How To Heat Your Home In A Power Outage With Portable Propane Heaters

In early 2009 thousands of residents of Kentucky were left without power. Many, who lived in in all electric homes, had no backup source of heat.

Here are some ways to be prepared if there is a power outage and you live in an all electric home, or if use a gas or oil furnace that requires electricity to start.

Portable propane heaters or kerosene heaters are a good solution for emergency heat. Each type of emergency backup heater has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the pros and cons of each type of portable emergency heater.

Portable Propane Heaters.

There are a number of portable propane heaters on the market. Models such as the Mr. Heater, which comes in two sizes, can put out between 9000 and 12,000 BTU. That is enough to keep a medium sized room warm enough to survive a blizzard.

Propane is a fuel that can be found almost anywhere. It burns clean, leaves no smell, is easy to hook up and propane emergency heaters are easy to start, with just the push of a button. To be completely safe, you must follow certain safety procedures when using a portable propane heater. It should be kept at least four feet away from any  object and you should not use a large portable propane tank inside the home, but instead run a hose to the tank through a window or door. Most portable propane heaters can utilize the small camping type canisters, as well as full sized portable tanks. The camping size canisters cost more per gallon of fuel, are convenient, however they only last a few hours before having to be replaced.

Portable Kerosene Heaters

Portable kerosene heaters have really improved over the past few years. Most now feature a device that retracts and extinguishes the wick if the heater is tipped over, and also shuts off the flow of fuel. The advantages portable kerosene heaters is that they give off a lot more heat than a propane heater. Most free standing models of kerosene heaters give off over 21000 BTU of heat. You can heat most small to medium sized homes with that amount of heat.

The disadvantage of kerosene heaters is that kerosene is somewhat smelly and often hard to find. While most units claim 99% efficiency the real world efficiency of these heaters is actually about 95%. This is still pretty good though. Most newer kerosene heaters will give off a slight odor when you turn them off, not when they are operating. Kerosene must be handled with caution and stored in a safe place but kerosene heaters are an excellent emergency heat source.

Price Of Emergency Backup Heaters

The cost of a portable propane heater runs about $100 but you will also need to rent  or buy a tank and buy an extension hose to run outside. Expect to spend about $150 all together. A kerosene heater runs about $150 so the cost of both is about the same.

Use Caution With Either One

Use caution with either kind of portable heater. You must supply fresh air to the room by cracking a window or door. Do this on the downwind side of the house to avoid loosing too much heat. Use a carbon monoxide detector when using a portable propane or kerosene heater.

Keep portable heaters away from anything flammable, at least four feet and keep children away from them. If you have small children or pets you may want to purchase a small "puppy pen", which is a metal, topless cage for pets, and place the pen over the heater to keep kids away.