Fire Up a Propane Heater for Instant Heat

When choosing a portable heater to provide instant heat at the touch of a button, a propane heater is really the best choice for getting warm fast in most situations.  In fact, whatever your situation when the temperature is getting really low, a propane heater is the best remedy for feeling chilled of the, all!

So what situations would you find yourself in where you'd need immediate warmth to be provided and why does this kind of handy little unit beat out the alternatives?

When You Need To Get Warm Fast

There are lots of situations that you can find yourself in where you'd need to feel some welcome warmth as fast as possible, so let's explore some of these here.

• In remote mountain cabins, you may arrive on a freezing cold day and need to get the place warmed up as soon as possible.
• When camping, there's nothing as uninviting and miserable as a cold, damp tent to return to when you've been out hiking in the pouring rain on a cold day!
• In a garage or workshop when you need to do some work but don't want to do it in the freezing cold.
• When the power goes out and you come home to a cold, dark house in the middle of winter.

Let's expand on these points some:

Remote Cabins

A cold cabin is a far cry from the cozy place you have in mind when you are looking forward to spending some time up there. In the time it takes you to build a nice log fire in the fireplace, you can have the whole cabin feeling warm if you have a portable propane fueled heater to get the mercury rising in the thermometer inside.

Otherwise you'll be feeling pretty cold and miserable waiting for the log fire to get going and I'm sure you'll know how long that can take! A small portable propane heating unit can provide you with that all-important instant heat source to make you feel comfortable right from the get go.

Tents and Camping

A cold damp tent is a "yuk" place to come back to when it's been raining and it's cold. You can easily transform that damp, cold space into a warm and dry haven with one of these amazing and compact economical heating units.

The same can be said of camping trailers that can still get pretty cold inside without any kind of heating. Don't be caught in the cold and wet by ensuring you have a small portable heater powered by a light, portable propane canister (and maybe a spare or two) stashed in the trailer's storage area.

Garage or Workshop

It can be a tough time trying to do some work on your car in a freezing cold garage or do some repair work or enjoy a hobby in your unheated workshop in winter. But it's an easy thing to remedy that particular situation fast by having one of these useful yet powerful little heaters at the ready.

As soon as you walk into your garage or workshop, just fire up the unit and enjoy instant heat being pumped out fast so you can get on with whatever job you need to do. A propane garage heater is definitely the way to go when you need warm hands to start turning spanners or sockets in an engine bay!

Power Outs

When the power grid goes down in the dead of winter, a lengthy power out can be devastating as the inside temperature plummets as your electricity supply no longer runs your heating system. Don't forget even natural gas heating systems rely on electricity to control the flow and run the boiler!

In these situations, you can maintain a comfortable temperature in a individual room with a portable heater powered by a propane canister. You can keep a stock of these in your garage or backyard storage space for just such emergencies.

For elderly people, this solution can not only be a means of maintaining comfort, it can save lives during the occasional extended power outs that happen from time to time. And with the frequency of these power outs happening more often these days, it pays to be prepared!

Providing Immediate Warmth

One area that propane fired portable heating units really come into their own is in providing instant heat the second they are switched on and fired up. This is a really important benefit that most other types of heater are unable to provide.

The closest you'll get is a portable kerosene or paraffin heater, but they have the disadvantage of being smelly and they still take a short while before the heat starts to radiate out of them in any usable amount. For truly instant heat that is pumped out the second the unit is switched on, portable propane heaters really have no viable rival.

While there are many different ways of keeping warm when the weather turns cold, the most effective means of providing instant heat in a portable unit is a heater powered by propane. Its low cost, wide availability and portability makes this one of the best solutions you're going to find anywhere!

Propane for Economical Heating

One of the things I love about using propane as a heating fuel is the great economy I get from small, efficient portable propane heaters and still be warm indoors. Using low settings, only heating rooms that are occupied and making sure my home is properly insulated are the three main cost savings in terms of fuel consumption.

So how can you get the most from your propane heater while using the least amount of fuel and therefore spending the least amount of money on replenishing used fuel? This article takes a look at some of the ways in which I keep my costs down to the bare minimum.

Using Less Fuel

If anyone had said to me that I should economize on my home's heating fuel consumption when I was working a high paying job many years ago, I would have thought they were nuts. Why would I do that when fuel was cheap and I could afford to be a little extravagant?

