City Prep: Best emergency heat?

[photoshooter]

Well, I live in a big city - stick built McHome - all electric. With basement. The fireplace is useless for heating, and only a decoration/ambiance setter for now.

I used to have a kerosene heater - but sold it off and got a little propane heating head I use on 20# grill tanks. I use this to take the chill out of the basement during the winter.

For an extended power outage, I'm wondering if I should have kept the Kerosene radiant heater?

Cost vs efficiency? Is there another cheap source of heat I'm overlooking?

Anyone know where to find the heat output vs fuel cost of propane vs kerosene?

Also, the Kerosene heater was bugging my asthma - but I'm happy to put up with it if it keeps me from freezing.

 

[philo]

Ventless natural gas "blueflame" heaters work well. You can get them at Menard's or Lowe's and install them yourself. Small to heat a single room or large and centrally located to heat several rooms. We used one for about 10 years as backup to our woodstove for when we were out of the house for more than 24 hours. They are way cheaper to operate than electric baseboard heaters, and they still work when ice storms take out the power.

 

[philo]

Oops, just saw that you were all eletric. they do make the "blueflame" heaters that operate on propane as well.

 

[RichardR]

We really like our Mr. Heater Portable Buddy propane heater, we have used it both for cool/cold weather tent camping & for emergency home heating for the last few years, we got it after a disastrous incident involving one of our kerosene heaters.

Anyway our portable buddy is a nice little unit with some very nice features & it has held up very well, gas consumption on the lower 4000 btu setting is pretty good, on the low setting a 1lb bottle will last all night & the heat output of the 9000 btu setting is great when you want to heat up a cold space quickly or something, however be warned that on the high setting it will empty a 1lb bottle in a few hours.

You can also use 20lb tanks or you could just do what I do and use 20lb tanks to refill empty 1lb bottles, either way that helps keep the operation cost down, granted these heaters are a bit on the expensive side, but they are definitely worth the extra coin IMHO.

 

[IndianasFinest]

I was in a similar boat except for location differences. My home is also all electric, and before I installed a wood burning stove my main source of back up heat was kerosene heaters. If you take care of them, and make sure they stay clean with good wicks (get extras) there not so bad to use. We had to heat our home with the 2 large ones I have once. We used blankets on the doorway of the living room to help keep the heat located in the bedrooms at night. I have also heard good things about the Buddy Heater products, but they are kind of pricey compared to a used kerosene heater. So your house does have a wood burning fireplace ? Have you ever looked into the cost of an insert for it ?

 

[photoshooter]

So your house does have a wood burning fireplace ? Have you ever looked into the cost of an insert for it ?

Yes it does, but the stove insert isn't in the budget for this year.

I've looked at the buddy heaters, and like them, but I'd want the hose and 20# tank instead of the 1# mini-bottles.

Richard: how are you refilling your mini-bottles off the bigger tanks?

 

[RichardR]

Richard: how are you refilling your mini-bottles off the bigger tanks?

Gander Mountain® > Mr. Heater Propane Tank Refill Adapter - Fishing > Ice Fishing > Heaters :

 

[RichardR]

I've looked at the buddy heaters, and like them, but I'd want the hose and 20# tank instead of the 1# mini-bottles

Anyway yea that's an option, but personally I am not all that comfortable with using 20lb bottles of propane inside of the house or a tent.

Not so much because I am worried about them exploding or anything like that, but there is more than enough propane in the larger tanks that if there was a small leak in either the connection points or the line itself that the gas could build up enough to kill us while we slept.

 

[GSquared]

I also like the idea of using only the 1lb containers in that you can't lose all your propane or kill yourself if one leaks. Don't forget some D batteries for the fan, they help spread the heat out.

Another thing....your basement really shouldn't get too cold in the winter if you insulate the ceiling. The worst my unheated basement has ever been in the winter is ~55 deg F.....cool....but with some bundling up is tolerable. (Mine is not a walk out, so the ground insulates pretty well....my guess is not so much on a walk out) Just make sure you are able to drain the water out of your pipes and have some other way of disposing of human waste and you can survive for quite some time without heat.

