What Makes Propane Heaters the Best Portable Heating Choice

If you're a little skeptical over what makes propane heaters the best portable heating solution, here's some interesting reading on this choice of appliances for keeping warm on cold days.

There are several factors that propel portable heaters that use propane as their fuel supply to the top of the pile when it comes to the best way to keep warm on those cold, winter days. These points will be true whether you are in need of a viable solution for indoors in your own home, outdoors on the patio, heating the garage or workshop or camping either in an RV or a tent!

Why Propane Makes the Best Heat!

Maybe I'm a little biased sine I personally use propane heaters both at home and in the workshop or garage, but nevertheless it's tough to outdo the sheer versatility and application of these small yet powerful units for providing necessary heat in places that need it. Here are some salient points for you to digest:

• Instant Heat: Propane heaters provide you with instant heat from the moment you fire them up and keep delivering it until the gas cylinder runs empty, which can take a pretty long time depending on the size of heating unit you're using and the size of gas cylinder is attached to it.
• Long Cheap Burn: A small portable unit attached to a similarly small gas cylinder (for example a compact one pound bottle) can provide useful heat for up to 10 hours at a crazy low cost. Attach a heater to a full size propane cylinder and you're enjoying heat for several days. Try getting that length of heating time from an alternative heater for the same cost.
• Efficient: It's surprising just how efficiently modern propane heaters are able to burn the gas to produce the maximum heat with the minimum of wasted unburned fuel (as was a problem for older units). That also means negligible dangerous carbon monoxide produced on unvented units which is a great safety bonus.
• Safe: As just mentioned, modern propane units are very safe to use as long as you don't get silly and try draping some flammable material over them!
• Cost: Did I already mention the low cost of this fuel when compared to other portable fueled units? Propane heaters are economical because they work out a lot cheaper than electric heaters (which of course are not exactly portable in the true sense of the word, are they?) and also cheaper than kerosene now that petrochemical prices are rising so sharply.
• Availability: Being readily available in hardware stores in every town, you are always going to be able to get a supply for your unit and because it stores well, you can keep a reserve in your garage for any emergency.

Perfect for Off Grid Homes

There are a growing number of families that are moving off grid to live more environmentally friendly lives without being slaves to the power companies. By generating their own electricity using solar voltaic panels, wind power or other innovative solutions such as hydro where possible, families are saying goodbye to power bills forever!

One side of the equation that still needs balancing up is that of heating during winter. Electricity is still a highly inefficient way to produce heat especially when every watt produced by an off grid's system is needed to run the rest of the household's energy needs, so other alternatives need to be explored.

Depending on where you are settled, you may have access to good supplies of wood, which means you have no problems creating heat using a wood burning stove or furnace. But for those extra degrees of heat to bring a house up to comfort levels a portable propane heater can step up and fill the void perfectly at low cost.

Off-grid'ers still need to use a workshop if they do a lot of home repairs or have a cottage craft industry business to run out of their homes. Heating the additional building is often not possible using the main house's furnace. One of these amazingly useful off grid portable heaters that run off propane is a great choice of heat production on those colder winter days.

For Campers

Don't forget the amazing versatility of a portable propane heater for camping whether you like to get back to nature and do it in a tent or go up the comfort scale some and have an RV or trailer. You simply carry your fuel and its transportable heat machine with you and enjoy warm nights snug in your sleeping bag without worrying about waking up in the morning with icicles hanging off your nose!

Getting off the beaten track and spending a vacation in the wild is great fun but getting cold and damp is not. Avoid that particular unpleasantness by ensuring you stay warm and dry with your own convenient heat source powered by propane from a handy canister that's easy and relatively lightweight to carry with you.

Are you still unsure about the convenience, usability and value of these little yet powerful heating units? I hope this article has at least laid the foundations for getting your to see the value in propane as one of the best fuels for heating there is coupled with modern, highly efficient heating units that make the best use of that fuel that is currently possible with existing technology and hardware.

How to Stay Warm When the Power Grid Goes Down

Millions of people rely on the power grid for many of their everyday needs, but when it goes down, life can get pretty brutal, especially in the cold days of winter. Do you have a backup plan for you and your family to keep warm and have lighting and other basic needs in these dire situations?

