Emergency heater for powercuts etc.

BrianD3

I am planning ahead for the winter storm season, have a vulnerable person in the house and can't be without heat if there is a powercut. We have

-Oil fired boiler
-Propane fireplace fire, very rarely used, last time was during a powercut during the Beast from the East. Uses cylinders which have to be kept outside.
-electric heaters
-a butane hob

Should I get a Superser type heater, the butane cylinder would also do for the hob and the cylinders are very widely available.

Or a paraffin heater like a Zibro wick heater, are they ok for using in a house. As it will be rarely used, does stored paraffin go off. If it could use home heating oil kerosene it would be a help seeing as I will always have a big tank of it for the boiler - however afaik while kerosene will burn, there are problems with fouling of the wick and odours?

Pythagorean

I have used a Paraglo paraffin heater, it produces fantastic heat, a blend of radiant and convected heat. The problem is getting paraffin, you can buy premium grade paraffin from the likes of Homebase, etc.., but it is VERY expensive. I used to buy a red paraffin from Churchtown stores for about 9euros for 10 litres, which I believe is central heating kerosene oil. It burned very cleanly in the Paraglo, but there is always an odour when starting up or shutting down a paraffin heater. There are more advanced heaters on the market now, but again, they are expensive, as is the recommended fuel. I have kept paraffin in a plastic container for years with no deterioration evident.

greasepalm

Super ser sounds better,alas Churchtown Stores are no longer with us.Paraffin hate the smell and having to keep eye on the wick.Jml Snuggle in emergency to keep body warm.

BrianD3

Not much talk on boards about paraffin heaters, I did find a couple of threads where posters were singing the praises of McLoughlin fuels in Newbridge who sell the heaters and the paraffin.

40 euro for 20 litres, over double the cost of a similar sized drum of Kerosene
https://www.mcldirect.com/en/19-heater-fuel-rolf-paraffin

con747

I know these lads and they are nice to deal with. http://www.flemingpa.com/paraffin-heaters--paraffin-extra-oil.html I can't comment on the prices though as I stopped using parrafin years ago.

Lenar3556

I suppose your gas fire in one measure you have already - maybe just check that’s it operating correctly.

A small generator would power your oil boiler, and also provide a power source for other needs should they arise.

Petrol purchased at the pumps has a poor enough life span in storage, but you can buy ‘distillate’ petrol, the likes of Aspen 4 which has a 5 year shelf life I believe.

Keep it indoors and run it for 20 mins every six months and it should last for years.

Pythagorean

greasepalm wrote: »

Super ser sounds better,alas Churchtown Stores are no longer with us.Paraffin hate the smell and having to keep eye on the wick.Jml Snuggle in emergency to keep body warm.

Maybe I am a bit odd, but I used to really enjoy the whole paraffin heater thing, from filling it, adjusting for a blue flame, cleaning the wick, the whole process was much more absorbing than merely flicking a switch. At one stage I had quite a collection, including one Valor, which dated back to WW1 !! Probably helped that I rather like the smell of paraffin.!

greasepalm

I grew up with paraffin heaters also and remember the black soot episode.

freddyuk

You could consider just powering up the boiler/pump with an inverter and battery power. That way you keep your existing system running 100% and most cuts are only hours.

Vestiapx

freddyuk wrote: »

You could consider just powering up the boiler/pump with an inverter and battery power. That way you keep your existing system running 100% and most cuts are only hours.

This is what I do, worst comes to worst I power the inverter with the wife's car

Lewis_Benson

I'm thinking about buying a small petrol generator, the oil fired boiler and circulation pump only need a 240v supply to run..handy in a power cut.

coylemj

The Super Ser will push a vast amount of water vapour into the room, this will then condense on the walls when the room cools after the heat is switched off. Not good if your vulnerable person has any kind of lung/breathing complaint.

BrianD3

All good suggestions, just on the generator/inverter/battery for running the boiler and pump, I seem to remember before that there can be issues starting a pump due to the reactive power (vars) needed, any truth to this?

Re: cars, I have a few working laid up cars at the house. One of the safest ways of storing petrol at home would seem to be in the tank of a car with the battery disconnected, I also don't seem to have problems with petrol going off. I had this crazy idea before about using a car as a generator - not by using the alternator or 12v socket but by having some sort of roller under a drive wheel, I have not seen this suggested anywhere online so it probably is stupid and crazy LOL.

One advantage of a butane cylinder is I already have a camping ring so could use it for cooking as well as a superser.

BrianD3

Saw a Kingavon (Superser type thing) in a hardware shop for 70 quid not including a cylinder. Bought it and tested it and the cooking ring with an old cylinder that hasn't been used in over 20 years. Both work fine, I'll get a new cylinder when I get a chance.

Brings me back to the 80s and early 90s when we used a superser most days and cooked on the ring during the fairly frequent powercuts of the time. I don't remember the house having any signs of condensation etc. from the frequent superser use.

I'm still interested in both the paraffin heater and the inverter ideas.