anyone thinking of a paraffin heater for this winter

[steveo3002]

been reading on modern paraffin heaters and they sound alright

looking at last winters storage heater use , we will be in for £40+ a week for having 2 on low and we wasnt what you would call warm

could i burn 30ltrs of paraffin a week and be warmer or better off @1.10 a litre

anyone got one and can tell me how much juice it uses

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Don't they produce lots of condensation in the burning, unless modern ones have somehow got past that?

 

[steveo3002]

Don't they produce lots of condensation in the burning, unless modern ones have somehow got past that?

claim to not be bad for that now

 

[voipio]

Some figures to play with:

Paraffin heat of combustion = 42MJ/kg

30 litres of paraffin = 24kg = 1008MJ - (using density of paraffin = 0.8kg/litre)

Electricity = 3.6MJ/kWh

£40 worth of electricity at 27p/kWh = 148kWh = 148 x 3.6 = 532MJ

Alter the cost of electricity to suit your situation (e.g. using Economy 7)

 

[Blobber]

We had one in the house in the early 70s, modern or not I think it would be the last thing I would want inside a domestic property now

 

[steveo3002]

We had one in the house in the early 70s, modern or not I think it would be the last thing I would want inside a domestic property now

so did we ...they claim to be nothing like what you remember hence asking if we have anyone with a modern one

 

[JohnH]

I'de been thinking about replacing my Calor gas heater in my garage for some time, when I saw @fizzy recommendation in this thread https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/paraffin-space-heater.111905/ It looked like a good bit of kit, so I bought one in February and have been using it a fair bit.

My garage is about 50 square meters with a 2.4 meter ceiling down stairs and a large uninsulated storage space up stairs. This heater works brilliantly. It does have a fan and there is some noise when it gets started. It takes about 1/2 hour to raise the temp from 5-6c to 15c, which in a garage is all I want. I dont notice any condensation at all. I didnt with my calor heater either.

I know this heater as fizzy now. I talk to it often!

One other point. My home heating is kerosene powered so I have a ready supply of kero for the fizzy.

 

[fizzy]

I'de been thinking about replacing my Calor gas heater in my garage for some time, when I saw @fizzy recommendation in this thread https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/paraffin-space-heater.111905/ It looked like a good bit of kit, so I bought one in February and have been using it a fair bit.

My garage is about 50 square meters with a 2.4 meter ceiling down stairs and a large uninsulated storage space up stairs. This heater works brilliantly. It does have a fan and there is some noise when it gets started. It takes about 1/2 hour to raise the temp from 5-6c to 15c, which in a garage is all I want. I dont notice any condensation at all. I didnt with my calor heater either.

I know this heater as fizzy now. I talk to it often!

One other point. My home heating is kerosene powered so I have a ready supply of kero for the fizzy.

Awesome - I am famous at last

So you haven't died yet?
No brain damage?
According to some esteemed members of this forum an unvented fire is a recipe for disaster - gas cookers need to be banned as well then
Glad it's working well for you. Love mine.
If you use dirty fuel you may need to service it - give me a shout will talk you through it.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I found a paraffin heater did the job but caused too much condensation. Now, when I get around to it, I've got a "diesel" hot air heater off eBay that I'll mount outside the garage and then duct the hot air inside. They will happily run on kerosene.

 

[gt6s]

Big fan of Diesel / Parrifin space heaters. My old one was far too big for my workshop Switch it on you had to switch it off again (Sweating like a bastard) SHORTLY AFTER then freezing again in very short order. LOVED A DRINK TOO. Ironicly that heater went on fire. New one is smaller 70000 Btu and is great, costs a lot less in Diesel over the old one too. You can leave it running longer over the previous one letting the heat build up in the workshop more gradually.

 

[Blobber]

I was assuming from the OPs origional post regarding storage heaters he wants to use one in the house, I certainly wouldn't have a problem using one in a workshop but not inside a house

 

[steveo3002]

I was assuming from the OPs origional post regarding storage heaters he wants to use one in the house, I certainly wouldn't have a problem using one in a workshop but not inside a house

yeah for inside the house

 

[gaz1]

been reading on modern paraffin heaters and they sound alright

looking at last winters storage heater use , we will be in for £40+ a week for having 2 on low and we wasnt what you would call warm

could i burn 30ltrs of paraffin a week and be warmer or better off @1.10 a litre

anyone got one and can tell me how much juice it uses

whilst i wouldnt use one due to the fumes reference and smell they produce

you say you have 2 of them and still cold

so on asking what space are you trying to heat up and is it insulated at ceiling height and what are your walls made of

since you mentioned house as i was typing out what can you get your hands on via materials

or what free materials can you get in my case i can get alot of wood and so can fizzy

 

[steveo3002]

whilst i wouldnt use one due to the fumes reference and smell they produce

you say you have 2 of them and still cold

so on asking what space are you trying to heat up and is it insulated at ceiling height and what are your walls made of

since you mentioned house as i was typing out what can you get your hands on via materials

or what free materials can you get in my case i can get alot of wood and so can fizzy

live in a small bungalow with storage heaters, insualted walls /loft /double glazing , basicly dont want to use them due to the increase in leccy prices

was just wondering if a paraffin heater would take the chill off for less money , last year we had them on low and could see your breath half the time anyway so not needing it tropical in here

 

[DAPPH]

Don't they produce lots of condensation in the burning, unless modern ones have somehow got past that?

