Paraffin heaters - more camping than bushcraft

[lub0]

ok so without a chimney, paraffin heaters are useless?
what happens when there is no ventilation? is it just an unpleasant smell or is their a more sinister aspect to it?

if no ventilation is possible, can they be used for a certain amount of time then turned off to avoid the side-effects?

and finally, whats the reason for trimming the wick?
THANKS!

 

[gunslinger]

If they werent safe just about all the kids of my generation wouldn't be here now.

Friend of mine uses one in his converted camper with a carbon monoxide alarm and no probs.

Although I find any fumes that I can smell give me a headache even if they are totally innocuous.

This is just my opinion so please do all the neccessary checks for your own piece of mind.

GS

 

[myotis]

and finally, whats the reason for trimming the wick?
THANKS!

I don't know the answer to the other questions except that we used them regularly and I am still here, but the trimming the wick is becasue it burns unevenly so to get a blue flame all the way across you needed to square it up every so often.

Graham

 

[wicca]

All the time the heater is burning properly, not situated in a draught, the wick is trimmed so the flame is even and not smoking that's fine, quite safe. Problems can begin when for some reason the heater does start to 'smoke' or give off fumes and that can be caused because there is no ventilation, I'm sure you know that no flame will burn properly without adequate air supply, and if it isn't burning properly it will smoke. If you are asleep for any length of time under those conditions you will be ill or dead. You must have read of people on holiday dying in foreign hotels because the heating was faulty? They didn't die by burning, they suffocated because the heater burned inefficiently,a blocked flue and a tiny pilot light was enough to be fatal.

I'm wary of this because I helped a lady clean the cabin of her boat after she had gone ashore and left a perfectly good paraffin heater burning on board. It took most of the day and countless buckets of hot water and cleaner to remove the smoke damage, like an oily black film, from the inside of her boat because she had closed the cabin down with no ventilation at all. Eventually of course, because of the lack of sufficient air supply the heater went out anyway, but if she had been asleep on board it would have been a sad ending. Well looked after, properly ventilated..no problem at all. Just don't leave them unattended in a tightly closed up space.

 

[gunslinger]

I don't know the answer to the other questions except that we used them regularly and I am still here, but the trimming the wick is becasue it burns unevenly so to get a blue flame all the way across you needed to square it up every so often.

Graham

Yep thats exactly what I remember my mum doing when we were kids.

GS

 

[Toddy]

I think the appreciation of the whiff of warm muggy paraffiny smell as being a sign of a well cared for home, is probably generational now
Those little round flying saucery ones that folks put in the bathroom to stop the pipes freezing in the days before universal central heating
I love that smell, it's right up there with the soup or stovies simmering just as it was getting dark in the middle of a dreich Winter. Or steamed pudding and custard

The difference was that homes were mostly heated by open fires and they were already ventilated anyway.........well, that and that double glazing was pretty much unheard of
I think the condensation problem was less then too by the same virtue of the better ventilation.........nowadays we'd just all complain about draughts :11doh:

Homes built to modern standards just aren't suitable for paraffin heating unless there is a specific venting system in place.


In tents, in a tipi with an open vent at the top, no reason why not. In a double skinned one, no way. However, in the porch area with a seperate groundsheet, and the wick kept true, I can't see it being a problem unless it's really cold outside when it will cause condensation on the roof. I know that the little propane stove I used in mine in November left the tent soaking wet

Is it any cheaper buying paraffin than it is having a gas bottle refilled ? The calor gas stoves are widely available and the H & S Data Sheets are on line.
http://www.calor.co.uk/safety/material-safety-data-sheets/Calor-Butane.pdf

The paraffin ones:-
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Paraffin-9926401
http://www.jmloveridge.com/cosh/Light Liquid Paraffin.pdf
cheers,
Toddy

 

[lub0]

Toddy thanks for the information, that has explained a lot to me and has made me realise a few things like how paraffin heaters arn't the only solution to emergency preparedness and that gas heaters could be just as good if not better!

if you wouldn't mind, could you answer a few questions regarding gas heaters.
do they consume a larger amount of fuel per hour than paraffin heaters? Are they "greedier"?
is the gas they run on cheaper by the litre (kg?) ?

thanks in advance.