So I had this idea...

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Magus

Magus

The Shaman of suburbia.
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
15,007
Location
Look behind you in that dark corner.
Everyone knows about putting a tea light under a clay pot to heat a room right. how about supersizing to this? I dunno why nobody else has done it.
Add this:
mex stove.png

To this:
bunsen burner.png

Add methane.
 
The clay pottery piece is called a Chiminea. They are not uncommon in the Southwest. My neighbors have one on their deck and I see them around on other people's patios. I would think there would be an issue with smoke with it in a home, depending upon what you are burning in it. A larger candle might be good, or, for someone like me with a coal fireplace that was stripped down by previous owners, with no insert or grating, could go in there.

https://www.amazon.com/Chiminea-Sou...sU75MNvDTVs8PiBO_tRCpG6-hhOcIPahoCSkQQAvD_BwE
 
dademoss said:
And you too can die of CO poisoning. :(

https://theprepared.com/blog/can-a-...kfully, we can do some,room you want to heat.
REDACTED thermodynamics!!!!
Click to expand...
Great that someone has tested it out. I thought the fragrance warmers could have some impact, although not something that you want to totally depend upon for heating a home.
That article says that the pot does get warmer, but not hot enough to boil water. But it would warm the water up. Drinking warmer water could warm a person up as well.
 
Do you ever give simple Christmas gifts to someone, such as a mail person or friends? This tea light fragrance heater would be a great gift for people and as a prepper gift without some even realizing that it is a prepper gift. We give small candles for Christmas gifts. Some people like candles in their bathrooms.
 
LadyLocust said:
Those chimineas are the best for roasting marshmallows 😋. Hey Mag I would be concerned about the smoke on a fire in the chiminea if it was in the house.
Click to expand...
dademoss said:
And you too can die of CO poisoning. :(

https://theprepared.com/blog/can-a-...kfully, we can do some,room you want to heat.
REDACTED thermodynamics!!!!
Click to expand...
Weedygarden said:
Great that someone has tested it out. I thought the fragrance warmers could have some impact, although not something that you want to totally depend upon for heating a home.
That article says that the pot does get warmer, but not hot enough to boil water. But it would warm the water up. Drinking warmer water could warm a person up as well.
Click to expand...
Good call. I'm wondering why more people don't croak from using kerosene heaters. those damn things smoke like hell. Maybe a heat-activating fan on top to disperse the C02? A gutted desk fan just sitting there might do it, the rising heat would make it spin.
Everyone in here is a certified genius, we'll figure it out!
 
Magus said:
Good call. I'm wondering why more people don't croak from using kerosene heaters. those damn things smoke like hell. Maybe a heat-activating fan on top to disperse the C02? A gutted desk fan just sitting there might do it, the rising heat would make it spin.
Everyone in here is a certified genius, we'll figure it out!
Click to expand...
I live in a community that loses one or two people every year to unvented combustion heating appliances. As the weather cools windows are closed tighter. Eventually there isn't enough fresh air to support the combustion. The flame eats the oxygen to the point where incomplete combustion occurs. With complete combustion your flame produces 85% water and up to 15% CO2. With incomplete combustion you start producing CO. This produces an atmosphere low in O2 and high in CO. Either are incompatible with human life. It also produces tons of soot. This was the case with my first DRT so I have a strong opinion about open flames in inclosed environments.
 
Caribou said:
I live in a community that loses one or two people every year to unvented combustion heating appliances. As the weather cools windows are closed tighter. Eventually there isn't enough fresh air to support the combustion. The flame eats the oxygen to the point where incomplete combustion occurs. With complete combustion your flame produces 85% water and up to 15% CO2. With incomplete combustion you start producing CO. This produces an atmosphere low in O2 and high in CO. Either are incompatible with human life. It also produces tons of soot. This was the case with my first DRT so I have a strong opinion about open flames in inclosed environments.
Click to expand...
One of the things about my old house is that it is drafty. I don't know if it is drafty enough to replace the used oxygen. I have wanted to seal the windows and exterior doors tighter. I have tried some things, but still feel like it is drafty. My bathroom upstairs is always the coolest room in the house, so I start an electrical heater in there before I shower. It makes a big difference, but the big window in there could blow out a match from the draft.
 
Weedygarden said:
One of the things about my old house is that it is drafty. I don't know if it is drafty enough to replace the used oxygen. I have wanted to seal the windows and exterior doors tighter. I have tried some things, but still feel like it is drafty. My bathroom upstairs is always the coolest room in the house, so I start an electrical heater in there before I shower. It makes a big difference, but the big window in there could blow out a match from the draft.
Click to expand...
It sounds as it it is time for a new window in the bathroom. An electric heater is little threat for CO poisoning. Electric heaters or vented heaters (vented to outdoors) are fine.
 
