During an emergency loss of services during cold temperatures, nothing becomes as much of an immediate threat to human safety as loss of adequate heat. In addition to ensuring that your family has adequate blankets, warm clothing, and sleeping bags available, a small indoor heater not dependent on electricity can be a literal life-saver. Heaters fueled with propane are the most popular of the non-electric indoor heaters. Propane has an additional advantage over other non-electric fuel sources like wood or kerosene in that it doesn’t produce any odors or smoke.
Permanent home heating systems require electricity to function. During an extended power loss, it will be very inefficient or impossible to run the heating system for your home from a portable generator. Properly designed propane heaters burn efficiently without emissions and can be safely used inside your home.
Our Choices for Emergency Indoor Heaters
Mr. Heater F232000 MH9BX Buddy
This safe indoor heater is ideal for emergency survival heating. This heater uses propane fuel from any approved tank and is easy to use with almost no setup. This heater will heat up to 225 square feet of indoor living space operating at 9,000 BTU. The Mr. Heater is efficient, with a burn rate of .099 gallons of propane per hour at 9,000 BTU.
DeWALT 12,000 BTU Radiant Indoor Safe Heater
This powerful heater uses propane fuel from any approved tank and is easy to use with almost no setup. Providing up to 12,000 BTU of heating power, this heater will heat up to 450 square feet of indoor living space.
Prepare a Smaller Area for Heating
In addition to storing an indoor heater and adequate fuel, your emergency plan should involve reducing the used space of your home as much as possible to make heating efficient. The whole family should have a place to be together that can be closed off from the rest of the house as much as possible in order to conserve warmth. Cover vents and windows with blankets and insulate around door frames with blankets and towels. The more insulated your heated area is, the more fuel efficient your heating system will be. With adequate insulation, a good indoor propane heater will only need to be run occasionally to keep the air temperature at a comfortable level.
Indoor Heating Safety
Be very careful to avoid heaters intended for outdoor-only use. Most stores carry propane heaters that are radiant or fan-driven heaters typically seen in use on outdoor patios and work sites. These types of heaters are not designed for indoor use, and carry a significant threat of deadly carbon monoxide poisoning if used indoors. Of course, it is always essential to have battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors in your home to be sure there aren’t any problems.
No matter how cold it gets, never leave an indoor propane heater unattended while in use. Like any heater, you should read and carefully observe the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings for your particular model.
Selecting and Maintaining a Heater
Indoor propane heaters can typically provide from 9,000 up to 18,000 BTU of heating power. If you are able to reduce your heated area inside your home to around 300 square feet or less, you should expect for a standard sized heater to be up to the task of keeping you warm. Most quality indoor propane heaters are adjustable for heat output and therefore also for fuel use.
Indoor propane heaters are very simple to use and maintain. Other than simple cleaning and refueling, there isn’t much to do other than to turn it on when needed. Your propane heater should be used occasionally to ensure that it is clean and operating properly. Your propane heater can have all sorts of everyday uses as well as for emergencies. It can serve as an excellent heater for the garage or other workspaces, or in sunrooms or on the patio. When the family goes on excursions, your propane heater can go along to heat your tent or camper.
Fuel Planning
Most indoor propane heaters are designed to run on 1 pound canisters of propane fuel. These are the little green metal bottles you have seen used to run camp stoves. With a simple hose adapter, they can also be fueled with larger propane tanks, from the standard size used with most outdoor barbecue grills and larger tanks. You will find the larger tanks are much more cost efficient than the 1 pound canisters. A twenty-pound tank will provide between 40 and 100 hours of heating time with most models, depending on the settings used on the heater. The standard 1 pound canister should produce up to 5 hours of heat. You should budget out your fuel storage needs according to your expected heating needs through an extended loss of services. During an emergency, you will find that with proper insulation and sufficient clothing you will be able to stretch your heater’s fuel consumption out quite nicely.
Product Details
Mr. Heater F232000 MH9BX Buddy 4000 9000 BTU Indoor Safe Portable Radiant Heater
Mr. Heater DeWALT 12,000 BTU Radiant Indoor Safe Heater (Standard) with Fan Multi
F332000
- Safe Indoor Heating -- This heater uses propane fuel from any approved tank and is easy to use with almost no setup.
- 4,000 to 9,000 BTU -- This heater will heat up to 225 square feet of indoor living space
- Efficient -- At 4,000 BTU this unit is rated to burn .044 gallons of propane per hour; At 9,000 BTU the rate is .099 gallons per hour
- Ideal for Disaster Survival Heating
- Safe Indoor Heating -- This heater uses propane fuel from any approved tank and is easy to use with almost no setup.
- Up to 12,000 BTU -- This heater will heat up to 450 square feet of indoor living space
- Ideal for Disaster Survival Heating
Mr. Heater
Mr. Heater
Mr. Heater
Mr. Heater
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Multicolor
14.40 X 9.00 X 14.20 X 9.50 in
17.75 X 12.00 X 19.00 X 20.00 in
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1
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1
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2 year limited warranty.
Pricing / Order Info
Lowest price
Lowest price + 0.0% more
338984
373760
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1
14
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9.10 X 14.20 X 14.50 X 10.55 in
13.12 X 17.37 X 18.12 X 2.00 in
Product Identifiers
B079K4WSG2
B079KBY73K
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089301321618
089301003361
0089301321618
0089301003361
Model;
Part Num;
Sku;
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F332000
F332000
F332000
F332000
Home & Kitchen
Home & Kitchen
Space Heaters
Space Heaters
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