I, like many millions of people, have a propane stove. Bottle in the back
yard, run into the house for the appliances. Stove, oven and drier are
typical units that are capable of being run just fine, safe and legal on
propane.
The appliance must be set up correctly for propane or natural gas, The
combustion is different between the two gasses, so the orifices are
different. If an appliance is not set up correctly for the fuel it uses, it
will produce CO, and can produce it in good quantity.
My own oven is a good example of this. It was converted from the stock
natural gas configuration to propane, and all runs well. With the exception
of the broiler burner. That was not converted (for who knows what reason),
and does not burn well. It burns so poorly that it creates extremely high
levels of CO, and the poor combustion taints the taste of the meat. Yes, I
know, convert it myself. For various reasons, it's easier to just not use
the broiler.
Getting a CO meter and experimenting with it while you have electricity will
give you a very good idea of how well the various appliances are burning in
your house. This will let you put your mind at ease regarding the usage of
them for heat in a long term power outage.
Virtually no house is so air tight that it will not draft adequately for a
clean burning appliance. The ability of the oxygen level in the house to go
down far enough to cause poor combustion is almost an impossibility. So you
really don't need to open windows to run the appliances.
When people kill themselves inside with co it's almost always due to a poor
running unit. Or at least a unit that's not suited for interior combustion.
This is not the case with a propane stove running correctly.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Shipley" <shiples@comcast.net>
To: "Shop Talk List" <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 2:47 AM
Subject: [Shop-talk] Using gas indoors
> We were discussing emergency preparedness today and it brought up a
> question that I don't have an answer.
>
> The local electric utility is pretty good about keeping the power supply
> on
> but it's not impossible to lose power for 2 or 3 days. On the rare
> occasion when that happens there are always a few deaths because someone
> decides to heat their apartment with a charcoal BBQ. I'm not stupid
> enough
> to do that, but I'm afraid I may be capable of doing something equally
> stupid.
>
> I have a natural gas forced air furnace which needs electricity to
> operate,
> and I piped my house so I could install a gas range and a gas fireplace
> log. I also have a variety of items that run on propane.
>
> My natural gas appliances, if installed according to code, are apparently
> safe to use. But it's not clear to me whether propane is safe to use
> indoors. One of the appliances I have is a simple two burner cast iron
> stove that runs on propane. I also just salvaged a Jen-aire cooktop that
> looks unused.
>
> So I have a choice between a propane stove, a propane BBQ, and a natural
> gas cooktop that I'd to use for cooking when the power is out. They all
> seem to use gas under pressure and some sort of burner that has a valve
> and
> a some sort of device to mix fuel/air so it will support combustion. None
> of them have a flue like a fireplace or a furnace. I know that there are
> laws governing these as there are probably safety issues but I don't
> understand the differences. Which of these have the potential to kill me?
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
Shop-talk mailing list
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shop-talk
http://www.team.net/archive
|