Redneck heating, in a pinch

[Mattlt]

Has anyone ever used their turkey fryer burner for heating? Can you somehow direct the heat into a barrel, set steel on top, or ??? Making kind of a convection heater?

I'm all for using things as designed. Figured since I've got 1) a cold shop and 2) a turkey fryer that doesn't see much use this time of year, I thought I could come up with a solution.

And yes, I'm well aware of the CO and moisture issues associated with unvented propane appliances. Just curious if anyone has ever done such a thing?

[Lomax101]

I've done it and it worked very well. I had a 22 x 22 attached garage and would use it to heat the garage up every once and a while. I never had an issue with CO. As I started to use the garage more I went to a 30000 BTU ventless.

[Mattlt]

Did you set a barrel or some other steel piece on top of it?

[Lomax101]

I never did. I just fired the fryer up an let it heat the air. The way I looked at it was that I was using a turkey fryer to heat my garage....it is what it is, as long as it produced heat I has happy.

[HoosierBuddy]

When you say "very aware" of CO...you mean you are aware that it CO is colorless, odorless, and will kill you in less than a minute in high enough concentrations?

A "ventless" propane heater isn't just a burner with no flue. It's a burner that has been designed to burn gas and air at a level so close to the correct proportions, that no CO is produced. All "ventless" heating products also include an oxygen depletion sensor to monitor the air/fuel ratio and shut it down if it isn't burning right.

A turkey fryer isn't that. Maybe it won't kill you...but people can and do die on a regular basis from misusing gas-fired cooking equipment as space heaters. Other symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, nauseu, paralysis, and loss of consciousness. Pets are sometimes even more easily affected. If you suspect you have CO poisoning call 911 and have the hospital draw blood for analysis.

Good luck.

Phil

[pseudorealityx]

A CO sensor/alarm wouldn't be a terrible $25 used.

[fordcragar]

Instead of that, why not use a small wood stove? I used to heat my old garage that way. The stove pipe went up about three feet and then a 90 degree bend and out the window; another 90 and up.

[Mattlt]

Originally Posted by fordcragar

Instead of that, why not use a small wood stove? I used to heat my old garage that way. The stove pipe went up about three feet and then a 90 degree bend and out the window; another 90 and up.

Insurance is the problem there... Seems they don't care if you kill yourself with CO (as I apparently am proposing to do) but they do care if you have a wood stove in your shop.

I would LOVE to have a wood stove in my shop, but I also need to have it insured.

[Lomax101]

I had a CO detector and it never went off when I was using the turkey fryer. If CO is such an issue how do those of you that use salamanders do it? Any time you burn something your going to produce CO.

[Wow]

Originally Posted by Lomax101

Any time you burn something your going to produce CO.

That's not true. CO comes from incomplete combustion, as in, something isn't working right. A good propane heater in good condition, will not give off CO whether it was designed for indoor use or not. If for some reason the flame is burning poorly (for example, a candle like flame instead of a clean blue flame) then CO is produced.

Propane forklifts, for example, are designed to run completely indoors unvented, and their exhaust is first tested for CO.

[krooser]

Originally Posted by Wow

That's not true. CO comes from incomplete combustion, as in, something isn't working right. A good propane heater in good condition, will not give off CO whether it was designed for indoor use or not. If for some reason the flame is burning poorly (for example, a candle like flame instead of a clean blue flame) then CO is produced.

Propane forklifts, for example, are designed to run completely indoors unvented, and their exhaust is first tested for CO.

Everytime you burn a carbon based fuel it emits CO... running good or not...gasoline, propane, diesel, wood, coal, whatever.

And who does this testing on OLD forklifts? Who goes around making sure every carburetor is adjusted properly? I have a 1955 Yale and I don't remember having it tested...

Maybe Mr. Obama will be over doing the testing as part of his new "healthcare" reform.

[Bill K]

watch out for moisture build up in the shop if it's pretty air tight. For every gallon of propane burnt it produces .81 gallons of water.