paraffin heater...are they safe?

[Koolie]

Would the panel agree with me and not SWMBO that when the kids and us are on the boat, a paraffin heater is safe?

I don't dry clothes on it or anything like that.

I would never take the boat out with it on board because the risk is to great.

I need some one on my side as the wife wont come down with the kids unless it's warm.

Lee. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Poignard]

Ventilation? Chances of knocking it over?

 

[sarabande]

Sure they are safe if you disregard the propensity of parafin heaters to put out poisonous gases, water vapour, carbon particulates, if they are not properly installed and maintained.

There are better choices, but they depend on the size of your boat and the power sources you have available.

 

[oldharry]

If its a properly designed modern one, they extinguish aiutomatically if they get knocked over. main problems I can see is a) Carbon monoxide (same as any flueless heater with an open flame) b) Condensation. Paraffin seems to produce more than gas. c) fire risk: flammable fuel in the living space (same as gas!), and d) pong. Having said all that, apart from pong, an open flame gas heater is no more or less safe IMHO.

Carbon monoxide is - literally - the killer for any open flame device, so fit a detector.

 

[Malish]

a pukka Taylors heater with flue? - perfectly safe

a garden heater or equivalent? - wouldn't dream of putting it on a boat for the reasons outlined by sarabande

 

[Gordonmc]

Their bark is worse than their bite... the bark being the occasional flare-up when they haven't been pre-heated enough.
The flame can be spectacular in close quarters of a boat cabin, but its controllable if sooty. It would be an idea to practice lighting up in the garden so the procedure is smooth. The one big plus over catalytic gas heaters is that the flue extracts all the nasties including moisture.
With kids about it would be worth investing in a stainless guard for the flue pipe which can get very hot.

 

[FWB]

Assuming as has been suggested that you are talking about one with an external flue, then why not go for a diesel one? You could use the ships fuel tank and no need for another fuel source.

 

[stevebrassett]

I use a greenhouse-type one on my boat (I did buy it through a chandler, mind). It is non-pressurised, so doesn't flare. I make sure there is plenty of ventilation, and I don't use it out at sea, or when asleep. It makes the boat as warm as toast, and I can boil a kettle on top of it. Best £50 I have spent in a long time.

 

[FWB]

Does it set off your Carbon Monoxide Alarm?

 

[stevebrassett]

[ QUOTE ]
Does it set off your Carbon Monoxide Alarm?

[/ QUOTE ]
It might do if I had one. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif As I said, I make sure that I have plenty of ventilation, which includes leaving the main hatch at least partly open. I also have two fixed vents, and never suffer condensation.

 

[FWB]

If you want to stay alive, buy a Carbon Monoxide Alarm. Better still dont use your heater.

 

[stevebrassett]

I've been using this type of heater in confined spaces since I was 12, and I'm now 45. Thanks for the advice and concern, though. And I'm not being sarcastic.

 

[Robin]

Catalytic gas heaters do put out moisture but not carbon monoxide, so damp but not dangerous.

We use a thermostatically controlled fan heater if shorepower is available and have a gas catalytic heater (Force 4 £99.99) for away nights early and late season. We keep it portable with a long hose from a spare cylinder/regulator that we leave out in cockpit and we always have plenty of ventilation to prevent condensation. It keeps us very warm and cosy and doesn't need battery power to run like an Eberspacher, which we have but which a) doesn't work b) doesn't reach where we sleep up front.

 

[Mirelle]

Need definition of terms - people are talking about different things

"paraffin heater" may mean:

1. A Taylors bulkhead mounted paraffin pressure heater operating on the Primus principle, rigidly mounted, with a built-in flue. This is safe to use with children, and can be used under way. It may flare up when being lit if not correctly pre-heated, and the makers advise against leaving it running when you are asleep or away from the boat, just in case. Because it has a flue, there should be no build up of moisture or of carbon monoxide. Taylors model 079 paraffin cabin heater

2. A greenhouse type or domestic type heater, without a flue, free standing, burning with a blue flame from a wick burner.

Can be knocked over, creates damp and carbon monoxide, safety depends on precautions taken by user, not suitable for use at sea.

3. As used by the Pardeys, type (2) but rigidly mounted and fitted with a flue; problems relate to risk of flare ups and fuel sloshing in tank - see their books for solutions to this.

 

[DRANNIE]

You cannot assume that a catalytic heater is safe (although in a cockpit it is less of an issue) They do put out C0 but at lower levels than an heater with a flame. There is a greater risk of oxygen depletion and suffocation. For that reason I think they are as dangerous on a boat as a flaming heater. (I thought about one for my 22ft boat before doing research)

You might find this link interesting web page

 

[Robin]

Interesting reading. I wonder if it is much different with the usual UK butane (Calor or Gaz), although we actually use ours with the same red propane cylinder we use for the BBQ. I'm sure the leaflet with the heater which was made in Holland I think actually claimed no CO, but I'll need to check it next time I go to the boat.

We use ours down below but not when we are sleeping or at sea, mostly just for warmth in the evening and morning. The cylinder is kept outside because it is rusty rather than I think it might leak! We have a 41 foot boat so not so confined a space plus we always have the mainhatch and washboards out anyway, although we occasionally put our fitted cockpit canopy up to keep the wind and rain off. Many years back though I used to have a catalytic heater that ran on a liquid fuel and I did use that and leave it on overnight in the depths of winter in a Liz 30, luckily I'm still here!

 

[Sinbad2222]

Half the population of Britain used paraffin heaters in their houses in the 1950s, me included. Nobody died from CO poisoning then and they won't now!
We use a little greenhouse heater in our boat - works fine.

 

[AlJones]

Bom-bom-bom-bom Esso Blue!!!!

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
Half the population of Britain used paraffin heaters in their houses in the 1950s

[/ QUOTE ] But with open fireplaces, ill-fitting doors and window frames,suspended wooden floors and air bricks there was plenty of ventillation!

 

[stevebrassett]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Half the population of Britain used paraffin heaters in their houses in the 1950s

[/ QUOTE ] But with open fireplaces

[/ QUOTE ]check [ QUOTE ]
ill-fitting doors and window frames

[/ QUOTE ]check[ QUOTE ]
suspended wooden floors

[/ QUOTE ]nope, concrete[ QUOTE ]
and air bricks

[/ QUOTE ]check[ QUOTE ]
there was plenty of ventillation!

[/ QUOTE ]But our house was built in the 1990s! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif