I have a barn and 10 acres about 15 minutes from my house. It is starting to cold! The only real shelter from the cold is my tack room. Its about 12ftx12ft. It is completely sheet rocked and insulated.
My problem lies with the only electricity for the barn is solar power! It is also on DC power. There is not enough energy for an electric heater. So I have to use some kind of portable heater that runs off of something other then electricity. So my options are propane, butane and karoseen. I am worried about fire risk, and fumes. Which is the safest and most economical?
I spend almost every waking moment at the barn, and riding horses. I live in Texas so the cold is not that extreme, but it is still cold.
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8 Comments
boogie
on 1st Sep, 10 11:09am
Texas has had blizzards there!! While it is not so cold, find a spot that is near an outside wall and U can put a vent pipe in ,. There is a kerosun (kerosene brand stove) that can be permanently installed and vents exhasust gases outside through the pipe, easing danger of dangerous fumes. check Southern States or look up Kero Sun. Plan for venting and ventilation and prevention of carbon monoxide poisonng. OR– U might want to get an electrical line set up for the barn. Barns have electricity nowadays.
The Franklin stove is another option. U will need to have firebrick under and around it. I would have an outside and inside fire alarm system
Irene
on 1st Sep, 10 11:09am
use a propane heater. i use one for my garage that is about 16x16x10. It works well and the propane tanks are like 15 bux to get filled. they also last 2 years lol. i live in NY so it gets fairly chilly also. I don’t like the kerosene idea because of fumes, and it can make your tack smell funny. My parents collect kerosene antique lanterns.
here is mine:
http://www.home2garden.org/images/big-buddy-indoor-propane-heater.jpg
kybarrelracer2000
on 1st Sep, 10 11:09am
I use a propane heater called a Buddy heater, bought at Tractor Supply Company (TSC) for about $75. The 2 cannisters of propane last a long time, and you can just crack the tackroom door for ventilation. Easy to turn on and off for when it is or isn’t used.
Starlight 1
on 1st Sep, 10 12:09pm
Can’t you have your barn wired for regular A/C house current, like everybody else does these days? Our barn has that, and while we don’t heat it, we do have a heater which we sometimes use in the office. That would solve your problem permanently, because you could then use a ceramic heater in the tackroom, like the ones I use to heat my house ( I live in central DE, and it really gets COLD here in the winter) without worrying about fire or fumes. Ceramic heaters are electric and don’t pollute- and they have safety devices built into them which shut them off if they overheat or get knocked over. In addition, most of these heaters have timers and automatic temperature regulators, which means you can set them at a certain temperature and they will automatically cycle on and off as needed to maintain that temperature. I do that with the ones in the front part of the house, and it works well.
You can use a kerosene heater as your second choice, but you must find a way to vent it to the outside air, or you will run the risk of CO poisoning from the fumes it creates. The same is true for both propane and butane. The main problem with this kind of heater other than fire risk is COST- none of these heaters are cheap to operate. Kerosene heaters in particular can get really pricey, because they run on jet fuel. ( All jet aircraft run on kerosene rather than gasoline, because kerosene is less explosive when under pressure, as it is when it’s in an aircraft’s wing tanks.) As you know, the price of kerosene is tied directly to the cost of crude oil, and the more expensive oil is, the more expensive it will be. Whatever you decide to do in the end, make sure the heater is installed in such a way as to prevent anything flammable from getting near it when it’s on. It also goes without saying that you need to establish a rule that the heater is to be shut off and or unplugged when not in use or when you are not in the barn, for safety’s sake. There’s been more than one barn and house fire which has been started by an unattended heater which got too hot.
I hope this helps you.
zakiit
on 1st Sep, 10 01:09pm
Your leather tack will not like it! And there is a very big risk of fire! Could you have enough electricity to use a blow heater? And wrap up in horse rugs!
SLA
on 1st Sep, 10 01:09pm
You missed the best and safest one – wood. Get a small wood stove and a bit of chimney pipe. Build a fire when you first go to the barn and you’ve got a nice toasty tack room that’ll warm you up and dry out your tack. And wood is cheap and easy to get in most places. You can even burn pallets and cardboard. Or cowchips and dry horse poo if you can’t get wood.
You could buy an expensive corn or wood pellet stove if you want heat in there 24/7. I have a wood stove in my barn, one in my tack shed, and two in my house. Great heat source.
Fire's Shaddow
on 1st Sep, 10 01:09pm
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=mr+heater+mr+cooker&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11984516509306262912&ei=xNECS4nPL4-csgORoOC4BA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBAQ8gIwAA# Its called a Mr. Heater Mr.Cooker, can be used as a heater or a burner to cook on, they work super well, can be attached to a full size propane tank and will easily heat wayy more area than you are trying to. I have had two over the years, down side is you have to light them with a match or bbq lighter, but that is not really that bad. keep it away from flammable things, it will light a fire if not properly attended.
Yaacov
on 1st Sep, 10 01:09pm
Texas does have sunny days even though it get cold at certain hours.
The good news is that your tack room is well insulated and has a substantial thermal mass.
A very safe heating would be solar space heating http://www.solar-energy-for-home.com/solar-space-heating.html or for such a small place http://www.solar-energy-for-home.com/solar-air-collector.html