Heating Your Shop

[Mugz]

Originally Posted by nightprowler

my parents have a house on the vineyard that isn't winterized, when i use it in the late fall and early spring i have been using a kerosene heater. i just got it last year, but it worked amazingly well. most of the fall wasn't that bad but that first weekend in november was super cold and that heater kept my girlfriend and i toasty...not that she didn't kee me warm enough
why are you afraid to use it?

I am worried about fumes with the kerosene heater. It's an older model...but the thing is big (bazooka type). Has wheels. Not sure of the BTU's or what size tank it is....looks like 5+ gallons to me.
Where the hell do I buy kerosene anyways? I think I've seen them in 1 gallon cans at the hardware store.
Maybe I'll clean it this weekend and try to fire it up. I'll bring out my carbon dioxide alarm just in case.

[nightprowler]

there is a gas station near me that has a k-1 kerosene pump. just go and fill-er up when i need. on mv it was $3/gallon, so im sure it is cheaper on the mainland. there is a place here in falmouth that fills them also, im not sure the name though.

[nightprowler]

I also found that with regards to fumes, its all in the adjustment of the wick. i was having nasty smoke and fumes, so i actually read the instructions and it turns out i was burning with to much wick. as the heater warmed up i had to keep decreasing the amount of exposed wick. I never burned it when i was out or when i went to sleep. my girlfriends dad who gave me mine uses one in his basement to supplement his heating, keeps his costs down. he just lights it up and keeps it going all the time. the heat rises up through and warms his floors.

and with regards to cleaning, the instruction manual had a nice section on dry burning the wick and how to clean to get the optimum performance out of the heater.
its amazing what those little manuals can do for ya