hey, It's starting to get cold now and I would like to fire up my kerosene heater in my garage but have a question about what is "adequate" ventalation for using the thing ... last year I used it a few times in my garage that I would hardly consider air tight since both my 8x7 garage doors have like 1/8" or more gaps all the way around ... maybe this is a stupid question but I never had a kerosene heater before. I thought some people used these things in their house ?

oh yeah, my problem is that i'll start to get a headache after being in the garage for 2-3 hrs with the heater on ...

should I crack one of the garage doors a bit or what ?

thanks.

- jack

Nah....don't worry about the headaches....its just a lack of oxygen to the brain......just kick back and take a nice nap into eternity......

:flipoff2:

that's what I figured was happening ... :p

but do people not have these things inside their houses ?

- jack

Originally posted by morpheus
that's what I figured was happening ... :p

but do people not have these things inside their houses ?

- jack

Yeah - and I think they crack a window.

As far a ventilation i think you will be just fine,but dont forget the dangers of having an open flame near gerodge type chemicles or gas and oil.There was a post ere last year from a guy that went something like;I havent been posting here in a while becouse while working on my rig i spilt gas neat my propane heater and my house burt to the ground with my rig in it:eek: He and his family got out O.K. but they lost everyting!

Be Carefull!

There are some fairly easy to do calculations that will illustrate the amount of ventilation you need for a given heat input to a heater. Essentially, you need the volume of the building, the heat input to the heater and a fairly arbitrary idea of how tight your room is. If you need the calculation, PM me and I'll look it up, and get it back to you tomorrow or Sunday.

As for the headaches, that is one of the first indications of carbon monoxide poisoning, the others are mental confusion and sleepiness, followed by nausea-next step is coma and central nervous system depression (lights out). CO poisoning can be cumulative if you are exposed on a regular and consistent basis. The Permissible Exposure limit for an 8-hour period is only 25 parts per million, hence, CO is pretty toxic.

As for the risk of fire from an open flame, if you have suitable ventilation, you should not have a buildup of flammables that will exceed the lower flammability limit at the ignition source. However, if you spill a large volume of a flammable near an ignition source with no air movement to disperse the vapors, you may have an unfortunate experience.

My suggestion to resolve many of your concerns is to provide not only adequate exchange of air from outside to inside, but also to agitate the air inside to prevent a concentration of flammable vapors at or near the source of ignition.

Don't run with scissors either!

Paul (Safety Man) Schram

That was Screwzer.... I still have a copy of the photo of that as a safety reminder.

Infrared heater... no open flame, but the heater was above the flash point of gas!

Tom :usa:

http://www.tomwalter.com/fj40/screwzer_after1.jpg

is it a salamander? if it is, you can run Diesel thru it and save some cash, that's what I do, diesel is buck39 and k1 is buck69I run about 7-10 gallons thru mine a day so that saves me a few bux, $20 a week or so.

~Nate

Tom:
The flash point of gasoline is so low that it is almost certain that if your heart is beating, the ambient temperature is above the flash point. When dealing with such things, often times, it is of more interest to be concerned with autoignition temperature (as it doesn't require an open flame), and the lower explosive (or flammability) limit.

Paul

Kerosene heaters are bad news for use indoors. I remember we had a couple of people die when I was in Korea when they used these for indoor heat. Went to sleep and never woke up. Even when people are awake they end up getting sleepy from lack of O2, and go to dream land never to return.
The best heaters I have seen for garage use are the radiant water heaters. They plump into your hot water supply and are controlled by a thermostat. I have one in my garage, and that thing will cook you! Don't have the worries about an open flame, like the kerosene or propane heaters.:skull:

My dad sold bulk petroleum before he retired. He used Kerosene heaters in his business and his home. Never had a problem. The key thing was to maintain the heater so they work effectively and efficently . The headachs may be caused by the presence of a dry heat source and not the kerosene. Like I said, we used these in our home for year and never had a problem. Then only time you should get ordor from them if upon the initial ignition, if you get ordor after that, your heater needs cleaned and serviced.

:D Yep...I use one quite often. Check the manual it should tell how to adjust the flame. Just like any torch...it can be set rich and not burn cleanly. Anyhow, when working right, I always light mine outdoors and after 4 or 5 min. bring it in. good Luck.

I've also used them for years, both in the garage and in my house. They work great for an economical heater but they require maintenance like Priest said. If you are using an old wick they can burn rich and produce some fumes. I wouldn't go using a huge heater in a small space though. Like I said, I've never had a problem with them, but then again I clean them and change the wick each year.

A close freind of mine had a very nice wood-shop with 50G's worth
of equipment in the shop. he used a kerosene heater in the shop. one time, (and I don't remember the cause) but the heater
sooted the entire shop. set of firealarms, etc. the cleanup cost
for 9,000 bucks. no actual fire happened, just alot of smoke/soot.

-although, my sister used a kerosene heater and no problems.

on the other hand, while my parents still owned our original
home, and they rented it, the renters used a kerosene heater
and completely f-ed up the interior of our home over 1 season.

in a shop, we used to use a smudge-pot. diesel oil for heat.

just be smart, keep the gasoline away......

--Sherpa

they work pretty sweet,
use them intermitinlty or if you have a blast furnace type, crack a door or something.

we have a two car garage and out heater heats the whole think in about 0-20 minutes, it gets plenty hot, we leave a door or window open for fresh o2.

as far as dielsel goes, dont be cheap, it makes you furnace really dirty, and it is not that cool.

I've used a kerosene heater in my house many times. There is no problem if you use the correct grade.

The only time that you can even smell it is when it is first lit, or when you shut it off.

I have had to use it if the power went out, or the pellet stove didn't work, etc. Mine is a 23k btu portable, and will heat my 2400 sq ft house.