Now I understand, with the benefit of a very different perspective. I no longer have a great wage and fuel is much more expensive than it once was. So I need to keep my fuel consumption within my current, much smaller budget.

The simple, no brainer approach is simply to use less fuel. Easy, you might say, but wait a minute; how easy is it actually?

Making the Fuel Count

Sure, you can use much less propane by keeping the heaters turned down to their lowest setting, but that might not produce enough heat to keep me and my family warm. In fact, it certainly won't!

Or at least it didn't used to. That was before I got economy savvy and learned a thing or two about energy conservation.

I learned that a properly insulated house uses much less fuel to stay warm because less of the energy is wasted by leeching out through the attic, window and any other gaps. So my first step was to insulate the attic, get my windows all fixed so there were no gaps anywhere and same went for door frames and any other openings to the outside world.

I also bought some heavy drapes to completely cover the windows because these can keep a lot of heat in a room that would otherwise radiate out through the window glass. I had all hot water pipes in the attic insulated as well, so I wasn't wasting that resource to the atmosphere.

Then I turned my attention to the heat source

Choosing Propane as the Most Economical Fuel

As I live in a big town with little usable forest space close by, using a wood burning furnace was not feasible because of the higher cost of that fuel medium. Electricity was also too expensive, so I looked at propane and discovered it was hands down the cheapest fuel. Still is, in fact.

So I got three small portable propane heaters from the local store for a good price and a supply of gas cans for use as additional space heaters, while I also got a full size propane heater for our main living room that was hooked up to an outside tank. One of the portable units went into the bathroom to be used when anyone wanted a shower.

I found the main heater provided enough heat to keep the house warm enough on all but the coldest nights, when one or more of the portable propane heater units were brought out to supplement the heat. I drummed it into the kids to make sure that doors to unused rooms were kept closed and that we should try and all be together in the one place in the evenings, like our communal living room.

Happy Family Bonuses

As a by-product of this, we actually have a better family relationship than many of our neighbors who seem to spread out through their homes and almost never talk to each other! Now we talk more, eat together and are closer because of it.

Using heating fuel wisely and making sure it is not wasted was an important consideration for me because I simply do not have the spare cash to waste. In fact, even if I did, I wouldn't waste it on heat escaping to the outside. Much better to spend it on a nice vacation, right?

More information on home fuel economy can be found here: http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/overview-home-heating-systems

Ventless Propane Heaters Safety First

For heating small to medium spaces in the home quickly, portable ventless propane heaters are tough to beat. We look at the safety issues you should be aware of before using one of these heating units in your home.

It can be very tempting when you come home to a cold house in the evening to fire up a propane heater in the room you will be spending most of the evening in to get it warm. That's fine as long as you observe some of the safety essentials that go along with using one of these heaters indoors.

Understanding the Dangers

The common mistake people make is to close the door and make sure the windows are tightly closed, essentially sealing off the room from drafts and any way of cold outside air getting in. That may be fine if you're heating the room with an electric heater, or a fitted wood burning or gas heater that is vented to the outside.

However, in many cases people are using portable indoor propane heaters that are vent free, meaning they do not vent any unburned or exhaust gas to the outside. And that means the gas stays in the room and builds up in the atmosphere over time.

In new models and those that have been serviced regularly, this is often not so much of a problem as the level of carbon monoxide gas emissions, which is the main danger to be aware of, are generally fairly low. But in older units and those that have not been serviced recently, more of the fuel is not completely and efficiently burned and greater levels of carbon monoxide are given off.

What's So Bad About Carbon Monoxide?

When this gas (CO) is inhaled an any great quantity, such as by standing at the roadside where there is busy automobile traffic, smoking tobacco or being in a sealed room with an old, inefficient gas heater that is not vented to the outside, the body is adversely affected. The inhalation of this gas causes the molecules to saturate the bloodstream, depriving the brain and internal organs of oxygen.

That's because the CO molecules are smaller than those of oxygen and are more easily absorbed by the blood. They attach themselves to the red blood cells and prevent oxygen molecules from doing so, creating oxygen starvation.

When your body becomes deprived of oxygen and saturated with carbon monoxide, you can lose consciousness and if the situation is not rectified over the next few hours, you can die. So you see this is extremely serious!

How Can You Tell If Your Propane Heater is Giving Off Carbon Monoxide?

