Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Sitting here, about 20* outside, snow is falling.  I have the electric heater running, life is good.

But I’ve been thinking about the fact that, “Shit, if the power goes out, I-am-totally-FLOCKED!!!!”

Live in a rental in the city, so getting a wood stove is not an option (and where would I keep the wood?).  Have central heat, but I keep it at 50*, just enough to keep the pipes (and me) from freezing.  Mostly, I just put thick blankets on the bed, and heat only the living room (with the electric), where I watch vids, eat, and post my pearls of priceless wisdom on Arf.

So far as light goes, I WAS depending on one of the Coleman propane lanterns until hurricane Sandy, when I learned they put out carbon monoxide.  Ran it in my room for a few secs, sure as fuck, headache city.

So now, I’ve made a few changes.  Light is no prob; got alot of candles, and one of the “Siege” battery lanterns from Streamlight, along with spare D-cell batts:



But heat is still an issue.  For my situation, if the power goes out, seems like a kerosene heater (with Piezo electric, preferably) would be my best bet.  No chimney needed, no wood, none o' that Shi'ite.  Totally off-the-grid.

First, the obligatory Wiki post.

Then, this website seems to have alot of good inflammation.

So learn me on kerosene heaters, O hivemind; which one should I get to heat a small area?  I gather carbon monoxide is not an issue?  Sheetz locally has kerosene for a bit over gasoline prices per gallon...

Get a Big Buddy heater.

1)  buddy heaters (Lowes has them)

2) Dyna Glow CV-2300 or KeroHeat 2230

Keroheat CV2230 and 20 gallons of kerosene is what I have set aside for emergencies.  These things put out a LOT of BTU's

You can safely run it indoors, as it's 99.XX% efficient.  Get a good CO detector to be safe, though.

Get the filter and extra long hose and a 20lb grill bottle and your set.

I've seen good deals on the Big Buddy heaters at WalMart too. I happened to get mine at Tractor Supply though.

Might as well get a few lanterns to run on it too.  If you look, you can still find the wide fount Dietz lanterns.  Of course they hold more but they're also a lot more stable.  Even the smaller ones will go all or most of the night though, and they provide a surprising amount of heat.

You can also run most Dietz lanterns on that paraffin "lamp oil" you see everywhere for indoor use.  Shit, you can run 'em on tiki torch fuel, but either of those will foul the wick.  You'll have to change it before using kero again if you do, and the lamps put out less light/heat on those fuels too.

This one looks nice



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dyna-Glo-40K-BTU-360-Degree-Tank-Top-Gas-Portable-Heater-TT360DG/203534107

 

I have one & 5 gallons of kerosene plus LED lamps for blackouts during winter.  I worry about a big earthquake during a sub-zero cold snap knocking out power for days.
 

Yep, looks cold in the pictures of the Good Friday Earthquake

TSC has the Big Buddy for 99, and the small one for 74. Pick up a couple extra 20 lb tanks(they never go bad, like gas does) 99 efc, safe for use in the house, tip over switch, and oxygen sensor, battery powered fan,. Several days worth of heat.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/mr-heaterreg%3B-big-buddytrade%3B-radiant-portable-heater-18000-btus?cm_vc=-10005

have a 'made in japan' corona 23dk that's the bomb.

mighty nice having a serious heat source that just requires a match.

I have two large kerosene heaters and a drum of kerosene for  those type of emergencies.  We used to have furnace failure all the time  until we updated our geothermal.

23K Kerosun and a 10K Kerosun and 20 gallons of Kerosene plus the tanks are full on both. 10k is enough to hold temp, the 23K will bring it up.

Just a word about 20lb propane tanks.

When you open the valve, open it - all the way - until the knob stops.

Otherwise they may leak a little at the valve stem.

I discovered this, running a propane heater in the garage.

Almost killed myself with one in the house. Was not running correctly and I was getting a headache and tired.
Thankfully I figured out what was happening and put it outside.
Never used one again.

Both the Dynaglow and Keroheat CV 2300 are big pieces of shit.  I bought 3 of them on sale at Lowe's for $50 each about 6 years ago.  They work great on the original wick but you will never get a replacement wick to work right.  You can not take them apart other than to change the wick.  The gears in the mechanism to lift the wick are made of thin, soft metal and will strip easily if the wick binds.  Cheap Chinese shit.  My parents and my sister had the same results.  Stay away from those heaters unless you are looking for a disposable, one shtf use heater.

