andrewcocke
Nov 15, 2006, 06:11 PM
Hello folks:
Im sure no doubt that we have all heard the quick 3 minute story on the news right about this time of year about kerosene heater saftey. In my opinion, these stories are enough to scare many people out of using them.
I want to touch on this subject a little, as a person who is a die hard fan of kerosene heaters. They have found a spot in my heart ever since the winter our old oil furnace died 3 years ago. Two kerosene heaters, one convection and one radiant, got us through an entire winter. Yes, night and day, and we didnt burn out house down.
How we have a brand new electric furnace installed, but we still turn to our kerosene heaters to make the house feel "cozy" and a minimun cost.
Im not going to spend a lot of time on the stuff we already know, like keeping them away from combustables, only use the proper grade kerosene for your heaters, do not allow children or pets to play around them, etc... Im going to spend more time on the lesser known things.
The trick to kerosene heater satisfaction and saftey is good maintence. Although some might argue, I never liked used died kerosene in my heater, although it doesnt seem to hurt the heater, just seems to take life out of the wicks. Which brings me to the wicks, I have found out that many people discard a heater after the wick just becomes unusable, it may start to smoke, or not burn correctly, or just not light at all. Its a shame that a perfectly good heater lands in the dumpster all becuase it needed a $7 wick.
Changing the wick is easy, most wicks come with basic instructions. Its hard for me to explain in words how to change one, its just something that I do, but anyone who can handle changing the oil in a car should be able to handle changing a wick on a heater. I would say its harder than changing a tire, but easier than baking a turkey.
Whether you have a shop change your wick, or you do it youself, you should change your wick no less than once a heating season. When my furnace blew out that winter, I was changing wicks in my radiant heater about once every other month. Its really a matter of assumption. When you assume the wick needs to be changed. I change mine when dry burning seems to do no good anymore and the wick becomes brittle. Be warned though, you can not dryburn all wicks. Refer to your heaters manual to see if you can dry burn the unit before attepting. You dryburn a wick by basicly setting it outside, lighting it and letting it burn all the kerosene out of it or "burn dry".
Always dryburn outdoors. I have my heater run dry in the house a few times, and it makes a horrible odor. If your house is sealed real tight, it could be a carbon monoxide threat.
Which brings me to carbon monoxide: Everyone knows that a house should have a smoke alarm, well if you have ANYTHING that runs on gas, oil, kersene, etc, you should invest in a carbon monoxide detector. They cost about $25 and are worth every penny.
Kerosene heaters are unvented, that means that ALL the fumes are released into the room. If you acheive a proper combustion, this isnt a problem, but you should have a carbon monoxide detector just in case. I have a somewhat drafty house, so I never bothered to crack windows, however if your house is very tight, you should crack a window during start up and shut down.
You should not burn them unattended, while you are away or asleep. But you say "Andy, if your furnace blew out, what kept your house warm while you slept and went to work?" Okay, I will play the hypocrite here, desperate times call for desperate measures, however now that I have a working furnace, it is a practice I no longer perform, and it made me terribly nervous then.
Its basicly common sence. Im the only one in my family that uses kerosene heaters, and I stand by them. They are nothing to be feared, but they do need to be respected and well maintained. Change your wicks as needed, keep your wicks clean.
If you change your wick yourself, MAKE SURE you reassemble correctly, this means pulling tension on the spring, so that when you extingish the flame, it retracts all the way and puts the flame out. While you have it apart, sand off any rust or corrosion built up on the wick tube. Make sure your tip over saftey works properly, test it, and if it doesnt work, repair it or replace the heater. Monitor you heaters very closley after changing a wick for the first few hours to make sure everything is burning okay.
Have common sence. Last year, a household garage exploded killing two people becuase they were heating their garage with a kerosene heaters. They needed to drop the fuel tank on their car, being cold outside, the did it in the garage with the kero heater going. When the gas fumes filled the room, the heater flame ignited the fumes and the garage exploded. I mean no disresect to the dead, but common sence should have prevailed here.