 

[LawDog76]

Anyway yea that's an option, but personally I am not all that comfortable with using 20lb bottles of propane inside of the house or a tent.

Not so much because I am worried about them exploding or anything like that, but there is more than enough propane in the larger tanks that if there was a small leak in either the connection points or the line itself that the gas could build up enough to kill us while we slept.

Run a battery operated co2 detector near it. If one of those things started to leak the slightest bit you'd be able to smell it anyhow.

Harbor Freight runs those adapters on sale alot for $10.

 

[photoshooter]

Basement is already finished with a sheet-rock ceiling. No insulating in the future, since I'd have to kill the entire ceiling to install it.

 

[moischmoe]

Cost vs efficiency? Is there another cheap source of heat I'm overlooking?

Anyone know where to find the heat output vs fuel cost of propane vs kerosene?l

I'm curious too. Which one will keep you warm for the least amount of money?

 

[cburnworth]

assuming you know where joists are you could just make a small hole & spray in foam insulation. then just a little bit of spackle & paint.

 

[Archbishop]

Anyway yea that's an option, but personally I am not all that comfortable with using 20lb bottles of propane inside of the house or a tent.

Not so much because I am worried about them exploding or anything like that, but there is more than enough propane in the larger tanks that if there was a small leak in either the connection points or the line itself that the gas could build up enough to kill us while we slept.

This is exactly why a lot of propane style heaters say for outdoor use only. not be used in sleeping quarters. Propane style heaters are generally speaking safe to use inside while sleeping. Also, while not as long as propane, kerosene has a long shelf life. (Longer than gasoline.)
I personally have two radiant style kerosene heaters. I wouldn't mind picking up one of the "buddy" heaters though. I need something for my pop up camper and this appears to fit the bill.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

I have both the kerosene and a propane buddy heater. I used the kerosene when I'm working on a vacant rental house in winter with no utilities on to keep some semblance of heat in there.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

Are the buddy heaters pretty hot to the touch? They obviously have a guard... just wondering how kid friendly they are.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

Buddy heaters are basically a controlled open flame. That's why they have an automatic kickoff if they are tipped even slightly. I honestly wouldn't call them kid friendly at all if your kids aren't trained in open fire safety.

 

[Bill of Rights]

Run a battery operated co2 detector near it. If one of those things started to leak the slightest bit you'd be able to smell it anyhow.

Harbor Freight runs those adapters on sale alot for $10.

<nitpick> CO detector, not CO2 detector. You probably don't care how much carbon DIoxide is in the air, but carbon MONoxide is deadly. </nitpick>

Blessings,
Bill

 

[nate1865]

One good option is a wood fireplace with a rick of wood out back.

Another is a kerosene heater with several blue kerosene containers in your garage or shed. That stuff lasts forever and it can also fuel lamps and a generator if you have a conversion for it.

 

[Indy317]

Yes it does, but the stove insert isn't in the budget for this year.

Are you talking a true wood burning stove? While that is the way to go, you might want to look at other fireplace options. My parents had a normal fireplace and stone chimney. My dad had a set up where you placed a fan (12"x12"x12" ish box) outside the firebox, that was to the side of the box. The fan would suck air in, then push it through a 1" tallx1" widthx4" metal piece. The air got sucked in, was then pushed through a grate where the wood fire was. The tubes would heat up due to the fire, and the air travled through the tubes, then was pushed back out on the other side of the metal piece. The metal vent ran along the bottom of the firebox, outside the firebox. This pushed very hot air into the room. While likely not very efficient, it would allow you to heat one room where you could sleep, hang out, etc..

What my dad had was just a drop in (more like slide in) set-up, not hard to do at all. The only thing wrong with it was that I felt the grate sat too high off the floor of the firebox. The coals are what get hot, and there was a good 4-6" of space between the tubes the air was pushed through and the hot coals. This was a system from the early 90s, maybe late 80s. My only guess is that if it was too close to the coals, the metal might have been destroyed, so that is why they designed it the way they did. Should be a much cheaper option than a true wood stove.