Nothing takes the chill out of the air like a kerosene heater

[JGalt]

It's going to be -60 tomorrow with the wind chill factor. We recently had a new furnace installed and the 500 gallon propane tank is full to 70% capacity. But when I'm in the garage dinking around, I like to run a kerosene heater, to add a little more warmth.

Kerosene heaters create very little carbon monoxide, just mostly heat and a little water vapor. They really don't smell that bad either. The one I'm using now is an Aladdin Blue Flame Series 15. These were made in the UK from the 1940's to the 1970's, and I got two of them at a garage sale for $5 apiece. The only thing I had to do to get this one up and running was clean it up a little, and put a new wick in it...

I have another one that I'll clean up and re-wick when it get warmer...

Before I found these, I was using a Kero-Sun Moonlighter that I found at a garage sale for $10. It burns with an orange flame and doesn't put out as much heat as the Aladdin models...

I can buy kerosene from the Ace Hardware store in 2-gallon jugs for about $10 per gallon, which is pretty damned high. So I drive 25 miles to a small town that has a convenience store that sells it out of a large tank for about $4.50 per gallon. There are alot of Amish people living near that town, and they use kerosene for heat and light. I usually fill up two 5-gallon cans when I go there...

The worst thing that can happen when you're burning kerosene, is that you get some water or condensation in it. Then the heater tends to sputter, stink, and go out. In anticipation of this cold-snap, I emptied all of the kerosene lamps into one of the cans. Evidently, there was some moisture in one of the lamps, and the Aladdin heater kept going out. I had to put 1/3 teaspoon of isopropyl alcohol in the tank to absorb the emulfied moisture from the wick, then empty the tank, then let the wick burn until the carbon was burned off. After cleaning the wick and filling the tank, it's working like new.

 

[Yousaidwhat]

My garage is behind the house. I use propane, 100 gallon tank and an 80000 btu heater. Keeps the temp around 60, considering it's a 2 1/2 car garage.

Might keep the kerosene heater in mind. I've found a few at the antique shops up and down the eastern shore in Maryland and Virginia. Some of the warehouses have some interesting things.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

It's going to be -60 tomorrow with the wind chill factor.

Where are you and if the wind chill is what makes it feel like negative sixty, what is the actual temperature going to be where you are?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

 

[JGalt]

It's going to be -60 tomorrow with the wind chill factor.

Where are you and if the wind chill is what makes it feel like negative sixty, what is the actual temperature going to be where you are?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

Wisconsin. It's only -18 here now, but supposed to go down to -50 wind chill tonight.

 

[harmonica]

....we did field exercises/live shoots in Virginia one time...we had tents......like 12 [?] man tents.....I was an NCO so we had about 6 in ours...
they were heated by some type of heater/stove--I thought they were gasoline, but could've been kerosene
..well, some of us came out of the chow tent when it just got dark and we saw one of the tents on fire!!
..I thought it was ours, but it was the one next to ours
....If I recall correctly, we had gas/kerosene [?] cans in the tents with us
..I forget exactly how the fire started --but of course, it was the stove somehow
this was the late 80s

 

[Moonglow]

....we did field exercises/live shoots in Virginia one time...we had tents......like 12 [?] man tents.....I was an NCO so we had about 6 in ours...
they were heated by some type of heater/stove--I thought they were gasoline, but could've been kerosene
..well, some of us came out of the chow tent when it just got dark and we saw one of the tents on fire!!
..I thought it was ours, but it was the one next to ours
....If I recall correctly, we had gas/kerosene [?] cans in the tents with us
..I forget exactly how the fire started --but of course, it was the stove somehow
this was the late 80s

Lucky you to get to have heaters...We lit our farts for heat..

 

[harmonica]

....we did field exercises/live shoots in Virginia one time...we had tents......like 12 [?] man tents.....I was an NCO so we had about 6 in ours...
they were heated by some type of heater/stove--I thought they were gasoline, but could've been kerosene
..well, some of us came out of the chow tent when it just got dark and we saw one of the tents on fire!!
..I thought it was ours, but it was the one next to ours
....If I recall correctly, we had gas/kerosene [?] cans in the tents with us
..I forget exactly how the fire started --but of course, it was the stove somehow
this was the late 80s

Lucky you to get to have heaters...We lit our farts for heat..

that was just there--it was not a Marine base
....one time some of my buddies wanted to build a fire, but the platoon sergeant said negative
...we had tents in France, but they did not have heaters
..I carried a squad ''stove'', but that was for chow/etc
when we were on the USMC bases, we slept in 2 man hooches

 

[Moonglow]

