used kerosene heater, and I absolutely love it! It's so cost effective and easy to use, and now I have heat if I lose power. Despite popular opinion, the smell is not bad at all; it's no more noticeable than a gas fireplace. Will definitely be keeping it in case I decide to live off the grid again.
When I was young kerosene was dirt cheap and we had a couple of heaters similar to that. We bought them when we were building my parents house to heat it while we were working on it and dad bought kerosene by the 55 gallon drum. Now the stuff is ridiculously expensive. I can see it for emergency heat but have a hard time believing it's an affordable option if there's another choice.
@robb65 right, that's why i don't have one anymore. I use buddy heaters with the conversion hose to connect to a 20# tank. It'll last 60 to 80 hours that way. Plus, I happen to live off grid, so we use these all the time. Less than 20 bucks for a refill and nice heat when there is the extra chill
@Howudoin @Livingwell If it emits CO rather than CO2, which is also colourless and odourless, the heater is not running properly and is[i] dangerous[/i]. Human Earth's photograph rings alarm-bells (by yellow flames), even before he tells us what he burns in his stove.
Carbon-dioxide and carbon-dioxide are both dangerous to life, but the CO (from incomplete combustion) is potentially fatal very rapidly.
So many people have been killed over the years by the exhaust from faulty or misused gas, liquid-fuel and solid-fuel appliances that in the UK, strict standards and regulations apply to installing permanent stoves and heating-boilers, using any fuel. Landlords of rental homes are obliged by law to have their appliances safety-inspected and serviced yearly.
I am not sure if you can even still buy here, portable gas or liquid-fuel heaters for domestic use such as those illustrated above, though different types are made for large-space industrial use.
There was a stilly fad about 20 years ago now in Britain for open-flame room-heaters burning isopropyl-alcohol, and these are potentially dangerous physically as well as chemically. Those ridiculously wasteful, gas-fired "patio-heaters" are still widely available from garden-centres and suchlike here; but for outdoor-only use.
@Howudoin They still produce CO. They're designed assuming they're going to be used with a certain amount of draft. Same with all non-vented heaters. They aren't intended for primary living space heat either
And it makes a great diesel fuel for diesel fuel been using for in crawl spaces to water pipes from freezing and run the same 4 trucks for close to 20 years
@ArishMell It's also dangerous as fuck thave any gasoline mixed in because it vaporizes and has combustible fumes. This is the dumbest Idea I have ever heard.
That's not the style I expected to see, I thought I'd see the tower style. But agree! They are super effective and efficient and save the day in emergencies. I've had the tower style in the past, and it has literally saved our lives in power outages.
Used those for years. They fucking stink, especially those radiant style ones. Expensive compared to propane too. Always weezy and congested. Don't miss those damn things one bit.
@Howudoin I did and yes I did. The radiant style are the worst. The convection style are a little more efficient and stink a little less but they still stink. Anywhere there is kerosene fucking stinks and they all produce noxious nitrosamines
