Paraffin Heaters

We used to have a couple of paraffin heaters, they were portable so they could be used pretty much anywhere heat was needed.

I haven't seen or heard of a paraffin heater for many years now. Do people still use them? Are they now too expensive to run?

A safety hazard, they pump out loads of water vapour, and the lorry no longer delivers Pink and Blue to your door each week.

They gave way to bottled gas heaters which are safer.

Owain

WTF did you think an oil fired AGA was?

my father used to put a paraffin heater under his car is vey cold weather - I don't think you could do that with an AGA.

Available from Amazon and on eBay

They do produce a lot of water vapour that will condense on cold walls etc, so causing damp and mould. The RoT that I have is that burning a gallon of paraffin produces a gallon of water.

I do wonder how much of the damp and black mould that gets highlighted on TV as examples of poor housing is just that the occupants are using paraffin heaters and are not ventilating their properties sufficiently.

Do you really think that Aga heaters are portable? Which models do you have in mind?

Most issues are caused by drying clothes on radiators.

Which has made me wonder if there are sensors out there that measure a combination of internal humidity and temperature that alarm when they are above some preset level. I'm sure landlords would love them!

Ignore grumpy-boots. He's just like that.

Just build a garage over the kitchen. Simples!

I think they stink as well

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Chris Hogg snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net writes

Rare to get a complaint from an owner occupier.

My wife rented out her Mother's 2 bed 1960's ground floor flat. No practical way of improving insulation other than internal cladding. Gas boiler with wall hung radiators. Black mould spots appeared high on external walls. First move was a heat recovery extractor for the bath/shower room. Followed by a ducted, centrally mounted heat recovery unit.

Some improvement but still an issue. I was there one day doing some work and discovered washing being dried on a clothes rack in the lounge. The family were from Portugal and showered every day.

The last move was to install a combined washer/tumble drier but the solution was to sell the flat!

They are still used, especially at the poorer end of the population, as a means of budgeting where gas & electric are too expensive.

Unfortunately the smell & give off about 10 pints of water vapour per gallon of paraffin.

I still have one & use it occasionally in extreme conditions. There are two types, one that hangs from a hook in the engine bay & the other with a circular tank as the base that is placed on the floor. I put mine in an empty biscuit tin to prevent it being blown out.

In general that type have been replaced by natural gas heaters. A bit less stinky and a bit less dirty

Doesn’t everyone?

Tim

Once a year, weather to or not.....

Dave

No. I dont. Sometimes I have a bath. Sometimes I do what I was brought up to do. Wash carefully with as little hot water as possible, because there was never enough.

Rather more than I do but probably not expected in a 1960's design flat.