T&T: Portable space heaters

[KevinR]

> -----Original Message-----
> We used an old fashioned round kerosene space heater while we worked on
> our Albin in Rochester in the winter.......
> ........
> But it is safe and CO was never an issue that we knew of.

Some years back, I was doing a rebuild of my house. The contractor had
removed the old furnace, and true to form, then delayed the construction so
that we faced October and November without a heating system. We used the
round kerosene heaters as an alternative during that time.

One evening, while I was sitting and watching TV, I developed a splitting
headache, as did my wife. It suddenly dawned on me that a headache was one
of the symptoms of CO poisoning, and thankfully I wasn't too groggy to
notice and take action. The two kerosene heaters had been running
continuously in the old drafty 1890 house, but the CO levels had quietly
built up.

We immediately opened some windows to vent the house, and went out on the
front porch to vent ourselves. It only took a few minutes of fresh air to
stop the headaches, but the lessons from that night have lasted a good many
years now.

I would be leery of any unvented heater for more than a half hour inside the
boat, no matter how drafty you think the boat is. I liked Mark Richter's
solution with the vented Force 10, especially since his solution got the CO
and H2O output out of the cabin.

Kevin