Liquid Propane or kerosine? which is best?

Jeff Edmunds

Getting ready to purchase a heater for the garage and wanted to find out which would be the best LP or kerosine.

Thx, jeff

Joe Brix

Most important

is that you get a direct vent model. Kero might need more maintenance down the road. I would go with what ever fuel you're using now to keep it simple. Toyostove even makes a #2 oil fired wall heater if you got oil fired already in the home. Makes more sense to tap off your current LP or oil tank.

Weezbo

Jeff, i like the idea of oil....

the propane option for a garage wouldnt appeal to me.

Tony_8

Oil

Cheeze-Tech

LP

My first choice would be for LP. Cleaner burning, less maintenance. My experience has been that oil has to be service every 1 to 2 years or you can have a sooty mess. LP, I recommend every 2 to 3years. But I'd go with what ever is most prevalent in your area. If your area uses mainly oil, then oil might be a better choice. Going with what you already have is also a good idea.

Cheeze-Tech

LP

My first choice would be for LP. Cleaner burning, less maintenance, and less odor. My experience has been that oil has to be serviced every 1 to 2 years or you can have a sooty mess. LP, I recommend every 2 to 3 years. But I'd go with what ever is most prevalent in your area. If your area uses mainly oil, then oil might be a better choice. Going with what you already have is also a good idea.

Constantin

For me,

it would depend on a couple of things:

1) Which fuel source is traditionally cheaper in your area? Kerosene has about ~40% more BTU than LP, so adjust for that.

2) How much is the space heated? I would use a LP device for very intermittent loads because a cheap LP furnace has very few maintenance issues. However, if the space is to be used on a continuous basis, then Kerosene is less likely to coke up, corrode, etc.

3) What kind of emitters are you using? A LP furnace can easily heat the garage using air alone. It won't be as comfortable as hydronic heat in the floor below, but it'll respond much faster.

Lurker_2

re

propane is signifcantly more expensive in the NE

If you are not really using the heater much it may not ever pay off to install the kero.

Jack_21

Rinnai

I use a Rinnai 1004 (10,000-38,000) in my garage. I can get up Sat am, go down, turn on the Rinnai, go upstairs, have coffee and be working in my shirtsleeves for the rest of the day. Mine is a two car under garage with 2.5 exposed walls, but there is plenty of capacity. Sealed combustion, DV, 3" hole thru the wall, fully modulating burner and blower. 82% net to the space.

These are not inexpensive units, but you get what you pay for. I'd see if a local distributor had a "scratch and dent" unit for short money for the garage. Then again...there are garages and then there are "garages". I've been working on a couple old cars and it makes it a heck of a lot more pleasant to get the work done when you are comfortable. I represent Rinnai in New England. If you have any questions drop me a line. Happy Heating!!

gehring_3

Oil for garage


I would go with oil/kerosene, not propane in a garage. Propane is heavier than air, thus any leaks could settle on the floor area and become a potential hazard to the many ignition sources present in a garage (like lawnmowers, vehicles, power tools, drop lights etc.) Just my opinion.