Indoor Heaters

[Transistorized]

It's getting that time of year where I am dusting off heaters and preparing for the winter. I just put a new wick in my Kerosene heater and got 5 gallons for emergency heat during power outages. Test fired it and it works great! Pulled out my old Comfort Furnace XL1500W infrared heater and found that the blower motor is making noise. I took it apart and shimmed up the drive motor. Seems to be working well but I think I may retire it to a backup unit. It is 13 years old after all. I am sure the infrared bulbs are at end of life as well albeit they are working now.

I ended up ordering a new EdenPURE Copper Plus 1500W model. Seems to have good reviews. Hope it works as good as my old one.

 

[Superduper]

Why not get a pellet stove.

 

[Transistorized]

Why not get a pellet stove.

Those pellet stoves do look appealing. I am sure they will throw out some heat too. My home is only 1200 square feet so it would probably run me out of my house...

Electric heat is the one thing that doesn't make sense to use a generator for when the power is out so these infrared heaters are primarily only to supplement my heat pump when the power is on and to help prevent the emergency heat from coming on too. When those things come on, man the wallet takes hit on the electric bill and my generator can go through 5 gallons of gas in 8 hours during an outage so I only use it for water, lights, TV and kitchen necessity until bed.

My problems always seem to start when it's cold and the power goes out. So far the Kerosene heater is my only off grid heat I have when there's no power that will do a decent job heating. Unfortunately, K-1 Kerosene here is $6.99 / Gal. Fortunately though it will run for 12 hours on 1 gallon and I usually only use it for 2 or 3 hours in the evening and during outages. It's not a vented heater so sometimes the fumes do get to us even with a window cracked.

My home doesn't have a chimney but I know I could plum a flue pipe to the outside fairly easily. Even though the kerosene heater I have is vented indoors, it doesn't register any CO on my digital detector normally. I have seen it at one point show as much as 12ppm of CO but kerosene fumes also contain small amounts of Sulfur and Nitrogen Dioxide along with Carbon Dioxide in addition to Carbon Monoxide. I use low sulfur fuel that is supposed to be less than 15ppm and that helps with a new wick but all of those fumes still get to me if I need to run it for more than a day consistently during an outage.

It's looking like a pellet stove or a wood stove with a flue pipe is what I am going to have to consider if I want a long term permanent solution to winter heating without electricity.

 

[Superduper]

I have an all electric house. Never bothered to get those 1000gal propane tanks so I rely on heat pump. On the coldest days, to prevent going to emergency heat, I use this guy. Got it from TSC about 10 years ago and been using it every season. It’s vented right through the wall and flue only goes up about 5’. Installed it myself and it works fine. Hopper will hold 120# of pellets but on low, it’ll run almost a whole day on 1-bag. Used to be $3.50/bag and cheaper if you buy by the ton. However last year, it’s $6/bag. Seems like a lot but if you burn 1 bag/day, that’s $180/month. Heating is expensive, I can live with that. But I only burn when temperatures are expected to be in the teens or lower. Depending if the flue is kept clean or not (I try to clean annually before winter season), there might be a hint of Smokey fireplace smell but none if flue is clean. Last year, house smoked up on the first use. I discovered a bird had built a nest in the flue outlet during the offseason, and as I got older, it was the first year that I tried to skip a cleaning. Won't do that again. Or will I?..... I still haven't cleaned it yet due to my surgery.

 

[Transistorized]

I like that the flue pipe is straight out the back. In my mind I always envision a pipe that goes up the wall and turns out. That is more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[floyd]

I like that the flue pipe is straight out the back. In my mind I always envision a pipe that goes up the wall and turns out. That is more aesthetically pleasing.

My buddy has a similar pellet stove with the flue pipe that passes through the wall then on the outside has an elbow with pipes that go straight up then has a vent at the top the points away from the house. Usually these use a double wall flue pipe .

 

[Transistorized]

My buddy has a similar pellet stove with the flue pipe that passes through the wall then on the outside has an elbow with pipes that go straight up then has a vent at the top the points away from the house. Usually these use a double wall flue pipe .

I found an old photo inside the attic of my home that showed that a previous owner had a similar setup on the outside. I could see it sticking up above the roof line on the side of the house but the direction the photo was taken I couldn't see where the pipe exited the house. I have looked everywhere on the wall in the living room and can't see anywhere where a hole used to be and patched back up. I am starting to think they went out the window with a plate that was cut to match the open window slot.

All of our houses were built around the same time. My neighbor has a chimney on his house but he removes his stove in the spring and then brings it back in the house for the winter and hooks it up. I like that idea because then it isn't always in the way. Our houses aren't the most spacious.

 

[Tinman]

Last year, house smoker up in first use. I discovered a bird had built a nest in the flue outlet.

Years ago I found a live bird in the horizontal flue pipe above my boiler.
My house is 2 stories with an attic so he had a long drop.
I had to dismantle it and take the whole piece outside to release it.
That's when I decided to get a flue/chimney cap.
Not only do they keep animals out, they also divert most rain from going down the flue.
A few years ago, my Aunt had a plumber find a dead bird on the top of the jackets inside her boiler.
He was well done.