Oboy! Glad you asked.

We had an old kerosene cookstove and a kerosene space heater. And while
I've had some success with using kerosene, these two things were
completely unacceptable, even after rebuilding.

Replaced the cookstove with a two-burner Origo and could not believe the
amount of heat produced. My wife loves it (well, relative to the
kerosene stove).

We both agreed that if we ever went down the ICW in cold weather again,
we would unhesitatingly purchase the Origo space heater (which is
basically the same thing as the stove).

A minor caution: there is a smell that bothers some, not that everyone
warms up to the smell that's put into the propane or the kerosene smell.
One advantage of kerosene, of course, is that the soot doesn't smell much!

The alcohol system is really cost-effective compared to propane.
Kerosene may be cheaper still, but I'd rather freeze (and did).

Chuck

ps: you can easily get replacement burners from Origo. They last a long
time, but not forever. Tend to burn a bit with you let them run out of fuel.




Courtney Thomas wrote:
Have come into an old single burner and am considering it as a backup
source.

Opinions, caveats, advice ?

Thank you,
Courtney

Chuck,

How do you know it's time to replace the burner ? A hole in it or what.

What alcohol do you find the most satisfactory ? Source and cost ?

Gratefully,
Courtney



chuck wrote:

Oboy! Glad you asked.

We had an old kerosene cookstove and a kerosene space heater. And while
I've had some success with using kerosene, these two things were
completely unacceptable, even after rebuilding.

Replaced the cookstove with a two-burner Origo and could not believe the
amount of heat produced. My wife loves it (well, relative to the
kerosene stove).

We both agreed that if we ever went down the ICW in cold weather again,
we would unhesitatingly purchase the Origo space heater (which is
basically the same thing as the stove).

A minor caution: there is a smell that bothers some, not that everyone
warms up to the smell that's put into the propane or the kerosene smell.
One advantage of kerosene, of course, is that the soot doesn't smell much!

The alcohol system is really cost-effective compared to propane.
Kerosene may be cheaper still, but I'd rather freeze (and did).

Chuck

ps: you can easily get replacement burners from Origo. They last a long
time, but not forever. Tend to burn a bit with you let them run out of
fuel.




Courtney Thomas wrote:

Have come into an old single burner and am considering it as a backup
source.

Opinions, caveats, advice ?

Thank you,
Courtney



--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Courtney,

I don't know how you know when to replace the burner. I suppose when you
feel that performance is falling. As has been suggested, they'll
probably last a very long time if you don't let them run out of fuel. We
lived aboard for a year, two adults, a child, and for a couple of
months, a teenager. Cooked all meals on the two-burner stove and the
burners are still functional some years later.

As I recall, we simply used the West Marine gallons. Found the plastic
to be far less likely to rust in the bilges.

Burning anything inside a cabin without a chimney is something to be
cautious about. In warm weather, the hatches are open. In cold weather,
human presence produces an awful amount of humidity and condensation. We
never noticed any additional condensation from the alchohol stove. But
if it had been running all night, it might have been noticed. I defer to
folks who have actually used one that way for their experience.

Chuck