Questions about Kerosene force air heater

[Yukon Jack]

I was thinking about get one of the Kerosene forced air heaters for my shop.

Are they safe for use in a fairly air tight shop/barn?

If I should choose to do some painting on my 69 would the burned Kerosene fuel fumes be bad for the paint? A parts store guy said it could be a problem.

[RED72blazer]

is the forced air type the one with the blower? I have a kerosene heater in the garage and it works pretty well, YOu just got to make sure it's burning clean.

[Yukon Jack]

Yep, I'm considering the Reddyheater - their web site doesn't talk about safety issues as far as I have found anyway.

[Shane]

never had any problems with the one i have. If i plan on doing any painting when it is cold enough for the heater, then I crank up the heater until everything is warm ... shut it off ... do my paint work ... give the paint about 15-20 minutes "flash time" ... and then crank the heater back up.

[BLAZERMAN]

Mark, I have been using a 155.000 btu reddy heater for about 5 years now with no problems, it will heat my 1200 sq ft shop up in no time but you do need good ventilation, definetly do not use in an air tight shop, I leave my door part way open while its running. I also have a thermostat wired in so I can set the temp without turning the heater on and off. I also have a carbon monoxide detector in the shop just to be safe.

[our64]

Not a good idea in a tight shop, You better have a fresh air intake because they have no way to vent the carbon monoxide

[Mike C]

I hated the forced air heater that I had. Sounded like a freakin' jet engine running all the time. I would go LPG and get a radiant heater rather than a forced air. I have an 80,000 BTU unit that really pumps out the heat. You don't need it too hot in the shop IME. Just in the upper 40's to mid 50's and wear some insulated coveralls and good boots. (I KNOW you have coveralls up there in the Great White North!) If you spend the $ for a pretty large tank (if you don't already have one) Propane is cheap. If you try to swap out BBQ tanks at Home Depot, you'll be broke in no time.

[pierce]

I used one for years, after awhile my eyes would burn, clothes would stink, started feeling sleeeepy... it was a little out of tune. I just ordered a garage heater 30,000 BTU that runs on natural gas or propane, Northern Tool on sale $99 (website) w $30 blower same one I saw at Home Depot for $250 blower $60. Another option might be getting oil furnace.

[keenee]

I think the reddyheaters are a bad way to go! They smell bad and make me sick! If you read the papers with them it says you need about a 3x3 opening high and another low to properly vent the space. Carbon monoxide WILL KILL you! Be safe!

[Fred T]

If you get a kero heater, be sure to get one that is vented. It will put oil in the air, which will mess up paint. Have you checked into the cost of propane versus kero? I assume you're outside the natural gas service area.

[Yukon Jack]

I've got a gas line running to my shop but I don't think I could afford a real heater like to run from it. Maybe there are options I don't know about. The kerosene isn't sounding like such a good deal. I picked up a little radiant propane heater a couple days ago for use with a BBQ size propane tank and the darn thing would work for about 5 minutes at a very low setting then freeze up. Couldn't even attempt a high setting without it freezing up and shutting off. The dealer said it was the new tank fitting freezing up and that I should buy a big tank that wouldn't have that new required fitting. I didn't want to have to buy one of the big tanks but I guess maybe that is the way to go after all. Still unsure.

Definitely don't need it warm like you said Mike - I generally am pretty comfortable even when it is cold but I am kind of thinking about painting the cab while it is all torn apart this winter and didn't think I would be able to do much of a job without some heat in the barn. Still not decided if I'm even gonna bother with paint, I'm so indecisive!

[barn9]

Hey Mark, you can rent a reddy-heater for around $15-18 per day around here, so that would be a way to try it out before spending the money to buy one. With the size of your barn, it is probably the only way to keep a workable temp in the area where you have the truck apart. Glad to hear you are now considering painting that cab while it's off, there is no better time to do it. 2 problems with the heater and painting though, not only the fume and vapor problem, but also the dust and dirt problem caused by the volume of air moving. If you get that puppy sanded and ready, I bet we can get it painted though, one way or another.

[StingRay]

My Dad has one and I've used it plenty over the years. I have a Kerosun radiant type as well. So far all of the kerosene units stink everthing up, make my eyes burn and yes can be dangerous without proper ventilation. ANY direct fired heater no matter what the fuel can be a hazard. When fuel is directly combusted to provide heat, unlike furnaces that vent the lethal gasses up a chimney and then transfer the heat through a heat exchanger, the deadly products of combustion (carbon monoxide) are released into your breathing space and can accumulate and make you sick or kill you.

The oily sooty nature of kerosene and it's combustion byproducts may not be all that healthy for a paint job either.