This article takes a look at what we can do to prepare ourselves for the next time the power goes out. It makes interesting reading, because the fact of the matter is that the power is going to go out again at some point in the ear future and it will keep doing it again and again.

Why We Need Electricity

We rely heavily on the electricity grid for so many of the things we need for normal living, such as:

• Lighting
• Heating
• Hot water
• Cooking (electric cooker and oven, extractor fan)
• Cooling (air conditioning and fans)
• Storing food (refrigerator and freezer)
• Washing machine and clothes dryer
• Vacuum cleaner

and a hundred and one other things that make our lives easier and more convenient. When it's suddenly not there, very few people are prepared and have the resources to maintain the necessities.

Just think of all the things you will suddenly be without when the power stops flowing into your home! Aside from the real necessities, what about all the peripheral things we have become accustomed to enjoying and we really do take for granted, such as:

• Television, DVD player etc
• Music system
• Internet and WiFi
• Clocks
• Telephone
• Recharging things like cell phones, laptops, tablets etc
• Kitchen appliances (food processors, blenders, juicers)
• Electric kettle and coffee maker

As you can see, it’s a pretty impressive list of things you have to do without when there is no electricity!

Heating in Winter

One major problem that families face in winter is how to keep warm. This is a critical consideration for the elderly and very young who may even die from hypothermia in very cold weather for prolonged periods without any form of heating.

One very cost effective backup heating solution is to have one or more small, portable propane heaters to hand for just such an emergency. These heaters can provide essential heat for people when they need it most.

It is relatively easy to store them in a garage or other suitable storage place along with a supply of gas cans to keep them running for several hours as necessary.

Disaster Planning

It is one thing having to suffer for a few hours with no power when the grid goes out. It is another thing altogether when a disaster situation strikes, such as has been experienced in some areas when a major hurricane hits.

In these situations, the power can be out for several days while emergency services work around the clock to try and restore power to homes, offices, stores and public buildings. It is during these times that preparedness with a portable propane heater or several at the ready with sufficient fuel for several days becomes a sensible precaution.

We can't always plan for every bad situation that can crop up. Nor can we know for sure how long it will last. But we can be prepared in some way at least to provide necessary heat and the facility for cooking food and heating water as well as light when the sun goes down.

Be prepared and don't get caught out!

Note: Here us a useful resource with information on disaster preparedness

How You Can Benefit from Attic Insulation

When using a portable propane heater indoors, it makes sense to maximize the heat that is produced. Attic insulation helps prevent heat loss and is a great way to keep the heat where it's needed most.

It doesn't really matter what the weather is doing outside, if your home is snug and tight and protecting you from whatever Mother Nature is throwing at it, then you can relax and enjoy an ambient temperature along with calm conditions inside.

Insulating Your Home

One of the ways that equilibrium can be found indoors is by keeping the worst of the outside temperature changes at bay by having your home properly insulated. There are a great many attic insulation benefit to be had by installing the right kind of insulating material in this area.

In winter, a large percentage of your heat will dissipate through your roof if the attic is not insulated, so this is really the first place to start. An insulated attic will help keep the heat in where it is needed and the cold out.

Conversely, in summer, heat from outside sneaks in by convection through your roof so again, an insulated attic comes to the rescue to keep the heat out. The cost aspect is offset by lower power bills throughout the year as you spend less on heating in winter and less on air conditioning in summer.

Getting the Most from a Portable Heater

Of course, many people use portable propane heaters to boost the temperature in rooms that are occupied while turning the home's thermostat down in order to save money on heating fuel. It makes sense not to waste money heating rooms that are unoccupied after all!

But even with this strategy, the amount of heat that is lost through an attic that is not insulated can be quite alarming. Installing high rated insulation in this area alone can have a profound effect on reducing heat loss and therefore reduce energy consumption to maintain a certain comfortable temperature in the home.

The benefits speak for themselves in lower energy bills and a warmer, more snug and welcoming home during the cold winter months. It also means you can turn down the output on space heaters and portable propane heaters and save even more money of fuel!

These are benefits that are well worth having. In fact, for the initial investment of having your home's attic fully insulated, you reap the rewards over time in lower bills and money saved.