CPSC White Paper Radiant Versus Catalytic Heaters

Yep I'm writing this from a mere three hour trip to US soil. I used up my credits for free private plane, and boat rides and my piggybank is now bust even from 79 dollar Volaris red eyes.

The house is concrete with a wood roof. If it's 102F outside it seems to be 103F inside and 35F outside means 34F inside. At least it feels like it. IMSS Morelia passed me on to Zapopan, Jalisco and I checked it out. Scripps San Diego is a more talented medical center with a resident neurosurgeon. The Mexican neurosurgeon serves six hospitals. Also the USA facilities have real pain medicine not headache pills.

No, Mex, I'm not cold. 1,900 miles North of Michacan sounds more like the US.

3000 Btu Olympian should suffice for low 35. I made a mistake buying 5000 model. Make a dust cover from that clear bag it came in, to cover when not it use - they are sensitive to dust.

You

Are

Not

Cold

This place is not Quicksilver and it's 1,900 miles north of my mangoes. It's to access a neurosurgeon and cardiosurgeon. I rented the place for next to nothing.

But winter can mean 35 degree dawn and 58 degree afternoon high temps INDOORS.

Old people have onionskin and a need to visit the facilities a dozen plus times between 6PM and 6AM. So I thought a 3,000 BTU Olympian set on LOW would take the bitterest of the chill off the evening frost. I'll sell it when I'm done. The tiny house measures something like 12' x 30' Bedroom on one end, bathroom on the other.

I despise getting old. It makes a mockery out of my many horsepacking trips.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

In my rented medical hideout, I am not going to donate 300 dollars for a heater plus the cost of flue and labor to install it.

You don't need one. At 5 pm it's still warm, at 6pm sun goes down (in winter), at 8.30 you go to bed. 10 pm in rural Mexico is like a midnight. Could drop below freezing on those highlands sometimes, run small 3000 Btu cat heater on the Low then. On sea level I can hardly run my cat heater in the night, 5000 Btu heats the box up very fast, warm duvet is easier to use.

A fireplace. Yeah the type that you stuff logs into, produces 1000 times as much CO but the nutso overkill draft that sucks all of the heat and CO out of the room keeps people from dying.

It may be that more people have died because of combustion chamber cracks and holing than all of the unvented heaters put together. The moral of the story is using multiple CO detectors.

pianotuna wrote:
I will not use an unvented combustion heater in an enclosed space.

So that means you won't use a catalytic heater, right?

If that's the case, catalytics don't produce CO. They just suck all the O2 out of an RV (unless you vent them).

Yes

or

No

???

Does not a commercial CO detector work adequately? Would not a pair of them be sufficiently safe if tested regularly. Remote locate a catalyst heater with one CO detector alongside, the 2nd CO detector goes at the head of the bed.

Crack the bedside window open for fresh air.

In my rented medical hideout, I am not going to donate 300 dollars for a heater plus the cost of flue and labor to install it.

If I read a compelling argument I will abandon plans for an LPG catalyst 3,000 BTU unvented heater.

Correct me if I'm wrong - after "scanning" both articles.

The first one is about unvented heaters. No break-down into catalytic and blue flame. Blue flame ones produce more CO/CO2 per BTU than catalytic do (might not be in any of these articles, I read another study on this subject before and quoted it here few times). What constitutes an adequate air flow, and most important - WHEN your rig have it and when doesn't - is not clear.

Another article compares "burner" radiant heaters and "heater-cooker" radiant heaters, neither one includes catalytic types. Conditions included specified air flow, I don't know how to translate this into, say, square inches of open vents/windows in absence of drafts (but there are always drafts), or forced fan flow.

As much as I'm trying to support manufacturing other than Chinese, I don't have anything good to say about ventedcatheater.com. Couldn't even get one when tried few years ago. Small business. For several months he was busy with warranty repairs, and then didn't return my emails. Ordered Olympian cat heater on Amazon for half the price of that vented heater and use it with windows and vents slightly open (screen door is often open until I go to bed). Also keep a very thick and heavy duvet and often use it in the night, and then shut the heater down. Saves propane and all the other worries. End of story.

Edit - PS: it might also be of interest to traveling people that in-cabin CO concentration on a highway often exceeds those ANSI norms.

I'd rather error on the side of safety. My daughter is a CO survivor only because I trained her to be careful. I will not use an unvented combustion heater in an enclosed space. There are options that work well, such as a through the wall non powered unit.

road-runner wrote:
I don't use a catalytic heater so I don't have to get tied up in too tight a wad over it. I was looking just out of curiosity.

Ditto. This appears to be much ado about nothing.