I went to propane for supplemental and backup heat.  I should have done it years ago.  I got a Big Buddy heater at TSC a few days ago and tested it today.  It works great.  I see no need to go with kerosene given the terrible quality of the heaters on the market today.  The Japanese kerosene heaters are supposed to be great but yet again, our idiotic .gov screwed that up and they can't be imported anymore.

I have a "Jupiter" and I love it.
http://www.lanternnet.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WKL&Product_Code=DHL2500&Category_Code=DL

I have a corona kerosene heater. Bout 15 years old. Works great.  Only problem I had was during Sandy I had a he'll of a time finding kero. Once my can was empty I was driving around trying to find somewhere to buy it.  Everyone who had pumps was soldout.

coleman lanterns, and keroheaters are fine. stop being a sissy and crack a few windows....... buy a damn cheap assed battery co2 detector if your really worried.

Thing's a monster, probably one of the best of them  It's I think the only one still available with a wick too wide to run paraffin oil though.  Better off anyway.

I inherited a Kerosun Moonlighter that must be 40 years old.  Puts out enough heat to keep my living room warm and puts out light.  I only have 5 gallons of kerosene but I have a wood stove in the basement and enough wood put up to heat the whole winter without running the furnace (maybe not this year with a 6 month winter).  My house has something like 8 inch exterior walls.  I will sometimes turn on the Kerosun heater to warm the living room until the wood stove starts putting out heat in the morning.

I have a bunch of Dietz kerosene lanterns for light if I lose power for days.  Two are the Jupiter models which were supposedly used to heat greenhouses.

Coleman has an LED lantern for less than $20.00 that also has a rechargeable battery unit as an option that can provide light for days non-stop.

I have a Big Buddy heater for hunting which can be run off propane tanks if you buy a hose and filter.  I have two 20 pound propane tanks, my father gave me a 30 pound tank and then I found a fork lift 30 pound tank on the road last summer.  Those can be left filled forever in case of an emergency.

I lose power every winter and living in the middle of no where on a small island, I am the last one around to have power restored, roads plowed etc.  Last winter I had to go out with a chainsaw and clear a bunch of trees just so the snow plow could get out to the island after a big storm.  I bought two portable generators and keep 25 gallons of gas in my pole barn which I rotate by using in my vehicle.

I use Klean Heat almost exclusively. I can also get kerosene at the gas station. What's paraffin oil and what is the advantage over what I'm currently using?

Put a few carbon monoxide detectors to use and it won't be a problem.

Kerosene.  Cheaper?


 

Japanese. NEVER A CHINESE COPY.

That is all you need to know.

The only advantage is that it doesn't smell.  It's the stuff they sell in walmart and such as "lamp oil".  It's used in decorative stuff mainly, and it's also the base for tiki torch fuel I think, just with some citronella scent added.

It might be a little cheaper than kleen heat but probably not cheaper than gas station kero.  In every other way it's inferior to kerosene.  

I've got some oddball dietz "mars" lamps that are very poorly made.  Got 'em for a song though, so I leave 'em outside in the summer with tiki torch fuel in 'em, we use 'em on the deck and whatnot.  Used to keep fuel for a few more and an old kero heater.  Now we use wood and LEDs

Chinese-made Dietz lanterns are horribly inferior to old ones, though, or even better stuff like Emburys.

I pick up old Embury Air Pilots and restore them. The air tube design gives a stable white fan of flame. Some of the Chinese lookalikes of the old lanterns out there don't even have functional air tubes, they're just dead flame lanterns.

The D battery is for scale. These are big.

one of these will warm your whole house!

Related thread

which is more economical, propane or kerosene?

I like the Fuerhand lanterns but would like to see a larger offering. While not the Dietz old, the ones I've bought have been 100% reliable.

The reason the Mars models are outside is that the wick adjuster is junk on all of 'em.  I have 'em set for a decent flame height out of the tiki fuel and just leave 'em there.  

They were some of the first Chinese Dietzes I think.  Really bad compared to the old ones but they provide a nice light for the patio.