Date: 21 Dec 2010 Comments: 0

Using a propane heater can help to keep toasty warm this winter. If you’re heating an indoor space, you should almost always be using an electric heater or a vented fuel-burning heater. Outdoor spaces or areas like porches and decks can be heated with a number of different heater styles, such as propane, kerosene, electric, or natural gas.

As noted at HeaterHut, all of these fuel styles have their pros and cons, and each application is going to be a little different.

Beyond the operating questions you may have about your heater, you may also want to compare the costs of the different fuel styles. Thankfully, some quick rules-of-thumb will help to determine the style of heater that’s best for your room (and your budget). However, if a few different heater styles would work for your space, sometimes the deciding factor comes down to total cost of ownership.

Knowing Your Units

You have likely seen heater manufacturers advertise the total heat output of their units in BTUs. BTU is an acronym for British Thermal Unit, which is the standardized heat energy unit of measurement for the heater industry.

The standard measure of power for electric heaters such as ceramic heaters or oil heaters, by contrast, is the kilowatt hour (or kWh).

To compare the heat output of different types of heaters, we need to come up with some common ground between them. To get started, let’s look at the approximate fuel amounts to produce 1 million BTUs from our heaters.

• Kerosene Gas -> 7.4 gal / million BTUs
• Propane Gas -> 10.9 gal / million BTUs
• Electric -> 293 kWh / million BTUs

With these figures, it’s easy to multiply the average costs of the different fuel types by the quantity needed to produce 1 million BTUs. Then we’ll know the average dollar cost required to create one million BTUs of heat.

As an example, because kerosene costs about $2.25 a gallon, it would cost $16.65 for 1 million BTUs of heat (2.25 x 7.4 = 16.65). We’ll go ahead and save you the math and do the rest of the calculations for you:

Costs per One Million BTUs

• Kerosene -> $16.65 per 1 million BTUs
• Propane -> $32.70 per 1 million BTUs
• Electricity -> $32.23 per 1 million BTUs

Of course these numbers will fluctuate depending on the average fuel costs in your area, and will probably change from year to year. However, the use of this quick formula can save lots of cash when deciding which fuel and heater are the right one for you.

Now of course, there are other factors at stake beyond cost. You should never use kerosene or propane heaters indoors without adequate ventilation. But if a number of different heater styles can work in your space, it helps to run the figures to see which heater will have the smallest effect on your pocketbook.