OK, I think I got it. So if we use a low Co2 fuel, just enough to radiate heat and warm the tile? How many die a year from using a gas stove?
 
Magus said:
OK, I think I got it. So if we use a low Co2 fuel, just enough to radiate heat and warm the tile? How many die a year from using a gas stove?
Click to expand...
When my boiler went out and I tried to heat my house with the gas range my CO alarm went off. The problem is not with intermittent use but with long term use. You're not going to die from your birthday cake. I've seen death from a Coleman stove when it was used for heating in a small are. One Coleman stove in a warehouse, going 24 hours a day probably won't be a problem, it also won't heat the warehouse.
 
Caribou said:
When my boiler went out and I tried to heat my house with the gas range my CO alarm went off. The problem is not with intermittent use but with long term use. You're not going to die from your birthday cake. I've seen death from a Coleman stove when it was used for heating in a small are. One Coleman stove in a warehouse, going 24 hours a day probably won't be a problem, it also won't heat the warehouse.
Click to expand...
If you're thinking about heating you trailer with your gas range, I wouldn't. leaving a window open near the stove is better than nothing. When my CO detector went off it was a 24'X24' two story home with an open architecture. That's a lot of air to deplete the oxygen from. Most of the CO deaths are among the people living aboard their boats, comparable in size to a trailer.
 
Magus said:
OK, I think I got it. So if we use a low Co2 fuel, just enough to radiate heat and warm the tile? How many die a year from using a gas stove?
Click to expand...
Whether you burn oil, coal, natural gas, propane, or wood 85% of what goes up the chimney is water. With green wood there are other complications that I can get into if you wish but basically there is little difference in the type of fuel. The technology for natural gas and propane allow greater efficiency but that is a different issue. With all combustion you have basically the same exhaust. There is no "low CO2 fuel". Think of an 18 wheeler. It is rolling down the road with no apparent exhaust. If it is cold you will see steam out of the exhaust. If it starts out or is running a steep hill you might see black smoke from incomplete combustion.
 
So it begs the question, has anybody here used propane/natural gas for winter heat in a small cabin or camper? I used a tiny office heater or my oven to heat the place up good, then I'd bundle up for the night.
 
I did an experiment once.. I made a couple vegetable shortening and candle ..emergency.. lights similar to in the video..

I made a couple with short chip dip jars and one with a small Smuckers jelly jar.. I burned off the jelly jar one as an experiment.. I set a steel propane tank HOBO stove in the big fire pit, set the candle in a stainless pie pan set in the HOBO stove with a big soup pot lid on top for wind protection... It burned for a bit over 40 hours unattended before drowning the un maintained wick.. It consumed about half the jelly jar of candle and shortening... I had to move away from this experiment for other concerns so I never got around to burning it completely..

I believe the short, wide chip dip jar would have been a better container to use.. If I were to use it in the house, it would be pretty much for light only but you could warm your hands a bit with it.. My thoughts being to set a stainless pit plate on a trivet, the pie plate being big enough to contain the whole light contents if the jar were to crack and leak.. Never got to that part of the experiment.. I see no reason why it wouldn't work OK..
 
Last edited:
Magus said:
So it begs the question, has anybody here used propane/natural gas for winter heat in a small cabin or camper? I used a tiny office heater or my oven to heat the place up good, then I'd bundle up for the night.
Click to expand...
You using the propane heater that is standard in a camper? We had a small campground and some people lived here All year long. Most of them used their heaters in the camper, then to supplement they would toss in an electric heater or kerosene heater. most that used the kerosene, would light it outside and let it burn for a bit, carry it inside. They didnt use it 24/7 though. Some would closed the outside perimeter of the camper with radiant barrier to help with the cold wind.
 
I had gas and some panels when I was off grid, my office heater worked just fine until 4:00 AM when the generator kicked on. I still get up around that time for a radiator flush. LOL
 
We heat our house with wood, but also have a backup propane furnace. We started our first fire in the wood stove in August this year, now it's burning 24/7, probably until April.
I pulled out all of the smoke and CO detectors out of the house. The dang things would go off at 3am sometimes. Then I'd have to get a ladder out to change the batteries, even though they were hardwired in. I always keep a couple windows cracked open, works just fine. We clean the chimney every year and only burn dry wood.
 
Today I decided to try a tea light candle and a cheap ceramic fragrance infuser from Dollar Tree. While it was said it wasn't going to boil water, it would keep it warm. It is making a difference. The ceramic infuser is warm enough that I can't touch it with my bare hands. A few of these could help warm up a room.

Magus, have you ever seen the small woodburning stoves that people use in campers and small cabins?

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top