Remember your heater IS an open flame. Respect it accordingly.
Im sure no doubt that we have all heard the quick 3 minute story on the news right about this time of year about kerosene heater saftey. In my opinion, these stories are enough to scare many people out of using them.
I want to touch on this subject a little, as a person who is a die hard fan of kerosene heaters. They have found a spot in my heart ever since the winter our old oil furnace died 3 years ago. Two kerosene heaters, one convection and one radiant, got us through an entire winter. Yes, night and day, and we didnt burn out house down.
How we have a brand new electric furnace installed, but we still turn to our kerosene heaters to make the house feel "cozy" and a minimun cost.
Im not going to spend a lot of time on the stuff we already know, like keeping them away from combustables, only use the proper grade kerosene for your heaters, do not allow children or pets to play around them, etc... Im going to spend more time on the lesser known things.
The trick to kerosene heater satisfaction and saftey is good maintence. Although some might argue, I never liked used died kerosene in my heater, although it doesnt seem to hurt the heater, just seems to take life out of the wicks. Which brings me to the wicks, I have found out that many people discard a heater after the wick just becomes unusable, it may start to smoke, or not burn correctly, or just not light at all. Its a shame that a perfectly good heater lands in the dumpster all becuase it needed a $7 wick.
Changing the wick is easy, most wicks come with basic instructions. Its hard for me to explain in words how to change one, its just something that I do, but anyone who can handle changing the oil in a car should be able to handle changing a wick on a heater. I would say its harder than changing a tire, but easier than baking a turkey.
Whether you have a shop change your wick, or you do it youself, you should change your wick no less than once a heating season. When my furnace blew out that winter, I was changing wicks in my radiant heater about once every other month. Its really a matter of assumption. When you assume the wick needs to be changed. I change mine when dry burning seems to do no good anymore and the wick becomes brittle. Be warned though, you can not dryburn all wicks. Refer to your heaters manual to see if you can dry burn the unit before attepting. You dryburn a wick by basicly setting it outside, lighting it and letting it burn all the kerosene out of it or "burn dry".
Always dryburn outdoors. I have my heater run dry in the house a few times, and it makes a horrible odor. If your house is sealed real tight, it could be a carbon monoxide threat.
Which brings me to carbon monoxide: Everyone knows that a house should have a smoke alarm, well if you have ANYTHING that runs on gas, oil, kersene, etc, you should invest in a carbon monoxide detector. They cost about $25 and are worth every penny.
Kerosene heaters are unvented, that means that ALL the fumes are released into the room. If you acheive a proper combustion, this isnt a problem, but you should have a carbon monoxide detector just in case. I have a somewhat drafty house, so I never bothered to crack windows, however if your house is very tight, you should crack a window during start up and shut down.
You should not burn them unattended, while you are away or asleep. But you say "Andy, if your furnace blew out, what kept your house warm while you slept and went to work?" Okay, I will play the hypocrite here, desperate times call for desperate measures, however now that I have a working furnace, it is a practice I no longer perform, and it made me terribly nervous then.
Its basicly common sence. Im the only one in my family that uses kerosene heaters, and I stand by them. They are nothing to be feared, but they do need to be respected and well maintained. Change your wicks as needed, keep your wicks clean.
If you change your wick yourself, MAKE SURE you reassemble correctly, this means pulling tension on the spring, so that when you extingish the flame, it retracts all the way and puts the flame out. While you have it apart, sand off any rust or corrosion built up on the wick tube. Make sure your tip over saftey works properly, test it, and if it doesnt work, repair it or replace the heater. Monitor you heaters very closley after changing a wick for the first few hours to make sure everything is burning okay.
Have common sence. Last year, a household garage exploded killing two people becuase they were heating their garage with a kerosene heaters. They needed to drop the fuel tank on their car, being cold outside, the did it in the garage with the kero heater going. When the gas fumes filled the room, the heater flame ignited the fumes and the garage exploded. I mean no disresect to the dead, but common sence should have prevailed here.
Remember your heater IS an open flame. Respect it accordingly.