Fast propane heat

Today I was working in an unheated building. It was a "round house". House set up by the beach, along the edge of a lake. Designed as a summer home for the waterfront director of a camp.

Masonry structure, cinder block wall. Probably 20 foot diameter, about 9 foot ceiling. It was 37F outdoors, and there was a thermometer indoors, said it was 40F.

I lit up a one burner camp stove, Coleman $20 unit from Walmart. I could barely feel any difference, in the indoor temp. probably 4,000 or 5,000 bTU. After a while, the tank got frosty, and the flame went down. I heated the tank with a propane torch, and the flame went back up for a few minutes.

After a while, the camp got us a "milk house" heater, and we plugged that in. 1500 watts. Which helped a little. By the time I left, it was 50F indoors.

What I'd like, some kind of "weed burner" to burn a lot of propane in a hurry. Raise the temp from 40 to 60 would be really nice.

It should work on a 16 ounce propane bottle. It's OK to invert the bottle, to feed liquid propane to the burner. Small enough to carry in the van with the rest of my tools. Should be relatively safe, if supervised by an adult. Doesn't necessarily have to be OSHA approved. It's just for occasional use. Any ideas? Weed burner, maybe?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon
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Most BTUs/hr per buck is a Cajun Cooker type unit. Most BTUs/hr absolute at reasonable cost is a propane-fired salamander.

Unvented indoor heating with propane for any length of time will build up some pretty noxious fumes very quickly. Even if the CO2 and CO don't get you, the NOx's build up and irritate your respiratory system like the worst possible smog-polluted cityscape. Ventilating enough to keep those concentrations down will defeat the heating.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

Wear lots of warm clothes or wait until May.

Reply to
mm

-snip-

Not gonna work for you. You want more BTUs than one of those bottles can produce without freezing up. Get a little heater that uses BBQ style tanks.

Mr. Heater makes a 9000 BTU one that works off 1lb tanks- or a hose to the BBQ tanks. [on sale on Amazon -northern Tool- for $60 - search #mh9b]

I think at 40 degrees the 1lb tank would be more trouble than it's worth. At about 20 you'd probably want to sit the 20 in a tub of hot water.

I'd spend $80- and get the 55000 btu - free shipping through Amazon - search #MH55FAV.

Does that adult heat propane cylinders with a torch? If yes- then none of them are safe.

OSHA is a PITA. But it has probably saved a lot of lives in the past

40 some years. [some would argue that they interfere with Darwin's laws]

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

No you never invert propane bottles, you should know that, and heating a propane tank with propane flame is not advised. 16oz wont do much and as you saw froze. Get a 20 lb and a torpedo heater or a nice 2 burner infrared, the infrared will heat you immediatly and not the air , direct it at your direction even from 20 ft away and you will be warm even at 0f

Reply to
ransley

One of the 600,000 btu/hr LP fueled "Salamander" heaters ought to do the job by the time it sucks a 100# LP tank dry...

Reply to
Pete C.

I used a smaller torpedo propane heater on a 20 pound gas grill tank......

it worked well if directed to the area we were working.......

one pound tanks ar a grand waste of time

Reply to
hallerb

Kids, Please dont encourage Stormy the fundy idiot. All one has to do is read what he typed and you know all he is asking for is disaster. Just give him a key, a lock and a can of WD-40. That should keep him busy for a month while sitting in a corner. Bubba

Reply to
Bubba

Running a propane tank upside down, heating a frozen tank with a propane torch, wanting a 230,000 btu "weed burner" roofing torch, common he he cant hurt himself. Gee a camping stove to heat a building, thats funny.

Reply to
ransley

i have heated my 20 pound gas grill propane tank by putting it in a sink full of very hot water. when we grill below 20 degrees......

i do wonder about the hazard of using a torch on a propane tank, certinally its not a good idea, but wonder if its as bad as it sounds?????

Reply to
hallerb

Not really if you watch it!, but an upside down tank stormy talked about pours our Liqued propane!

Reply to
ransley

Nahh. Safe as can be. What could happen with 20 pounds of compressed propane and a lit torch????? Obviously you havent searched "you tube" for that little "show". Bubba

Reply to
Bubba

I have seen a propane tank blow in a house fire =3D house gone.

Reply to
ransley

I'm finding that -- the one pounders are good for occasional use. But anything serious needs the gas grill tank.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Torch the bottom of the tank where the liquid is. Safer than torching the top, where the vapor is. Keep the torch back a couple inches. Try not to (ouch!) burn your hand. Lucky, to have burn cream in my first aid kit.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

my shed is at risk, with 7 or 8 spare propane tanks and occasionally as much as 30 gallons of gasoline........

the fireball might be interesting.

shed is far from home

Reply to
hallerb

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