Heat for very small house in power outage

[Homesick Gypsy]

What could one use to heat a 10 x 10 "camping shed" during a power outage?  Everything seems to be geared for larger rooms/spaces. If well insulated, would a few candles work?

[Alan Gage]

How warm would you want it to be and what would the outside temp be?

Alan

[MountainDon]

How about an oil lamp or two? At least they would have the flame enclosed.

There would be the concern about combustion products, sufficient fresh air, etc.

[Homesick Gypsy]

Above freezing.  Ideally in the 50s but above freezing. Where I could dress warmly and be "comfortable".  Usually our winters don't get any colder than upper 20s and lower 30s but today we have an ice storm - it's 18 degrees with a strong north wind.  

MountainDon - I would have the candles enclosed in glass, like a hurricane.  Would something like a alarm for a wood stove make it safer?

[apiratelooksat40]

We currently heat our "temporary cabin" (24.5' Jayco) with a Big Buddy heater using the optional hose and filter for bulk tanks.  While our furnace works fine, our lack of power at the site had me looking for an auxiliary way to stay warm for winter camping/hunting in Northern New Hampshire.  Using just the Buddy, I've had outside temps in the low teens and still maintained a comfortable temp in the camper.  The Buddy is equipped with a Low-Oxygen shutoff (though I always keep a window cracked and have a CO detector installed) and knockover safety and could easily be mounted to a wall.  The small Buddies put out something like 7.5K btu's while the one I have puts out 13 or 14K btu.  I rarely need to turn the heater above medium to maintain the temp.  Absolutely the best purchase I've made for "Up There" so far.  I would think that a well insulated location like you describe would easily be heated with an option like this.

~hth

[considerations]

A couple candles could make a difference if the outside temps were above freezing...but it could be an unpleasant experiment if the temps really dropped.  I was looking very hard at small cast iron chimeneas to put a larger heat source in, but got the wood stove installed before i finalized a decision.   

Propane is always a possibility, as are tiny boat heaters/stoves, which burn a variety of fuels and are vented.

[JRR]

Sterno??  We use it to cook/keep food when we have a big family bash.  They seem to put off a good bit of heat.  Not sure about toxicity.
.
http://www.sterno.com/
.
The fuel cans are now available at Sam's in the restaurant supply section.  I have refilled the cans using denatured alcohol ... a bit dangerous though.

[MountainDon]

Sterno may be good. It's ethanol, supposed clean burning.  Easy to store and keeps a long time. I have a couple cans in the Jeep and car emergency kits. Forgot about them.

[Homesick Gypsy]

I looked at their website. They have cooking fuel as well as special candles.  Says they are a "safe clean burn" and there are no precautions listed (except usual lit candle precaution).  I have the little stove and sterno for cooking so think I have found my solution.  Thanks for the replies everyone!  We're having emergency rolling blackouts now in North Texas.

[upa]

The following information is from this website http://web.ncf.ca/bf250/rvwinter.html
I find his formula is quite accurate. I made some assumptions re: insulation of ~R12 and 8ft  room height and got ~ 1800 btu/hour heat loss assuming a 40 degree differential from outside to in. So a couple of candles may not be enough.


"How much heat do you need? Answer 3 questions: how cold? how well insulated? how big?

How cold does it get outside and how warm do you want it inside? Start with a temperature difference of 80F (60°F inside, -20°F outside) in southern Canada.
How well is your RV insulated? If it is not specially winterized, and you have single pane windows, start with a guess of R3. Guess R6 with a "winterized" RV with double windows. Do not use the "R20" or some such marvellous figure supplied by a manufacturer - wood studs are R3, double windows are only R2, and doors are usually even less.
How big is your rig? The wall area through which heat flows is
(length x 2 x (width + height)) + (width x height x2)
For my 17' class C, with an insulating curtain between the cab and living space, I get 600 sq.ft.
Then, multiply the temperature difference you need by the wall area and divide by the R value - 80x600/6 for my rig - 8000 BTU/hr. That is the minimum output required of a furnace to keep things warm. If you want to save on propane by letting it cool off when you are not in it, but turn the heat up on your return, or you go in and out at all often, you should add 50% to this capacity if reheating is not to take many hours.

How big must the furnace be? Furnaces are rated by the theoretical heat of the input propane, not the heat output, and few RV furnaces are more than 60% efficient. So, my rig needs a furnace rated at 8000/.60 = 13000 BTU/hr for light-sweater living at -20°F outside. As a reality check: I have a 20,000 BTU/hr Suburban furnace. I got stuck one winter in Norwood Ontario at 35 below and 50 mph wind. It held inside at 50°F. "

[considerations]

"Sterno may be good. It's ethanol, supposed clean burning."

I encourage one to read the fine print... Plus it smells awful and gives me a headache in close quarters.  Made me nervous, so I quit experimenting with it for heat. 

[rick91351]

Our old camp trailer had a gas light in it.  It with would heat it up very nice.  So I did a little research and yes they are still around:

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-MHGLLPG-Propane-Gaslight/dp/B001CFWF8W

Not plugging Amazon nor Mr. Heater products.  They use a Coleman style mantle in them.

Also found this at gas-lights.com

http://www.gas-lights.com/mr-heater-base-camp.html

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