Paraffin heater

QrizB

Paraffin heaters have a long history in the UK but fell out of favour over the past 50 years or so due to the availability and convenience of LPG alternatives.

When I was a kid my gran had one like this:

"Odourless" is relative, plus you need to deal with liquid fuel and wicks.

There's also the need for ventilation and humidity control that you get with all unflued combustion appliances.

alanwsg

Strange reading these posts - when I was a kid, we always used paraffin heaters indoors, notably on bath night to warm up the bathroom.

Never bothered about any ventilation or anything, but we were lectured about adjusting the wick to ensure a "safe blue flame", not a dangerous yellow one!

dunstonh

QrizB said:

Paraffin heaters have a long history in the UK but fell out of favour over the past 50 years or so due to the availability and convenience of LPG alternatives.

When I was a kid my gran had one like this:

"Odourless" is relative, plus you need to deal with liquid fuel and wicks.

There's also the need for ventilation and humidity control that you get with all unflued combustion appliances.

Lovely unit.  I am on the lookout a decent one but decent ones are not common.     I just remember the petrol station posters for Aladdin pink to put in these.

Strange reading these posts - when I was a kid, we always used paraffin heaters indoors, notably on bath night to warm up the bathroom.

yes. they were used like that and the adverts often showed family members around them.     They didn't know the risks back then.

Sea_Shell

My grandparents had the ones that looked like little darleks in the 70s (without the arms).

Can they still "exterminate" 😲

littleteapot

I'd be too concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning and the fire risks to use any kind of liquid fuel heater inside a house.

If you have a very draughty room which you cant be easily sealed then it might at least reduce the CO risk, but in any modern well sealed house the risks would be too high to contemplate, even with these ones which claim to be safe for indoor use.

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

It's interesting how we've ended up calling it 'paraffin' when used in small heaters and lamps, 'oil' when firing a central heating system, and 'kerosene' when it is running a jet airliner

lohr500

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said:

It's interesting how we've ended up calling it 'paraffin' when used in small heaters and lamps, 'oil' when firing a central heating system, and 'kerosene' when it is running a jet airliner

All of which are different.

Section62

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said:

It's interesting how we've ended up calling it 'paraffin' when used in small heaters and lamps, 'oil' when firing a central heating system, and 'kerosene' when it is running a jet airliner

At one time you could have added "TVO" to that list as another different fuel which some people might call paraffin.

The confusion about what 'paraffin' actually consists of is one reason why people looking into buying a 'paraffin' heater need to be really careful.

When 'paraffin' heaters were common in people's homes, the fuel typically used was Aladdin/BP/Shell-Mex "Pink paraffin" or "Esso Blue".  These fuels were specially refined to burn 'clean' and without excessive odour.

Neither are now available.  And any given product now sold as 'paraffin' is not necessarily suitable for burning in an indoor heater.  Not only is there a risk of fire and/or CO poisoning, some 'paraffin' blends will stink when burned, and getting rid of that smell from indoors is not easy.

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

lohr500 said:

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said:

It's interesting how we've ended up calling it 'paraffin' when used in small heaters and lamps, 'oil' when firing a central heating system, and 'kerosene' when it is running a jet airliner

All of which are different.

They are describing the same basic commodity though.  If you go on a heating oil supplier site they will often refer to it as kerosene.

facade

They are very popular in Japan, as any manga/anime/J-Drama fan will tell you.

The classic anime version is the cylindrical one that you can put a kettle on top, but the popular ones are square and like large upright fan heaters- they are fan assisted and thermostatically controlled and really warm the room up quickly.

Central heating isn't a thing in Japan, although most air conditioners have a heat pump function, and so they often heat just one room.

Their washing machines don't heat the water, and they spend a lot of time under their kotatsu- a low table with a skirt around it and a heater beneath.

We may have a thing or two to learn from them, but I don't fancy a fuel burning heater without chimney in the house.