It’s a chilly Thanksgiving eve, at least by California standards. Our hangar is constructed of single-wall metal panels, with lots of seams, gaps and holes. It’s basically a sieve. Since we plan on working through winter, in order to keep on schedule, that means we need to some way to heat the place. All we have now is a little portable propane heater (Mr. Heater Buddy!). Sadly, it’s not anywhere near what we need to heat a 800+ sq ft metal box.
After asking around, it looks like kerosene heaters are the way to go. You can use it safely indoors, unlike propane. Given, our hangar really can’t be described as “indoor”, I am a bit concerned about carbon monoxide. Nobody thinks that’ll be an issue in our leaky box. One potentially exciting convenience is that the airport sells Jet-a fuel, which is kerosene…sorta.
I opted to buy a 23k BTU kerosene wick heater, which purportedly provides enough radiant heat to cover 1200 sq ft. I’m a little skeptical, but this one had some good reviews…
Apparently, folks at the airport have used Jet-A successfully in kerosene heaters like this. However, after doing a little research, Jet-A might have too much other “stuff” in it. K-1 kerosene is very pure, and you pay for it ($10/gallon). Jet-A usually has an additive called Prist, or has other minerals not conducive to clean burning. I do, however, like the idea of the hangar smelling like a jet engine. 🙂
We’ll see how it turns out.
