That's funny; what we call a "salamander heater" are those funky-looking round pot heaters, with a louvered smokestack, that the military made famous.

I have seen people burn everything from old-timey regular gasoline to nasty used oil in those things.

I don't know the proper name for them; but, all I ever heard them called was "salamander".

 

what about 100% bio diesel?

 

you mean like a smudge pot?

 

torpedo heaters are ok in a pinch, but I cant stand the taste of kero soot in my mouth after working in close quarters with one running for a few hours.

think about it, there is no exhast pipe. picture leaving your truck ideling in your 20'x20' garage for 4 hours!

 

It does leave a bad taste in your mouth like soot. Also, watch out you don't get carbon monoxide posioning. Had it happen to me before so I just will stay cold or be in the house.

 

I have a "drive-thru" garage. One door in the front, and one in the back. I'm going to keep both cracked open a few inches and hope this helps with the exhaust and doesn't let out too much heat.

These heaters do stink and are loud, but they put out so much heat. In the summer I'm going to install a wood burning stove (the old unit from my house) in the garage. But for now, I have to use what I have.

 

Around here diesel is $2.20 a gallon while kero is $3.10. I use diesel but add vanilla no-stink stuff. I don't notice any smell from it. My heater is rated for kero, diesel, jet fuel, etc. I sold my 55K and bought a brand new 125K Reddy heater "Pro" model from Lowe's on their end of season 1/2 price sale. It's a nice heater. Has a digital thermometer as well as a thermostat. I truly believe it's quieter than my 55K. The noise doesn't bother me at all. Does a great job heating my 30X50 shop. It has 10 foot walls, fairly well insulated, but typical leaks around the overhead door. I have a wood stove that my neighbor gave me, but haven't plumbed it up yet. I'd only use it if I was gonna be in the shop all day. The torpedo heats up quickly and provides lots of heat. I'm sure it costs more to run than a wood stove since Tennessee is pretty much covered with trees!

 

[QUOTE=moterhead;1308608]Around here diesel is $2.20 a gallon while kero is $3.10. I use diesel but add vanilla no-stink stuff.

You add cooking vanilla?

I don't mind the smell of the kerosene heater. But if it's bad with diesel, I'll add vanilla. BTW, kerosene is $6.00 a gallon!...Diesel is @ $2.40.

 

Uh, no, NOT cooking vanilla. Most places that sell kerosene heaters and associated equipment sell an "no smell" additive. It comes in different smells. I remember pine in addition to the vanilla. I decided I didn't want my shop to smell like Pine-sol, so I went with vanilla. I bought mine at Lowe's in the Seasonal department. $2.69 for 8 ounces. Very concentrated stuff.

BTW, Lowe's is, or was, having a half price sale on all their heating stuff, like kerosene, propane and electric heaters. I actually did think about buying a propane torpedo instead of the 125K kerosene. A bit of research revealed that most propane torpedos don't have thermostats. And you can't use and in-line one because you have to push a button to light 'em off. There are some exceptions to this. If you get into really big ones, they do have thermostats. I had a 175 to 350K model years ago that had one. It was way bigger than what I needed so I sold it to a guy who wanted to heat a warehouse.

 

Great info! I'll go to Lowes or Home Depot tonight and see if I find some "no smell" additive. A few days ago kerosene was $6.00 a gallon. I'll see if they have gone down since. But I bet if anything, they go up becasue it's getting colder out here.

And the kerosene heater I'm using is not one that can be used with a thermostat. That would be nice.

 

You can get yourself an in-line thermostat. It's a 110V deal that goes into your electric line. Usually has a temp dial on it. You plug your heater into the thermostat receptacle, then the thermostat line into the outlet. They work fine, perhaps even better than the built in ones as you can hang 'em where they get a good reading. There are several on ebay right now. Do a search for thermostat kerosene heater. One is only at $12. Item number 220071698522.

Or is your heater not an electric powered blower type? If you are using a wick (pot) type heater, never mind!

 

It's the torpedo type...which I guess is what you're talking about. If I decide to go for the thermostat, it's nice to know they're cheap and available. I had no idea I could add one in line with the plug.

Thanks for the info!