Montana is awesome in the summer and lethal in the winter. So, for my needs, it seems a good idea to have an alternative source (or two) of heating in case something happens that causes the normal heating system to be unavailable.
First and foremost, if youre going to burn anything…propane, wood, kerosene, fiat currency, whatever….for indoor heat you absolutely must have a carbon monoxide detector (or three) in place. And if it goes off, don’t ask questions….walk outside immediately.
I have a fairly decent supply of kerosene sitting here. In the last fifteen years I lucked out into two sales on kerosene that were just too good to pass up.
Kerosene heaters are a mixed bag. For one reason or another (mostly .gov nonsense) the really good kerosene heaters (like the Toyosun) are hard to come across new. Fortunately Craigslist provides a ton of used kerosene heaters at very decent prices. I mean really good prices…like $20-50 for a heater that was $150+ when it was new. So, since one is none, I have a couple heaters. But…I almost never use them. (Thats the problem with living in an area that is basically disaster-free.) As a result wicks dry out, things get dusty, batteries go dead, that sort of thing.
I decided to get around to taking care of some preparedness tasks I’ve been letting go and one of them was making sure the kero heaters were up to snuff. Nope. Both are sitting on “E”. And they’re dirty. So…time to institute a preventative maintenance and readiness program for the stupid things.
I sat down and disassembled things as best I could. I wiped down everything to, tightened all screws, cleaned the glass, applied some kerosene to the exposed wick, filled the tank, and lit the wick. And…it ran fine.
Some people don’t like kerosene because “it stinks”. Yeah it does…when you start it and when you shut it down. When it runs, it usually runs without any smell. I set my heater on my porch, light it, wait five minutes, then bring it inside. When I want to extinguish it, I take it outside, turn it off, and leave it for a half hour so not only is there no smell but it’s also cooled down nicely so i can handle it and put it away.
And speaking of putting away, I really need to make up some sort of ‘dust cover’ for these things. I don’t like leaving them sitting in the basement where they get dusty.
And, I really need to put together an accessory package for these things. A tall .50 can with spare wicks, batteries (for the ignition), barbecue lighter, matches, fuel handling materials, etc. By the by, even though kerosene is extremely safe to handle, I always fuel them a) outdoors b) when theyre cool/cold, and c) there is always a fire extinguisher handy.
I need to go into Evernote and create a category for the kerosene heating supplies. I should probably also set up a scheduled set of reminders to inspect and test the heaters as well. So, yeah, a little bit of work but they payoff when the heat is out should be quite worth it.
A old pillow case works fine as a cover.
As it turns out, so does a trash bag.
Some – and only some – trash bag get kind of ‘eaten’ from kerosene fumes. I don’t think you need to ask how I found out.
I was going to suggest a flat twin sheet: dual purpose.
Would love to hear which plastic bags work best/survive the longest.
+1 on the ammo can for spares.
Krylon it blue outside, like kerosene fuel cans, for a visual cue. Stencil or stick on letter markings help too.
You guys have central Wisconsin beat in the cold department this week!
My main heat source is from hot water registers, which are nice as if the power shuts off the registers stay warm for a fair bit while it’s off. It’s also a cheap way to do heating in a cold place and doesn’t blow any are around and mess with my allergies.
Backup heat is propane, no fuss, not too expensive and I can run a camp stove and lantern from the same tanks. My whole place is only about 400 square feet, so storage space is at a bit of a premium here and I try to get as much dual or triple use stuff as I can.
Don’t the kerosene heaters produce some CO whenever they burn? I’ve never understood how they can be used safely indoors without somekind of outside exhaust.
Years ago some I knew said to me “One of my carbon monoxide detector has gone wrong” . I asked how did he know and he said back “Well one of the two keeps going off when the heating on”. So I asked “How do you know that that one is the one that has gone wrong? That may be the only one working”. I never found out what happen with the detector but as far as I know all his house hold are still alive.
I’ve found water in the Kero to be a big problem… got one of these (http://www.milesstair.com/Mr.Funnel.html) and it did good job fixing hte problem. That site’s got lots of good info on it too!
Good writing!
Do you have a good site for troubleshooting kerosene heater problems? My old Kerosun won’t stop smoking. I haven’t used it in a couple of years since I got my wood stove, but I’d like to have it as a backup.