The problem with heating with wood is that it’s a messy, constant, labor-intensive pain in the ass. Really. There’s a reason – not related to particulates or carbon credits – that American homes so rarely heat with wood. A heater you can just set and forget – preferably one with a thermostat – is a massive improvement on the design.
No, seriously. Think about it. I come down the ladder at oh-dark-thirty, pet Little Bear, start some coffee water, and – assuming I didn’t do all the preliminaries the night before – then I chop kindling, lay a fire, light tinder, and if all goes well half an hour later I might detect a slight rise in cabin temperature. Also, if like now the cabin isn’t really all that cold to begin with, around the time the fire finally starts making a difference it’s time to let it burn out.
Except for the cost and hassle of transporting propane from town, a propane heater is an improvement on this. And I do possess two of them: The big Mr. Heater I used in the Interim Lair, and this smaller version I inherited from J&H year before last…
The big one is currently stored elsewhere but the small one – along with half a dozen of these little “this won’t get you through the night” propane bottles which render the heater portable – normally resides in the powershed Just In Case. Yesterday I dragged it out and set it up, not because of any emergency but just because I wanted a little heat right now and not a lot of heat an hour from now. And because I could. Of course that meant expending one of those little propane bottles, which cost $4 apiece, which hurt my feelings but what the hell. It’s pretty clear we’re not going to have many life-threatening cold emergencies during the remainder of this winter.
Then this morning I came down the ladder, petted LB, noted that it was 50 degrees inside which is – damn it – on the cusp of cold enough to want some heat but not so cold you’re really in a fever to build a big roaring fire. And that little Heater Buddy was still sitting there, so I reached over from scratching somebody’s belly and fired it up. Cranked it to high. I figured I’d turn it down or off as soon as the thermometer said it was having an effect.
Probably I’ve never in life had that little heater set to High. When I tried to turn it down, I couldn’t. I physically could not do it. The valve handle is stuck on High. Maybe it’s just an inconveniently designed plastic tab on the handle. Maybe it’s a problem with the valve itself. If I put a wrench on it and crank, maybe that will break off the tab and fix the valve. Maybe it will complete the ruination of the valve.
I’ve been blown up in a propane fireball once. Once.
Hey, you know another problem with these little “this won’t get you through the night” camping bottles? No on/off valve. There’s nothing to do but let the heater burn till it runs out of gas, then see if I can take it apart enough to fix the handle or whatever else is wrong.
And that’s the advantage of heating with wood…
ETA: For the record, in case you cared, one of those little bottles will last an hour and 45 minutes in a Heater Buddy set on High.
ETAA: Fixed. Though I’m not quite sure what I did to fix it, which is always an unsatisfying sort of fix.
You can buy adapter hoses to hook up a large bottle, regulator, etc to the little heaters.
Just one source…https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiajoz_hJrSAhURW4YKHQ8TCYUYABAaGgJ2dQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASIuRoHdSWx86xoKEOc7CrTFVFW_X3Yt4fw5K9Fj0kX31WvEo&sig=AOD64_0GllnyB9sVon1WA9nntyRaIt0KOQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwi1m4f_hJrSAhVj7YMKHYU1DNkQwg8IQg&adurl=
You can also just unscrew the little bottles, as they have an internal Schrader like valve…You just get the de minimus loss of file already in the lines.
Yeah, but when you do that they give off a little PUTT of propane right there next to an already intense flame and then hilarity ensues , , , momentarily.
Joel I have one of the little buddy Mr Heaters too. I use it to heat my tiny 8 by 12 foot workshop so I know what you mean when you write about how it eats the little green throw away cylinders. To get around this I have a Mr. Heater 5-Feet Propane Hose/Regulator Assembly. Because it has a built in regulator there is no issue with replacing the fuel filter and you can us a larger propane cylinder so the damn thing will go longer. Just a thought…
https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-Propane-Regulator-Assembly/dp/B0000AXAA5/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1487435237&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=Big+Buddy+Hose+with+Regulator
Sorry, that was the wrong direction for the adapter. Can’t see the sense in attaching a one pound bottle to a large unit, but here is the correct hose…I think.https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0009PUQAK/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487434841&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=1+pound+to+20+pound+propane+adapter&dpPl=1&dpID=31SqZOYHkVL&ref=plSrch
Guys, I know about adapting a Mr. Heater with a hose and 20# bottle. I heated the trailer that way for 3.5 winters and in fact I possess at least two of those hoses. For safety, though, the hose really needs to be run out to where the bottle is outdoors. When I build the bedroom there will be a through-wall pipe for that purpose, though I hope to connect it to a more elaborate blue-flame heater. I’m reluctant to knock a hole in the wall or floor of my cabin for a hose to a portable heater, though of course in case of emergency I know right where I’d put the hole.
