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I have been heating with a small Mr Heater propane unit and going broke buying propane. Today I picked up a 23,000 BTU kerosene heater and it gets the garage toasty in a hurry.
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Those things do a pretty good job. We've used them many times when doing work in a garage. I know propane is an expensive alternative.
EdDo you know about kickback? Ray has a good writeup here... https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...mare-explained
For a kickback demonstration video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/910584...demonstration/ -
Does anyone know:
(1) How much more economical is kerosene over propane?
(2) And would either type of device likely trigger a carbon monoxide detector?Comment
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Kerosene runs about 5 bucks a gallon. You can get maybe 6-7 hours of heat from a 23Kbtu unit on a gallon of fuel, hence a little less than a buck an hour in cost. You can get an aroma additive to take the edge off the kerosene smell. Not really gonna trip your CO alarm if the heater's working right and your house has some fresh air infiltration, but might trip your smokes. Might also get some minor soot buildup on the walls and ceiling. Of course, YMMV.Comment
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What's with the guy from Florida given the lowdown on shop heat? I would expect that from somone in Minnesota
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I have been meaning to ask on this very topic. Thanks for the post. I didn't even think of kerosene--my parents used to use a kerosene space heater, and I don't like the smell.
If I went with a small propane heater, do I need to worry about venting it?JoeComment
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I just use three 500 watt shop lights. Warms up the shop and lets me see where I drop everything!
Often in error - Never in doubt
MikeComment
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Heating the shop is a cinch.....open doors and let the sun in
more southern shop heating advice :PI think in straight lines, but dream in curves
Comment
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I use the same heater Whaler shows in the original post. The shop is a 1 car garage, and none of the outside walls are insulated. It was in the 20's, overnight low near 15 a couple days last week. I'll run the heater for 30 minutes or so, and then head out to do that evening's work. The only problem is that after a while, it would be nice to turn the heater down lower, instead of just off.
If there is noticable soot buildup fro mthe heater, there is a problem. My first one had a bent ring that goes over the wick. The newer one burns clean, with no noticable odor.
I bought K1 kersonene last week for $2.65 a gallon. It was from a pump at a station that caters to farmers. Despite warnings otherwise, I have yet to have a problem with pumped kerosene. As a comparison, regular gas at the same place was $1.59 (and as low as $1.53 elsewhere)
KarlComment
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I went out to my garage to paint the baseboard I'm installing, and found the temperature at 47 degrees. Paint can says not to paint below 50 degrees. I tried a 500W quartz light ($5 from HD), and no joy. Guess I'll have to buy a heater to finish my project. Or bring the painting into the house . . . when LOML isn't looking.- David
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” -- Oscar WildeComment
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Not only am I using just a tiny little space heater (and a small benchtop heater fan for my workbench), but my garage is un insulated, so all the heat I generate just goes out through the garage pretty fast. Never gets that warm.
So once cold weather hits, my shop is basically shut down until its warm.AlexComment
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My shop is heated by a woodstove. Actually, if I keep it burning long enough it does a decent job of heating the house.David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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I had a kierosene heater once and it put out an awful abount of water. That was even using the store bought kerosene. I think just about every tool I owned had some rust on it. These days I have no heat. I am shut down until warmer weather shows up.Sometimes the old man passed out and left the am radio on so I got to hear the oldie songs and current event kind of thingsComment
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