Kerosene heat

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,400]

 In my garage I have a small kerosene salamander unit. Works great. Just used it today while I swapped on the snow tires on my daily commuter. 
  Why is Kero so pricey? And I’ve heard you can run diesel in these? Is that true? 
 

 

 

 

[JPWH 6,092]

I have a 55,000 BTU unit I use with diesel. Don't use off road diesel the die will clogs up the fuel jets.

You may need to adjust the air fuel mixture but once it is set properly it burns pretty clean with minimum odor.

[ri702bill 8,480]

It is my understanding Mike that K1 fuel is a "more refined" version of diesel fuel with a lesser viscosity.

[adsm08 2,172]

Diesel and kerosene are the same thing, more or less. They have more in common with each other than say regular 87 Octane and E-85 anyway.

 

Highway diesel has a lower sulfur content. Off-road diesel, to my knowledge, is not held to the same sulfur content standards as highway, but it wouldn't surprise me if they are all the same anymore so only one batch has to be made. Same way years ago some states started requiring bittering agents in coolant and the manufacturers realized it was cheaper to just make it all that way.

 

Not sure why the red dye in off-road would cause issues, but I also run my torpedo about an hour a year, so I don't really know.

 

Anyway, if it runs on kerosene it will run on diesel. It will run on a lot of other things too, but some cause issues. And some cause explosions.

 

 

Around me K1 is cheaper than diesel, but we have high fuel taxes and lower demand for kerosene.

Edited December 6 by adsm08

[squonk 41,291]

I remember the "Kerosun heaters" back in the day. Smelly things. I worked with a guy who had a rusty Chevy van and he had one of them inside to help keep it warm. He traveled the NYS Thruway to get to work and he got looks from the toll booth operators when he pulled up and the inside of the van was glowing! 

[lynnmor 7,352]

Diesel in a torpedo heater stinks more than kerosene.  The year that the red dye came out two oil furnaces had their fuel pumps wasted, one furnace was on the second tank of fuel.  The reason that kerosene is higher priced is simply that they want the money.

[adsm08 2,172]

4 hours ago, squonk said:

I remember the "Kerosun heaters" back in the day. Smelly things. I worked with a guy who had a rusty Chevy van and he had one of them inside to help keep it warm. He traveled the NYS Thruway to get to work and he got looks from the toll booth operators when he pulled up and the inside of the van was glowing! 

 

I remember in the 80s my parents had a couple kerosene heaters that we used in the house.

 

Our house had electric grid heating, which on paper is a brilliant way to keep the whole house warm. In practice it works much better when the grid is installed in the floor rather than the ceiling. So we used kerosene heaters. One looked like a TV, and me being about two or three I couldn't tell the difference, so I'd sit in the kitchen watching the thing for hours.

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,400]

19 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

Diesel in a torpedo heater stinks more than kerosene.
The reason that kerosene is higher priced is simply that they want the money.

Well I don’t want it to smell anymore than it does…I’ll probably just stick with kerosene, I won’t go thru enough that I need to be concerned about $$

[Handy Don 12,436]

Last winter I ran a torpedo heater with pump diesel to heat the garage I was working in. The heater had been adjusted to use diesel and, except for 30 seconds at initial fire up, there was relatively little smell. It put out 80,000 BTU according to its label and my only complaint was it had no thermostat so I had to manually cycle it.

[c-series don 8,808]

I have the same exact heater, I’ve had it for years and only ever ran on-road diesel in it. It smells a little bit on start up but then it goes away. I don’t think there’s any way to adjust it for different fuels? At the end of the winter I just make sure I run it out of fuel. It’s not my main source of heat for my garage, I only use it when it’s really cold to help take the chill off and then the LP gas heater can maintain the temperature. 

[C-85 698]

When my Army unit deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield/Storm in January of 1991 it was cold over there in the desert, our water froze at night!  They got us some wick type kerosene heaters (like Kerosuns') for our tents, but we didn't have any kero, so we had to use diesel fuel.  These heaters smoked terribly, but did give us some heat so we lived with it.  We were exposed to several things over there like, smoke from these heaters, oil well fires, pre nerve pills, depleted uranium, possible aerosols from scud missile attacks, and burn pits! I don't know the chemical difference, but I think kero heaters probably should be run on kero to burn as clean as possible. 

 

C-85

[WHX?? 49,138]

3 hours ago, c-series don said:

adjust it for different fuels?

 

On some ther is a adjustment in the back to adjust the air input. Too little air it will soot and smell to high heaven. Too much it will run too hot and burn out but less smell. Most will run on diesel ... check the owners manual. 

You could try mixing half and half??

[Tonytoro416 1,067]

Where I’m at I go to local airport and buy JET A   Turbine jet fuel. It’s the purist form of kerosene you will ever get.  It burns so much better than diesel. My dad had a torpedo style that was basically plugged up from using diesel for years.  I ran jet a in it one time and it cleaned that thing out like you wouldn’t believe. It burns like a new one ever since.   Best part jet a is always cheaper than kerosene here 

[pfrederi 17,856]

I have a Mr. Heater 175000 BTU Torpedo heater.  Sticker shows what you can use depending on temperature.  Been using dyed K1 for along time.  Here if you have an outside fuel tank for your oil burner you have to use K1 and it is all dyed.  doesn't seem to be an issue.  There is a viscosity adjustment on the rear end.

 

 

Edited December 7 by pfrederi

[Bar Nuthin 462]

On 12/6/2024 at 5:24 PM, Sparky said:

Well I don’t want it to smell anymore than it does

 

I have a torpedo heater that runs on propane. A buddy gave me a 60 lb cylinder from a camper that gets me through most of the winter (based on ten or 12 days a month in my garage). Granted, Indiana winters usually aren't too severe.

Best thing is - NO ODOR OR BURNING EYES!!!

[C-85 698]

We used to have propane temporary heat construction heaters and they did throw out the heat, but we got headaches pretty quick because they also depleted the oxygen too! 

 

C-85

[ML3 1,253]

My garage is 24'x24'. Walls are insulated w/Rockwool insulation & then 5/8" OSB. Ceiling is 1" foil faced 4'x8' panels & then I blew 24" of insulation above that. I have 2 1500w electric heaters. Don't need the 2nd heater unless outside temps get down into the teens. 

 

I have an older kerosene heater & it works surprisingly well. Also have a torpedo heater but I don't use it as its too noisy & it stinks. Burning kerosene,  diesel,  Jet A, or anything still gives off odor (sometimes not easily detected) & carbon monoxide. Not so much an issue if your shop isn't insulated "tight" like my garage.  

 

Kerosene or any other fuel is expensive. With cost of electricity in my area its actually cheaper to heat with it. I buy plenty Jet A for my plane. I have just the one heater on a thermostat set @38° so my chemicals, etc don't freeze. 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,350]

I have a small propane unit similar style to your Mike and it works really well with basically little to no odor 

[Bill D 1,932]

On 12/6/2024 at 10:41 PM, Tonytoro416 said:

Where I’m at I go to local airport and buy JET A   Turbine jet fuel. It’s the purist form of kerosene you will ever get.  It burns so much better than diesel. My dad had a torpedo style that was basically plugged up from using diesel for years.  I ran jet a in it one time and it cleaned that thing out like you wouldn’t believe. It burns like a new one ever since.   Best part jet a is always cheaper than kerosene here 

My Dad was an aircraft mechanic on business jets for years.  When I was a kid he would come home with 5 gallon cans of Jet A that had been drained from the wing tank and dump it in the oil tank.