Also, MJR? You really do want a filter on that hose. Oil from the refillable propane bottle can and inevitably will screw up your Mr. Heater forever. I’ve done it.
I have a big propane heater in the house, it’s hooked to a series of large in ground propane tanks. Costs me about $825 to fill one 500 gallon tank when prices are good. I still have to pay extra for tax and for “haulage.” I use electric radiator heaters in two of my outbuildings, where I would have broken pipes or spoilage of supplies if I let it get too cold. I use big kerosene shop heaters for those times when the power goes out and stays out, fairly common here in winter storms.
But now, only one station in the whole county sells kerosene. I have been looking at those little propane heaters you hook up to a gas bottle, like you folks are talking about. But hearing all the things that can go wrong, and what a pain in the ass maintenance sounds like, I guess I’ll have to look for another solution.
I have a big Tennessee fieldstone fireplace, an 1889 wood burning kitchen stove as a back up to our regular propane powered kitchen stove and oven, and a wood burning stove in the below ground level. But Joel, I agree with you all the way on the drawbacks of burning wood. When I was younger, it wasn’t that tough to get up a couple of times a night to stoke the fires. Now, when I’m in my mid sixties, it’s just not on.
This was a good post on something I am very interested in. Thanks to you and the people who left comments.
Harry, around here the only place to buy kerosene – except in 1-gallon hardware store cans for $10 – is at the airport. Do you have access to Jet A?
I use the catalytic type propane wall heaters and love them. I have tools and the knowledge to install copper tubing, much better than any rubber hose except for temporary use. Even then sometimes I use copper.
Yes, I learned a few years ago that trying to fake it with rubber hose in a permanent installation is an idea that will bite you in the ass.
Sorry,I don’t know a lot about kerosene stoves.Won’t diesel fuel work just as well?
I’m in a small space just now and not excited about carrying a 20 pound propane potential leaking exploder around regardless the low risk, so I like the idea of doing refill of the little one pound bombs of which I have a half dozen. I’ve not refilled yet but am building some inventory with that object in mind. Just now propane is my “Option B”.
An option:
“How to REALLY Refill Little Green Propane Bottles for Camping”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP58A8tyRw8
No. Not at all. Diesel for heating used to be sold as “fuel oil,” maybe still is somewhere. But it’s definitely not the same as kerosene.
From internet searching the difference between kerosene, jet A and #1 fuel oil is the level of filtering. They are all in the same spesific gravity range. Since you probably only see #2 fuel or diesel in Arizona they are not the same as Kerosene. Either will jell and stop flowing at a much higher temp than #1. Here in Alaska my dealer only carries #1 heating oil. I will say from experience when I lived in Delta Junction that #1 will jell at -65F! Also propane stops flowing at -43F.
With the new propane tanks with over fill protection it should be relatively safe to hook up a heater with a long hose inside for temporary use. The big problem in the past is the old tanks could be overfilled and if the became too warm they could vent propane through the safety valve into the enviornment. I know people who live at Delta who used to have theirb old style tanks filled only two thirds full to hook up to their cook stove indoors because of that -43 problem.
Howard, that is a statistic I searched for, several years ago. Thank you!
We had a 30-year overnight low of -21F – for several nights running – and the flame on my oven got quite puny. But the biggest problem was suffered by my neighbors, because their propane-fueled generator wouldn’t start. Propane may stop flowing at -43F, but it stops being able to fuel an internal combustion engine at temperatures far higher than that. For the record, that time I brought a propane bottle inside to fuel my Mr. Heater. But the snow still wouldn’t melt off the floor.
OT, but your comment just brought that to mind.
There is a common gizmo that solves that problem. It’s called a Propane Vaporizer. The type that you normally see on a generator uses water jacket heat to boil liquid propane to make gaseous propane. So you can see that in very cold conditions you could run into a “Chicken and egg” problem where you can’t start your generator because it’s not hot, and it’s not hot because you can’t start it.
Another thing with those propane heaters is that you should keep a window open as they use up the oxygen and produce CO.
Here’s some good data . . .
http://inspectapedia.com/heat/Types_of_Oil_Fuels.php
🙂
I use one of those Schozzles to fill my green 1 lb bottles. I don’t do it like the guy in the video. I just leave it outside over night if its cold or put it in the fridge over night if not. Meanwhile I leave the big bottle inside at room temp over night. Screw them together, open the valve and turn the big bottle upside down. Come back in 20-30 minutes and the little bottle is full.
Dean