I have had one of these heaters for four years now, and use it in my 1000 square foot workshop (concrete floor and high ceilings make this space a challenge to heat). It does put out a considerable amount of heat, though it tends to be localized as there is no fan. Nearby the unit it gets quite toasty, and will raise the temperature of my shop 15 to 20 degrees after about an hour and a half.
The secret to good performance is to use nice clean kerosene, and be sure it is not contaminated with water. It performs best on clear kerosene, but this is the most expensive fuel. I have had decent luck using red dyed kerosene (road tax exempt). I by it at a local bulk petroleum jobber and as of yesterday (April 5, 2010) I paid about 16.50, with tax, for 5 gallons in California. It burns clean, but I find I need to clean the wick a couple of times each season. I get a bit longer than 12 hours per tank, which is great. Make sure you change the batteries at the start of winter, and any time the glow of the starter seems to dim. I go through one or two sets of C batteries each season.
Cleaning the wick takes about 10 minutes there are two screws and a knob to remove, and then the top slides off reveling the base. I use a small putty scraper to flick off the carbonized portion of the wick. If you find the unit sputtering or hard to light that is an indicator that this service is needed.
I have replaced the wick once over the past four years. Do this outside, and wear rubber gloves as the kerosene has a strong odor. It is not too hard, but you do need to take care that it is aligned correctly so that it cranks all the way up for lighting, and more importantly all the way down to ensure it extinguishes the flame. It did take me two tries to get this right, and I am reasonably handy, though a more careful reading of the instructions would have helped.
Overall I am very happy with the product and am considering purchasing a second one for my shop to reduce the ramp up time. The maintenance required keeps it from being a 5 star review, but the trade off is lower operating costs when compared to electricity or especially propane.
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Easy to operate and puts out a lot of heat. Wife and I both enjoy using it. The safety grill makes it safe for our preschool aged children.
We initially purchased this for back-up heat. However, our home has 11-foot ceilings and just one 1500 watt wall heater per room. So, we're using this heater regularly to get things initially warmed up in the morning. We run it on cold mornings for about an hour or two and it warms the whole downstairs.
Lighting this heater inside is fine, but some people may want to shut it off outside as there is a bit of smell on shutdown. If the batteries are low on the starter, you can also light it with a match.
Kerosene fuel is a bit expensive, but the heat value is quite high per gallon. You can cut the cost by buying in larger quantities -55 gallon drum drops the cost to about $5 a gallon...which puts heater operation cost at just under $1 an hour for fuel. 1.9 gallon tank burns 10-12 hours Otherwise, buying in 5 gallon containers from the hardware store puts the price at $9/gallon...but that's still enough to get through an electrical outage.
Stove oil (red dyed kerosene) is also fine (says this in the instructions that come with the heater), but will gum up the wick a little faster. However, stove oil is under $3.50 a gallon right now...so the price is right.
**Update:
Heater working great. I replaced the factory installed wick about a month ago, and the new wick is working even better. The first wick became clogged over time with the red dye from the 55 gallon drum of kerosene. However, it was cheaper overall even with the wick change to go for the drum. I add a couple teaspoons of denatured alcohol to each fill, and another teaspoon during the dry-burn -this helps a lot to keep the wick in good condition and to burn off any water that collects in the heater's sump. Denatured alcohol can be purchased locally in the painting section of your local hardware store.
I recently had the drum refilled with #1 stove oil from the local heating oil supplier -at $3.89/gallon. Stove oil #1 is the same as red dyed kerosene and works great (do not use #2 stove oil). The supplier has a minimum of 100 gal order, but I chatted with the manager and arranged for a fill that matched up with another delivery at no extra charge. Earlier in the season, I purchased a 5-gallon can of K-1 clear kerosene. I refill that can from the drum, then fill the heater with it. A good hand-pump to pull from the drum: Fill-Rite SD62 Hand Pump Rotary 2-Vane Curved Spout
The heater will burn 11 hours continuously, and heats the entire house all day. Granted, that's about $7.80 for a day of heating, which is more expensive than electric. However, our family loves the quality of heat it puts out.
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We live in a 3rd story condo, and are planning a New Years party. We just redesigned our patio built benches, made cushions, and I wanted the patio to be comfortable to sit on while outside. Our patio is open to the east, and also open in the nook to the north. So I needed something that was going to produce enough heat to keep the patio warm. We tried two other heaters (electric) before buying this one. They were horrible!
I bought mine at home depot, and they have the fuel there. I think I have a different model (DuraHeat Convection Kerosene Heater Model DH2304), but it is the same amount of BTU's and the the same design, just looks a little different. This heater is amazing...we filled up half the tank, and have used it the last few nights to test it out. It heats up the whole area and keeps the heat coming! I plan on putting a sheet up in the nook using an expandable rod, (don't worry the sheet won't hang near the heater) I just want to try to block some of the cold air from coming in! A lot of heat comes out of the top, so I am hoping it will keep more of the heat in the patio area!
If you are looking for a great patio heater, this is the one to buy! Especially if you live in a condo! I am pretty sure we are not allowed to have propane, plus who wants a 20lb propane tank hanging around! This heater is ok'd for indoor, and if we ever loose our heat, we won't be cold! As long as we have kerosene!
There are instructions for the care of this heater, and I suggest you read them. There is important information about dry burning and cleaning the wick etc. They stress the importance of these things to keep your heater working properly! I am new to this (Giant Lantern) but the instructions are very detailed and easy to understand! Good luck!
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Kerosene use is always a slightly sloppy experience. This unit and the included pump minimize it. I used it to help heat my house after Super storm Sandy. It lasted around 9 to 10 hours with my flame height settings. It was a real lifesaver for us. Thank goodness we have a gas station nearby with bulk Kerosene. The bulk kerosene burned cleanly and odor free in this unit.
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This item really surprised me, it heated up the house, better than using propane where I live, as long as you make sure you get the right fuel, it tells you what to buy, the odorless K1. I was actualy warm this past winter when it snowed, and felt real heat:) Great heater. If your house is larger than 2000 sq ft, you might want to get one for each floor depending on how the heat rises and spreads out. Very happy with this purchase. Just be sure to use caution, and follow the directions as with most heaters. I put this on a brick area in the living room, it heated that room, and the heat rose up stairs just fine. My house is 1900 sq ft, so it was perfect.