The best way to test for high levels of carbon monoxide is to buy a CO alarm. These are similar to smoke alarms and are available in most hardware stores and supermarkets. They are quite inexpensive and can literally save your life!

If you don't have an alarm but are using a non-vented propane heater in your home, you can reduce the risk by not closing the door or leaving a window open slightly to let a little fresh air circulate around the room.

Early warning symptoms of carbon monoxide inhalation are drowsiness and a headache. If you experience these symptoms while occupying a room with an unvented propane heater, get up and open the door, go outside and breathe in some fresh air. Stop using the heater until you can get it serviced by a professional, or replace is with a new model.

In all cases, remember that portable heaters should be treated with due respect and safety should be uppermost in your mind. Be aware, be ready and be safe!

Portable Indoor Propane Heaters: Facts You Need to Know!

People who want a portable indoor heating solution can read this and find out about propane heaters that are very safe, cost effective and efficient ways to heat the rooms in your home, basement, attic, garage, workshop or other space. When the weather turns cold and the long warm days of summer are fading from memory, thoughts turn to how best to retain some of that warmth indoors when the mercury is plummeting outdoors.

There are plenty of heating solutions available for the many different areas in your home and outbuilding, but this article focuses on the portable kind that do not rely on expensive electricity, but are instead powered by propane.This is a gas that can be purchased in pressurized canisters making it a perfect fuel for a portable or even fixed heating unit.

What Are the Benefits of Propane Heaters?

Propane heaters have many benefits over electrical heaters that budget-conscious householders are much more acutely aware of these days of rising fuel and energy costs. Let's take a look at some of the major benefits:

• Low cost to buy
• Efficient energy source
• Clean burning with low pollution
• Portable containers can be used anywhere
• Refills available from hardware stores and gas stations almost everywhere

In short, propane provides us with a truly portable fuel source that is relatively safe to use, widely available and has numerous appliances that use it.

Are Propane Heaters Really Safe?

There has been some bad press about certain types of propane heating units malfunctioning and causing problems for their users. This generally happens when appliances are very old or have not been maintained properly, or are being misused.

Old heaters become inefficient at burning the fuel and can produce higher than safe levels of carbon monoxide gas. Ordinarily in a well ventilated home, this doesn't present a great danger, although the cumulative effect of breathing in higher levels of this gas can lead to medical problems over time.

The effects are similar to those experienced by people who spend a lot of time by the roadside with lots of traffic, since carbon monoxide is one of the constituents of gas engine exhausts. The gas molecules get into the bloodstream and displace oxygen molecules as they are smaller and easily absorbed.

Inhalation of carbon monoxide in large quantities leads to oxygen starvation in the brain and major organs and if fresh oxygen is not breathed in, eventually a person can die. This happens when a person commits suicide by passing a hose from the tailpipe into the car, closing all the windows and leaving the engine running.


With a faulty propane heater, this danger can be averted by keeping a room well ventilated, although during cold weather it is customary to close all windows and doors to "keep the heat in". Unfortunately, this also keeps all the carbon monoxide in as well.

Take Care of Your Propane Heater

This situation can easily be avoided by maintaining your heater in good condition and as it ages, getting it checked out by a professional to make sure it is still burning the gas efficiently. Keep the unit clean and don't obstruct any vents on top sides or at the back.

Keep children away from the heater even when its not turned on and if anything gets spilled on it, clean it up right away. Burners can be brushed lightly with a soft brush to remove dust and light debris, but don't use strong bristles or wire brushes as these may damage the burners.

Safety First

You can also improve your family's safety by purchasing an inexpensive but potentially life saving carbon monoxide alarm.If you do not have an alarm and are using a non-vented propane heater, the best advice anyone can give you is to go buy one right away!

It is difficult to tell if carbon monoxide is present in a rooms atmosphere in any great quantity because it is colorless and odorless. The first telltale signs you may notice are feelings of drowsiness and the onset of a bad headache.

If you feel these symptoms, open all the doors and windows, shut off the heater and go outdoors to get some fresh air. if anyone in the room has fainted, seek medical attention right away.

For more information on portable heater safety issues here are some external resources that are worth checking out:

• http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/portable-heaters : Energy.gov - Portable heaters
• http://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/103972/CO03.pdf : CO Emissions from a portable Propane Catalytic Heater (PDF)
• http://lpg.nv.gov/Safety_Information/Propane_Safety_Brochure.pdf : Propane Safety Information