Propane or Kerosene torpedo heater for a garage

[lit666]

Which would you choose and why? Propane or Kerosene torpedo heater for a garage

[wrath]

Have both. Use #1 offroad the most. Garage is 24x30, insulated walls and doors but no drywall on the ceiling. haha.

Propane is cheaper by far, especially since my Dad can fill the tanks, but the one that burns Kerosene, #1, or #2 gets used the most. #2 is a bit stinky. I prefer Jet A, K-1, or Kerosene, then #1, then #2. Propane is irritating to deal with, especially if you want to move it around when running.

Would probably do propane if I found an old propane furnace for cheap. Heat the house with wood and #1 or #2. If I ever have a shop someday I'll probably heat it with wood.

[lit666]

Your reply confuses the shit out of me.



Have both. Use #1 offroad the most. Garage is 24x30, insulated walls and doors but no drywall on the ceiling. haha.

Propane is cheaper by far, especially since my Dad can fill the tanks, but the one that burns Kerosene, #1, or #2 gets used the most. #2 is a bit stinky. I prefer Jet A, K-1, or Kerosene, then #1, then #2. Propane is irritating to deal with, especially if you want to move it around when running.

Would probably do propane if I found an old propane furnace for cheap. Heat the house with wood and #1 or #2. If I ever have a shop someday I'll probably heat it with wood.

[Car Guy]

:rolf

[wrath]

Most "kerosene" torpedo heaters can burn usually all four "diesel" type of fuels. #1 and #2 (heating oil or diesel, same poo but different dye since few places are selling heating oil with high sulphur these days) with #1 being thinner/cleaner but fewer BTUs than #2. Kerosene is cleaned #1, usually with dye also. K-1 kerosene will be clear. Jet A is cleaner yet, also with no dye, and no water. Depending on where you're at, Jet A or K-1 will be the most expensive.

Propane is the cheapest, assuming you don't exchange your cylinders and can fill it yourself. Exchanging 20lb cylinders (roughly 4.3 gallons is 80%) at the local WallyWorld is a ripoff ($20 for 4 gallons of propane, or $5/gallon for $2/gallon worth of propane).

#2 fuel oil contains 1.5x the BTUs of propane. So if you're going to WallyWorld and paying $20 per 20lb cylinder exchange you can pay up to $7.5 for K-1 or Jet A and get the same heat.

[lit666]

Infill my propane tanks at a welding shop, decent price I think and they fill them

[The Shaolin]

Have you considered electric? I was debating the same thing for my attached garage, but picked up an electric unit instead. No condensation or ventilation concerns, I only run it when I need it, and it has the chill out of the garage in about 30 minutes.

[Slow Joe]

I had a propane torpedo. The #20 tank use to freeze and voila, no heat. Didn't like it and sold it.

Kerosene torpedo smells bad, but works well. For me it would heat up my garage in about 15-20 minutes to... Well, hot. Then I'd unplug it and just let the temp coast down til it was too cold.

Realistically my favorite is the Natural Gas heater I have in my garage. Yes, it's built in, but it's plumbed in to the natural gas from my house, I set it at 45* then turn it up to 50-55 when I'm working in the garage and go from there. It seems pretty innexpensive to use, and it's just nice to be able to pull a car in to the garage and let it melt out. Plus the part that I know I'm not going to die from the fumes is the big thing for me.

But getting back to the topic at hand, I still have my Kerosene torpedo as a back-up. And I wouldn't buy another Propane torpedo.

[DurtyKurty]

I have an electric "modine" style as my main heat in my garage and it works very well. No smell, full control, and virtually no maintenance. Only catch is you need 220 in your garage. I also have a propane radiant heater as a backup that works pretty well. It's the type that simply clamps to the tank. Works well enough, low maintenance and cheap, no/low odor. I have never used a propane torpedo heater, but I would go for it over the kerosene type. Less stink and less maintenance. Seems as though the kerosene units always have a problem with the tanks rusting on the inside.

[73MACH]

I also have a small electric heater in my garage. No smell, no maintenance, no refilling, and it heats up my uninsulated garage to 60 in about 30 min when it's 15 degrees outside. I love it. Like Kurt said though, you need 220 for it.

[03Seville]

I run a propane torpedo, and have for a couple years.

Persoanlly I love it, never had the freezing issue mentioned above.

About 15mins and my half insulated garage is over 60

And it burns a lot cleaner than kerosene, which is why I sold my kerosene one lol

[indyzmike]

I ran a kerosene torpedo for many years but did not like the fumes. Propane burns cleaner. Look into some of the non-electric vertical propane heaters too. A torpedo requires clear space in front of the flame. With a vertical unit the heat goes up. If you add a ceiling fan the heat gets under the car too.

This is the type I mean.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202895381/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=heater&storeId=10051

[michelle]

I also have a small electric heater in my garage. No smell, no maintenance, no refilling, and it heats up my uninsulated garage to 60 in about 30 min when it's 15 degrees outside. I love it. Like Kurt said though, you need 220 for it.


What brand/model?

[BadAzzGTA89]

I used propane ran out too fast..
I used kerosene and the fumes will kill ya!
So i got a corn/pellet heater!!
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k196/Badazzgta89/20121110_134218.jpg

[The Shaolin]

What brand/model?

I picked up this electric last year at the end of the year...it was on sale for $220, I think.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_595_595

It only cost about $70 to run 220v to my garage too.

[Car Guy]

I had a propane torpedo. The #20 tank use to freeze and voila, no heat.

This also happened to me the first or second time using propane. I still want to know exactly why because I know MANY people who us it on a regular basis without a problem. For me that was the last time I used a propane heater.

[PonyKiller87]

This also happened to me the first or second time using propane. I still want to know exactly why because I know MANY people who us it on a regular basis without a problem. For me that was the last time I used a propane heater.

Aren't you the HVAC guy? you should know the answer to this. Its not so much the tank freezing as the valve/opening on the top of the tank freezing from to much flow through it. The whole liquid turning to gas as it passes through the valve...

If you turn the heater down a little it should stop, or do like I did and wrap a small elec heating pad around the tank to keep it warm, just dont't forget and leave it on. It won't blow up, it will just vent propane out if you overheat the tank.

I use the vertical type 200,000 BTU heater and on high it will easily freeze a 20 lb tank in about 15-20 min. If I run it off a 60lb tank I can run it on high for several hours without an issue until the tank is empty.

[Prince Valiant]

Entropy. The liquid changing to a gaseous form is an endothermic process, so heat energy is absorbed from the surrounding area, leading to a temperature drop that causes water to freeze....

[DurtyKurty]

Kind of ironic when you think about it.

[Car Guy]

Aren't you the HVAC guy?

No.

[DNT H8]

I had a propane torpedo. The #20 tank use to freeze and voila, no heat.

Put the tank in 3-4 inces of warm water and viola the heat wont stop. Works great. Ive had this happen and not happen. Its been my experience the colder the garage is and the longer you run the heater the more likely this will occur. I prefer propane but what sucks about the torpedo heaters is the noise gets to you after a while.

[pnad]

Guess I'm the weird one. Takes a long time for kerosene fumes to give me a headache. Propane fumes = instant headache and I can't stand the smell.