Safety of kerosene/propane heaters?

[jayhawk]

Progress on my TR 3 restoration/paint prep work has come to a slow crawl. I guess I've become a wimp (maybe smarter?) in my older age-- Used to dive right in to mechanical/body work projects as long as my fingers would work and the water didn't freeze-- I have a nice space to work on but it has no power other than deep cycle battery and I've been wondering about a gas heater of some kind to keep things warm. Are they safe around leaky ol' LBC's?

 

[StagByTriumph]

I don't think you need to worry too much about fire as you should probably have the heater located away from other flamables and combustables. You always have a danger when there is an open flame in a workshop using flamables. But you do need to be concerned about carbon monoxide from those gas heaters and fumes and smell of kerocene. Neither types are usually rated for fully enclosed use.
You probably are not going to do major chemical strip and painting in there in cold weather anyway that would caues a buildup of fumes. But the occasional 1/4 ounce fuel spill when disconnecting a fuel line or line should not be dangerous if you are not in the proximity of the heater. Now dump that amount of fuel right onto the heater and cause a quick vapor and then you might have a real dangerous and explosive issue.
For me I tried the supposedly "garage rated" unvented propane forced air heater and within a few minutes I would get woosie even if I had a window open and a ceiling vent. I also tried a new kerocene heater and did not like the smell or fumes. So I went with a good old pot bellied stove with flue pipe out the roof and burn coal. No power needed, easy to fire with little ash (not like buring wood) and heats the garage within about 10 minutes.
You can also get LPG/LNG heaters that need no power and are vented.

 

[SilentUnicorn]

Kerosene heaters are ok if used carefully. But one needs to keep a fire ext. around in the event of a mishap. the biggest complaint with them is the smell . if used correctly there is very little smell. keep the wix trimmed and when you turn it off make sure it is off. they can burn for hours if you dont. Keep the area around the heater free from anything that will burn. I use one to heat my work area and it is basicily trouble free, But not maintainance free, Kinda like an LBC.

mark

 

[Rick O.]

I think kero heaters are a dangerous & stinky solution. If you must use one, keep it well up off the floor to minimize igniting any denser-than-air vapors. And keep the door afar to dilute the combustion gases. I use an electric utility heater in my garage.

 

[Geo Hahn]

I use one of these when camping in the cold, could also work for limited use and spot heating -- wouldn't heat an entire garage but has a fan so it delivers heat right at you...

https://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602...mp;ref=tgt_adv_

Still need some ventilation but perhaps not as much as larger heaters.

I would be very wary of using a large propane tank indoors and would never store one inside a building.

 

[Guest]

Jay, if you have no power, what do you use for lights? I am a big fan of fan-blown electric heaters, especially with the tipover feature, which they all have. 'Course, Vermont gets a wee bit colder than South Louisiana. I work in an enclosed one-car garage that I have rigged with a clock-controlled vent fan to cut down on odors. Got it to run 10 minutes every hour. I often have to crack the door in the dead of winter to let some of the heat out! Too, we run our LBC 12 months out of the year or when it is not on blocks. A friend in central Maine designed a passive-solar home that requires three ricks of firewood a year to keep his large home warm. Don't know what he does for his livestock in the barn, though. I was always leary of open-flame heat near combustable material. I think I am rambling.

Bill