Just a thought: before you rely on the natural gas grid for backup, ask some questions regarding how that grid is powered.

In some places, the natural gas mainline compressors are powered by the electrical grid. If one fails, the other will follow.

In other places (up here and presumably other places) the compressors are driven (and the instrumentation powered) by turboprop-type jet turbines that run on ... natural gas. So the two grids are reasonably independent in an emergency.

Thanks for the suggestions. I confess that I had already picked up two of the smaller model "Buddy" heaters before I started this thread. Two small ones equal the BTU's of the larger one on high. My wife is a bit leery of using them around the kids, but you can't have heat without flames and hot surfaces. Right now 1lb propane cylinders are not to be found, but I had a couple from my camping gear. Unfortunately, unlike the larger model, I can't pipe them to the post-regulator gas from the 80 gallon tank outside. I'll pick up grill tank and hose adapter shortly. I'm thinking about refilling the 1lb tanks, but again there's no way to get liquid out of that big tank.

I also considered a wall-mount, hard piped model as was mentioned. But then you're stuck with where it is. The Buddy heater has keyhole slots on the back for wall hanging, so I may strategically pre-place some screws in the walls.

The idea is to heat the downstairs living areas during the day and then keep two bedrooms warm at night.

I'm not crazy about a generator due to the need to stockpile and rotate a large supply of fuel. Plus, the oil burner really only actually runs for a total of about 3 hours a day. I thought about setting up an inverter with some batteries, but you'd still need a generator or some other way to charge them. Anyhow, it would be good to have an independent source in case the primary system is broken down rather than without power.

And yes, we can just bundle up and pretend we're camping, but with a newborn and the smaller kids I'd like to at least take the chill out of the air.

Doug..i made a big guess on that,and the guess was that because the new electric power station just a few miles down the Mississippi at St Paul is run on natural gas that the supply would not fail.however i'll find out for sure.

If the power goes out and its real cold, our plan is to leave if we can. If leaving isn't practical, I can run an electric space heater from my generator to keep one room warm, draining the pipes if that's called for.

It never occurred to me to use RV antifreeze at home; I'm going to get some.

I'm a pretty good jack leg electrician, so if the gas is still on I can wire the furnace up to run off the generator if its cold enough and the power is out long enough to justify it.

As I understand it the EPA has required most of the turbine type compressors to be replaced with electrically driven compressors but the old turbine have been left in place as backups. It may actually have made the NG supply more reliable.

I would see if you can get a ventless heater and some way to hook it up to your NG or propane supply. A lot of places they are not legal in the US but in an emergency, no one is going to care much. I have one in my garage.

I didn't realize you were in the middle of the post-Sandy mess.

Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I have doubts about running a temporary heater without close adult supervision, and deeper doubts about going to sleep with one running. I hope you're taking twice the precautions you think are needed, and have an operational CO detector.

And, I hope you won't try refilling your 1 lb. cylinders -- especially if you're bringing them inside. There are just too many things that can go wrong.

Please stay safe.

-Doug, worried

Interesting!



No thanks, I'll stick with the portables. The hard-mounted ventless units can't be imported legally, and Mr. Heater won't ship them. I respect them for it -- it tells me they're a responsible outfit. Also, Mr. Heater does a very brisk business up here, supplying temporary heaters for construction contractors as well as vented garage heaters. That last thing they need is a sudden "thickening" of the border.

I just can't force myself to trust running a flame-based portable heater (like Mr. Heater) in an enclosed space, no matter how vigorously they promote it as being safe. Home furnaces, which are much more sophisticated devices and have exterior ventilation have none-the-less been known to kill people with carbon monoxide.

Common sense keeps nagging at me and telling me "you shouldn't do this with an inexpensive portable heater", even though I realize many people do and live to tell about it. There are just too many things that can go wrong with one of these inexpensive flame-burners for me to give them my trust with our families lives. YMMV

Fuel in Canada question...if kero is expensive what is used in the far north,beyond the tree line,for fuel?i have seen photos of villages up there and it looks like 55 gallon drums are laying around everywhere.

Electric space heater and battery backup? Probably safer than running a combustion-type heater, or a generator, indoors.

Run the generator (or solar, wind, etc) to power the batteries, then use them as your power source. Something I confess I haven't looked at, but I do have the space heater.