IIRC One pint of hydrocarbon burnt produces approx 8 pints of water in the fumes given off & that included the catalyst burners
I was using 25 litres of high grade paraffin per day to heat just one of our small mammal breeding sheds had to buy it in 25 litre containers 10 at a time to get any worth while saving then hump the bloody things to the car & out the car into the fuel store shed .

 

[gaz1]

live in a small bungalow with storage heaters, insualted walls /loft /double glazing , basicly dont want to use them due to the increase in leccy prices

was just wondering if a paraffin heater would take the chill off for less money , last year we had them on low and could see your breath half the time anyway so not needing it tropical in here

no offense but storage heaters arnt really good enough to heat propertys up never have been

whilst i have built a rocket stove and used it in a 3 bed house and it heated that up really well, it was down to what i could get my hands on for free

wood was my usage hence the reason why i built a rocket stove, yes its cutting the wood up and storing it bt my storage is less than normal wood burners

so whilst free its a little bit of work or cutting up of the wood but i get alot of heat off of that

 

[steveo3002]

the storage heaters was acceptable until now ...i know theyre far from best , but we kept warm enough and could pay the bills

its going to have to be a case of we can pay £xx and take what heat we get

 

[8ob]

Go indirect, no condensation

 

[not done it yet]

claim to not be bad for that now

How do they justify their claim? A litre of paraffin produces about a litre of water. No different these days than years gone by, as I see it.

The chinese diesel air heaters are better, in most respects. Cost about a hundred and something quid, can work well, but need carefully thought-out installation and operation.

IIRC One pint of hydrocarbon burnt produces approx 8 pints of water in the fumes given off & that included the catalyst burners
I was using 25 litres of high grade paraffin per day to heat just one of our small mammal breeding sheds had to buy it in 25 litre containers 10 at a time to get any worth while saving then hump the bloody things to the car & out the car into the fuel store shed .

Ignore that bold bit. Not recalled correctly.

 

[DAPPH]

Some figures to play with:

Paraffin heat of combustion = 42MJ/kg

30 litres of paraffin = 24kg = 1008MJ - (using density of paraffin = 0.8kg/litre)

Electricity = 3.6MJ/kWh

£40 worth of electricity at 27p/kWh = 148kWh = 148 x 3.6 = 532MJ

Alter the cost of electricity to suit your situation (e.g. using Economy 7)

Insulate , draught proof & reduce air borne moisture in your home to the absolute minimum , as heating moist air which condenses elsewhere when it meet cool surfaces really racks up your bills . Dry air insulates , moist air conducts heat . We never use pans wit out lids and as soon as thy boil it's turned down to a simmer . We also pop on the over hob extraction fan every time we cook or open the still hot dishwasher to keep moisture levels down
We rarely ever use the electric oven as it is in effect a 3Kw heater , use instead a 1000 watt Aero cook pro air fryer to grill , bake or fry or a slow cooker at 30 watt or a heavy cast iron lidded casserole for all manner of cooking on the hob using the lowest bottled gas flame ( extractor put on minimum )


A simple dehumidifier used on a time clock during high humidity periods might well help . Our dehumidifier runs at 150 w /hr on full defrost and about 33w/hr at the time it is circulating the cooler dried air . Think this one cost £ 160 out of B&Q three months ago ...good for drying laundry on a rack in the wet room cheaply too & with very few creases if hung on a plastic hanger with no metal work to make rust stains on it .

It's piped in to the the shower room drain gutter so I don't need to bother emptying it & is electrically protected both on th slave wall socket point in the wet room and by a dedicated RCD plug socket outside the bathroom .

Typically we were extracting just over 3 litres per 24 hr period & our 3 double bed bungalow 2 adult home was triple glazed 2.5 yrs ago , no letter box plate . Adjustable trickle air vents on all windows just incase we want fresh air circulating very slowly , insulated the roof void in Feb last year with the very latest high spec German insulation to 300mm deep as well as 14 years ago blown cavity wall mineral wool insulated .

Check you're not entitled to warmer home grants & you are on the best possible tariffs .