Kerosene fumes & welding

[sbhockey]

Well I've searched with no luck, hopefully someone here has some info. Over the winter I use the Kerosene heater below to warm my little 13 x 20 garage. Keeps it nice and warm, almost too warm at times. Right now the garage dosen't have the best ventilation, though that will be changing soon. My big question is this; Should I have any concern with using this heater and welding over the winter? Love to here your thoughts before I potentelly blow up the garage this winter

 

[Chris Adams]

Um, one of those puppys and a gasoline leak 10 feet away cost me 120 thousand dollars a few years ago, so to say I wouldn't advise one in the shop is an understatement.
The catalyst kerosene heater is VERY hot at the working surface. Any fumes happily catch fire.

 

[KyleQ]

I wouldn't worry about welding, I wouldn't weld next to it, but you are going to want proper ventilation regardless if you are welding or not, more importantly if you are welding.

 

[sberry]

I wouldn't advise using one around a gas leak either but unless you hit it with a torch it fundamentally will not be an issue. You dont have to panic about making a tack weld in the same room with it. The thing is already on fire.

 

[ptschram]

I'd be more concerned about consuming available oxygen than fire.

 

[Zeke]

The only issue with this is the lack of good ventilation. You will be breathing welding smoke in an oxygen poor environment with CO present. Get some fresh air regularly even if you wear a mask. If you start to feel any "different" get the hell out.

 

[ptschram]

If you start to feel any "different" get the hell out.

Fatigue, confusion, nausea.

 

[sbhockey]

Fatigue, confusion, nausea.

Well I'm always pretty confused

Thanks for the advice. There’s not a whole lot of welding going on in there, just a few projects I need to finish up on the Jeep. Mainly building a plow mount from scratch (there will be a thread). Then maybe some other little things, like rockers, bumpers, and maybe some spinner targets from armor plate.

As far as ventilation go’s it’s a pretty old garage, no soffit vents, or soffits for that matter. I insulated the walls and ceiling last year and it’s almost sealed too tight. In the heat of the summer condensation will actually form on the floor pretty bad. My idea is to install powered draw fans on the front and rear gable. This would be great for the summer, but in the winter I don’t want to vent out all the heat I’m building since heat rises. Would keeping the overhead door cracked a couple inches be enough to let fresh air in? I’m open to any suggestions as I’m pretty clueless to anything HVAC related.

 

[5lima30]

I think proper ventilation is more of a concern than the welding. I've got my Kerosene heater for sale on CL. Those heaters give me a headache even with proper ventilation.