Those little electric construction heaters that run off of 220 V 30A welder plugs work great, are cheap and pause little in the way of health risks. Painting with any type of open element or open flame appliance is potentially hazardousdue to fire hazzard.

I have used one of the electric jobs for years with propane direct fired to supplement when it's really cold. The little elctric job will keep up in an insulated two car garage well below zero degrees.

[tommie]

alright,

here's something that i learned this weekend on the ready heater type heaters. (the ones that sound like jet engines)

they are supposed to be run on kerosene or a grade 3 desel.

we always got cheap and ran them off of desel (just out of the pump) was always hard to find the grade 3 and kerosene was too high.

anyway, someone had told us about adding 2 quarts of atf with 5 gallons of normal desel. i thought that it would smoke more than what just desel would do, but it actually burned hot like the kerosene and didn't seem to have the fumes as bad.

just a thought, has anyone else tried this?

[our64]

I also have forced air propane..Its -31 celcius here today.and i am out working, although It takes a while to warm it up to 15, but Im sure you dont have those temps..went from a wood stove and wouldnt go back for anything

[Mike C]

If you figure the cost of fuel and trouble to refuel, spending more on a gas heater now makes good sense. Try to find somebody who is upgrading their home furnace, or take advantage of the situation and upgrade your home to a more efficient unit, then move old home unit to garage. Mount in closet, run some hanging ducts for even distribution, and you have the rockin' shop heater and eventually your home unit will pay for itself with energy savings. I would do a gas heater in a heart beat, but there in no gas in my neighborhood

[Yukon Jack]

Mike - you sure do have good ideas - and if the engine parts purchases didn't get me hit upside the head with a skillet by my wife, I bet telling her we're getting a new furnace so I can get heat in the shop will definitely get me smacked.

Course if I had a furnace in the shop, it sure would be comfy when she kicks me out! Maybe an air conditioner for summer, cable, phone - hmmm, I'm definitely on to something.

[barn9]

Good point Mike C, for a space within heatable size. Mark's barn is very large, with high ceiling, therefore making it near impossible to heat as a whole, which is why he is thinking of this type heater. My thought on a building like his would be to frame walls, etc., in a section of the building, and have an enclosed shop area that could be heated on an as-needed basis. Just think Mark, then you could have a real workbench, etc. LOL!

[yellowgmc]

why not wood heat? i see you use your truck to haul wood!

[mrein3]

A friend of mine put a used house furnace in his garage. It is a natural gas fired forced air unit. Then he scrounged an AC compressor, bought a new a-coil, and has a heated AND air conditioned garage.

My dream garage will have heated floors. The boiler for the hot water heat will be enclosed in a closet or in another building so I can paint all winter.

[Yukon Jack]

I can't even keep enough wood for my wife to burn let alone leave some for myself! That probably would be the cheapest route in the long run though.

[Mike C]

Since the goal is just a comfortable working temp, the house furnace actually should do fairly well. Especially if it is ducted as you get more even heating. They make reducers designed for cold weather, so it is possbile to spray paint in the 50's. How big is the barn Mark, and how big is your house? If the house is 2500 sq ft and the barn 5000 and they are both insulated, if your goal is to maintain 70 degrees in the house, 50 in the shop shouldn't be out of the question. It may run a lot of the time you are out there, but compared to the house you won't use it as much. And besides, those new house furnaces do a better job than one made just 5 years ago, much less if yours is 25 years old! Besides, I like getting Mark in trouble as misery loves company

[Yukon Jack]

Barn is 40 x 60 with I'm gonna guess like 14 foot tall sides, about 1/2 to 3/4 of it is insulated. House is like 3000 sq ft if I remember correctly - furnace is 15 years old - so, you gonna come over and break the news to my wife for me

Fun aside, won't be able to afford replacing the house heater right now but I can tell it won't be going to the junk pile when it does get replaced. I bet a guy could get an older furnace from a heating and cooling company for next to nothing. As slow as my project is going, it will probably be spring and warm enough to paint once I get my truck all back together - if I even decide to actually paint it. My truck would be happy to be just one color rather than running around with an off color door and interior. Poor thing!

[Fred T]

Jack, natural gas is the cheapest to heat with around here. Contact your local furnace man, they usually have to pay someone to take the old ones away. And no one has mentioned the cheapest fuel around these parts, dried cow chips.

[ty1295]

My dad has a 40x60 shop, with similar ceiling height. He got an old used electric house furnace, mounted it in ceiling blowing down. He also has plastic he drops down, to section off the "storage" area, from his WORK area. Storage is 1/3, work other 2/3rds. It works great.

Got furnace for free, had some ducts made. He is VERY happy with it.

I think that is way to go. Call up some local repair places, see what they say. Can't hurt any. Tell them you are looking at replacing your house when next year,and will go through them, if they can find you a cheap one now for your shop....