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in response to my use of fan heater from home, late though it is, have you ever driven up the M6 and seen that electric cable running alongside? no! look closer well thats my extension lead from home.

Quote: Originally posted by alisonjs on 11/1/2007

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Quote: Originally posted by jondeau on 10/1/2007

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Quote: Originally posted by whiskydry on 10/1/2007

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Funnily enough I was looking at this gas heater earlier and thought it looked fab!

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But will without doubt prove fatal sooner or later if used in a tent or any other confined space.

Look up Carbon Monoxide poisoning chaps............then ditch the heater.....

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          no doubt you didn't mean it to come across as such but i find that post incredibly patronising.  you probably have a very valid point but lots of people do use gas heaters.  perhaps you could explain more fully? 

i am aware of carbon monoxide poisining - i have a detector at home btw!

aj xx

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Well it may have been a bit abrupt, but it is certainly not patronising .

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless tasteless and very poisonous gas. It is produced as a by-product from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels.......all fossil fuels

In a confined space the build up of lethal levels of CO from an unflued fossil fuel burning appliance can occur in a very short space of time.

The heater shown in this thread should never be used in any enclosed space, in fact the only safe place to use it is in the open air.

And I hope this doesn't upset anybody else, but......

The only suitable gas heating appliances for use in tents, caravans and motor homes are fully room sealed appliances (sometimes called balanced flue appliances) where combustion air is drawn from outside and the flue gasses are also dispelled to the outside.

Mind you.........the very worst thing to have in a camper van is a wood burning stove.........smouldering wood and charcoal embers are renouned for producing extremely large quantities of CO.

PS: The author is a fully qualified Gas Fitter with 40 years practical experience.

just to point out something here TENTS ARE VENTILATED AND BREATH the issue with carbon monoxide is confined areas like in a caravan with all windows shut and no ventilation we sell these heaters on ebay and on our web site we sell the pyramid and the sunngas ones and the coleman blackcats and many other types here the golden rule to remember is that all gas appliances kick out carbon monoxcide so use in ventilated area and never leave unattended and never leave any heater on while asleep common sense realy at the end  of the day

kevin 

Hi

We also have a black cat which we use if no EHU along with CO detector in the tent but don't use overnight. They're brilliant.

We use an argos fan heater if we do have EHU. On that point, I did notice an oscillating fan heater, ver compact and with 1kw or 2kw heat options which should be ok for 6 amp or 10 amp hook ups respectively in Lidl last week for (I think) less than a tenner.

HTH

Catalytic heaters......as Dripping-Wet says, the key thing is ventilation.

Although catalytic heaters do not burn gas but rely on a bio/chemical reaction to produce heat and therefore ostensibly do not produce the poisonous gas CO...nonetheless they require oxygen for this process which they take from the air around them.

It is possible for a situation known as oxygen depletion to occur when these heaters are used in a confined space. Although I am not aware of any fatalities occuring because of this (oxygen depletion), it can exacerbate certain existing medical conditions in vunerable people and certainly this situation could lead to fatalities.

There are well documented cases of this type of heater causing explosions when oxygen depletion has extinguished the heater and the safety devices fitted to shut off the gas supply to the appliance in this event have failed to work.

Which brings us to cheap catalytic heaters........I am not going to comment on any specific heater......because I have never done any research on individual brands but as with so many things you get what you pay for.......if it's very cheap what have they cut back on ? .....There are a great many unscrupulous manufactures of cheap valves in Europe and Asia who will provide safety valves allegedly conforming to approved standards.

Somebody mentioned earlier that appliances would not be sold if they were not suitable for the purpose........sadly that is not true, there are any number of appliances and pieces of equipment out there which it is perfectly legal to sell.....but which for the professional gas fitter or plumber would be illegal to fit in this country.

The heater that sparked all this is described as a 'camping heater' with all that implies when in fact it is totally unsuitable for such use.

rickit, I am quite happy to enter into a debate with anybody who is involved in fossil fuel heating systems, be it manufacture or user.

As I said earlier......I have not enough research to recomend or condem individual appliances or companys.

When I was an apprentice gas fitter, I accompanied the senior gas fitter who was my mentor and the District Inspector to caravan in a field in order to write a report for the coroner.......a young couple had died there some days earlier because they had used the hob to heat the caravan during a cold winters night...........the cause was CO poisoning.

It had a profound affect on me.......that's all. I have no other axe to grind.

jondeau, i am getting a bit lost here!

are you saying that electric heaters (the kind that blow warm air) are safer?  am i getting this right? 

i have 3 young children and sometimes take other children camping, so obviously don't want anything that's even the slightest risk.

thanks.

aj x

Sorry......I do have a tendancy to get a carried away with the technicalities......

Summary.

Unflued open flame heaters whether Gas, Oil (parrafin) or Solid fuel (including barbeques)......are not suitable for use anywhere other than the open air.

Open flame heaters of all the above types, but with a flue have a very high risk of accidents occuring especially when used confined spaces. I personally would never use this type of heater,

Catalytic heaters.......Hmmm......Good ventillation is essential (high and low level), never leave them on overnight.

Balanced flue (room sealed) heaters are the only safe way to use fossil fuels in a confined space. However they are impractical to use in a tent.

ZODI............make a small gas fired heater which sits outside a tent with a fan powered (12v) flexible duct which pushes warm air into the tent. I have never seen one of these but the principle sounds pretty safe to me. No doubt one of the more computor saavy people on here can post a link to it.

Other than that the alternative is electric......which of course needs careful use especially in a tent, however I'll leave comments on the electrical stuff to those who are qualified to do so.

I know not everybody will agree with all my comments........but they are the result of a great many years experience.

hello

i have one of those halogen heater thingys that they sell in the camping shops, dont use it much only when the kids are snuggling down for the night.

no gas - no issue ( i hope) trips out if falls over and when my 3 year old daughter touched it then were no risks of burns, and also it is really bright so in the dark you can see your tent from a mile off !

dunno, for me as a parent it seemed the most safest and praticle solution

julie