....we did field exercises/live shoots in Virginia one time...we had tents......like 12 [?] man tents.....I was an NCO so we had about 6 in ours...
they were heated by some type of heater/stove--I thought they were gasoline, but could've been kerosene
..well, some of us came out of the chow tent when it just got dark and we saw one of the tents on fire!!
..I thought it was ours, but it was the one next to ours
....If I recall correctly, we had gas/kerosene [?] cans in the tents with us
..I forget exactly how the fire started --but of course, it was the stove somehow
this was the late 80s

Lucky you to get to have heaters...We lit our farts for heat..

that was just there--it was not a Marine base
....one time some of my buddies wanted to build a fire, but the platoon sergeant said negative
...we had tents in France, but they did not have heaters
..I carried a squad ''stove'', but that was for chow/etc
when we were on the USMC bases, we slept in 2 man hooches

My last tour I was the guy who fixed and ran the generators so I had the CO to hang out with, usually did the damn typing also.

 

[Moonglow]

I have a kerosene heater also but mine is not fifty years old like the OP's.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

It's going to be -60 tomorrow with the wind chill factor.

Where are you and if the wind chill is what makes it feel like negative sixty, what is the actual temperature going to be where you are?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

Wisconsin. It's only -18 here now, but supposed to go down to -50 wind chill tonight.

I don't know how y'all stand it up there.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

 

[petro]

-23 at my place, central MN.
I use a torpedo kerosene heater to work on stuff out in 2nd garage.
Still hope to run a natural gas line underground so I can run a proper furnace out there. Already have power and insulation.

 

[JGalt]

It's going to be -60 tomorrow with the wind chill factor.

Where are you and if the wind chill is what makes it feel like negative sixty, what is the actual temperature going to be where you are?

God bless you always!!!

Holly

Wisconsin. It's only -18 here now, but supposed to go down to -50 wind chill tonight.

I don't know how y'all stand it up there.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

You get used to it after awhile and actually, it's refreshing. I lived down south most of my life and lived in the DFW area for 25 years before I moved here. Most we ever got there was 1/4" of snow and 20 degree temps, then everything would shut down. We actually have all four seasons here and the winter isn't all that bad because of the warm clothes you can get.

 

[Kittymom1026]

It's going to be -60 tomorrow with the wind chill factor. We recently had a new furnace installed and the 500 gallon propane tank is full to 70% capacity. But when I'm in the garage dinking around, I like to run a kerosene heater, to add a little more warmth.

Kerosene heaters create very little carbon monoxide, just mostly heat and a little water vapor. They really don't smell that bad either. The one I'm using now is an Aladdin Blue Flame Series 15. These were made in the UK from the 1940's to the 1970's, and I got two of them at a garage sale for $5 apiece. The only thing I had to do to get this one up and running was clean it up a little, and put a new wick in it...

I have another one that I'll clean up and re-wick when it get warmer...

Before I found these, I was using a Kero-Sun Moonlighter that I found at a garage sale for $10. It burns with an orange flame and doesn't put out as much heat as the Aladdin models...

I can buy kerosene from the Ace Hardware store in 2-gallon jugs for about $10 per gallon, which is pretty damned high. So I drive 25 miles to a small town that has a convenience store that sells it out of a large tank for about $4.50 per gallon. There are alot of Amish people living near that town, and they use kerosene for heat and light. I usually fill up two 5-gallon cans when I go there...

The worst thing that can happen when you're burning kerosene, is that you get some water or condensation in it. Then the heater tends to sputter, stink, and go out. In anticipation of this cold-snap, I emptied all of the kerosene lamps into one of the cans. Evidently, there was some moisture in one of the lamps, and the Aladdin heater kept going out. I had to put 1/3 teaspoon of isopropyl alcohol in the tank to absorb the emulfied moisture from the wick, then empty the tank, then let the wick burn until the carbon was burned off. After cleaning the wick and filling the tank, it's working like new.[/QUOT

I've never heard of that name before but will check it out. We have a standard size Kerosun in the great room and a smaller version back in my bedroom. We pretty much heat the whole house with both of them. They do have a tendency to dry things out though so I have a vaporizer going 24/7 and it helps. When the power went out during an ice storm here, I actually cooked on the top of the Kerosun. Here in NC, we get ice a lot more than snow and that brings power lines down. I learned to be prepared a long time ago. I have several types of lights and always keep my devices powered up so that I can still read my books on them. And, if necessary, I can charge them in my car. The only problem is that I'm on a well and that means I have no water, so in the winter, I make sure to have several gallon jugs always filled.
The kerosene here is about $3.50 a gallon and we have 3 two gallon containers and 1 five gallon container.