Post by snaffle on May 23, 2009 6:38:10 GMT -5
One caution -- be sure to get white water-clear kerosene. Some places peddle the (red) dyed stuff which in our area has always led to a smelly/sooty heater. The best source for clean clear kerosene is jet fuel which is impossible to find around here.
Add a half-teaspoon (or so) of alcohol (95% or better -- not the 70% rubbing alcohol) to a 5-gallon can of kero to avoid water-in-fuel hassles and wick problems. Some also add old vanilla extract or peppermint oil to eliminate the small odor (as others have said -- we get used to it fast and it clears out of the house within an hour or two when the windows or door open). No need to spend the $5-$8 on the "kero additive" bottles.
For years we had problems with our wicks and the stink, and the black soot... we were purchasing it from a farm supply place. Those guys treated me like a moron.
They felt THEY knew everything about kerosene and heaters and none of them had a kerosene heater.
The kerosene MUST be pure crystal clear. Do not let the farm supply places sell you the stuff with the red dye. They will tell you they HAVE to sell it that way. They are lying. The red dye causes problems in the wick and it can smell.
Also... we now add a dropperful of dentatured alcohol in a gallon of kerosene. It absorbs any water or moisture.
check out this site: www.milesstair.com/Kero_Heater_wicks.html
We have always bought American Wicks which are one of the best.. we never buy the cheap ones. Didn’t know there were cheap ones.
We let ours burn out about once a week... yes there are kerosene fumes when it burns out. I do this when we go to bed at night and I move it away from the bedrooms.
Before starting the heater, it is a good idea to brush the wick with a small wire bristled brush to remove any built up carbon.
If the wick is set too high.. or too low there will be an odor.. or if there is red dye or other contaminants.
I will never ever buy kerosene from a distributor ever again if they just got a truck load in. The drivers can not be trusted to clean out their truck or hose before it is delivered. I have had to dump 20 to 30 gallons of kerosene because drivers delivering it to my home said they cleaned their hoses but they really didn’t.
If it is delivered to a store, the leftover kerosene in the tank from before can get all stirred up when the new load is brought in, so I wait a day or two .. give it time to settle and then buy it. This last guy I am buying it from.. agrees with me .. says it is best to let it settle.. any contaminants will settle to the bottom of his tank and his hose to draw it out.. sits way above the bottom of the tank.
When the farm supply place was selling me kerosene, a lot of my grooming clients would tell me they could smell my heater and that embarrassed me. I KNEW it was from the truck driver mixing in stuff or selling me the kerosene with the red dye.
Also.. we started with a huge heater in '76 and have now downsized to the smallest which is 8700 btu's because it is more money efficient for us. If we have a blizzard.. We will fire up two of them..
and turn the furnace down so we don’t drain the propane tank.
This year (2009)I am paying $5 per gallon for kerosene which is terrible. I use just under 1/2 gallon per day. I fire it up around 6:30 in the morning and turn it off around 10 at night.
I have clear kerosene this year.. so it burns better and longer. The red dye stuff was terrible and I would have to burn more of it during the same time frame.
We also start with a new wick each winter if we think the old one has any black crusty stuff on it. A new one kicks out more heat.
It used to be more economical to use a kerosene heater all day, but now with the cost of kerosene much higher, and a new efficient furnace, it is more economical to only use the kerosene heater during frigid winter days, blizzards or at night to warm up the living room.
Add a half-teaspoon (or so) of alcohol (95% or better -- not the 70% rubbing alcohol) to a 5-gallon can of kero to avoid water-in-fuel hassles and wick problems. Some also add old vanilla extract or peppermint oil to eliminate the small odor (as others have said -- we get used to it fast and it clears out of the house within an hour or two when the windows or door open). No need to spend the $5-$8 on the "kero additive" bottles.
For years we had problems with our wicks and the stink, and the black soot... we were purchasing it from a farm supply place. Those guys treated me like a moron.
They felt THEY knew everything about kerosene and heaters and none of them had a kerosene heater.
The kerosene MUST be pure crystal clear. Do not let the farm supply places sell you the stuff with the red dye. They will tell you they HAVE to sell it that way. They are lying. The red dye causes problems in the wick and it can smell.
Also... we now add a dropperful of dentatured alcohol in a gallon of kerosene. It absorbs any water or moisture.
check out this site: www.milesstair.com/Kero_Heater_wicks.html
We have always bought American Wicks which are one of the best.. we never buy the cheap ones. Didn’t know there were cheap ones.
We let ours burn out about once a week... yes there are kerosene fumes when it burns out. I do this when we go to bed at night and I move it away from the bedrooms.
Before starting the heater, it is a good idea to brush the wick with a small wire bristled brush to remove any built up carbon.
If the wick is set too high.. or too low there will be an odor.. or if there is red dye or other contaminants.
I will never ever buy kerosene from a distributor ever again if they just got a truck load in. The drivers can not be trusted to clean out their truck or hose before it is delivered. I have had to dump 20 to 30 gallons of kerosene because drivers delivering it to my home said they cleaned their hoses but they really didn’t.
If it is delivered to a store, the leftover kerosene in the tank from before can get all stirred up when the new load is brought in, so I wait a day or two .. give it time to settle and then buy it. This last guy I am buying it from.. agrees with me .. says it is best to let it settle.. any contaminants will settle to the bottom of his tank and his hose to draw it out.. sits way above the bottom of the tank.
When the farm supply place was selling me kerosene, a lot of my grooming clients would tell me they could smell my heater and that embarrassed me. I KNEW it was from the truck driver mixing in stuff or selling me the kerosene with the red dye.
Also.. we started with a huge heater in '76 and have now downsized to the smallest which is 8700 btu's because it is more money efficient for us. If we have a blizzard.. We will fire up two of them..
and turn the furnace down so we don’t drain the propane tank.
This year (2009)I am paying $5 per gallon for kerosene which is terrible. I use just under 1/2 gallon per day. I fire it up around 6:30 in the morning and turn it off around 10 at night.
I have clear kerosene this year.. so it burns better and longer. The red dye stuff was terrible and I would have to burn more of it during the same time frame.
We also start with a new wick each winter if we think the old one has any black crusty stuff on it. A new one kicks out more heat.
It used to be more economical to use a kerosene heater all day, but now with the cost of kerosene much higher, and a new efficient furnace, it is more economical to only use the kerosene heater during frigid winter days, blizzards or at night to warm up the living room.