# Kerosene Heater has Very Strong Odor



## Kbrks (Jan 14, 2021)

I use an Aladdin TR5000 for heat and it really has a strong kerosene odor to it...I bought it used and have cleaned the will with a soft toothbrush as shown in you tube video...Please Help I am really scared about carbon monoxide plus everything I own smells really bad now...UGH Help


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

Are you possibly using too much wick, and getting black soot/smoke as a result ?


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

What is the condition of the current wick?
When we used a kerosene heater we never could get a cleaned wick to work as well as a new one so we would buy wicks on clearance and just change it every year.

We stopped using our kerosene heater when the only gas station selling it closed. By then kero was around $5 a gallon and it was cheaper to use electric space heaters.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

This site has good pictures and instructions for cleaning the heater and changing the wick.






3 Ways to Maintain an Aladdin TR5000 Kerosene Heater - wikiHow Life


This article will provide a step-by-step process of disassembling, servicing, and reassembling of an Aladdin TR5000 (TR-5000 TR 5000) Portable Kerosene Heater. Included are those steps necessary for the replacement of the burner Wick....



www.wikihow.com


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## Kbrks (Jan 14, 2021)

CKelly78z said:


> Are you possibly using too much wick, and getting black soot/smoke as a result ?





CKelly78z said:


> Are you possibly using too much wick, and getting black soot/smoke as a result ?


No sir I do not think so I do turn it all the way up to light and then lower it as needed...i have started getting headaches and my eyes are burning a lot also...Right now this is the only heat i can get...Very Frustrated as the house is so strong in odor


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## Kbrks (Jan 14, 2021)

Danaus29 said:


> What is the condition of the current wick?
> When we used a kerosene heater we never could get a cleaned wick to work as well as a new one so we would buy wicks on clearance and just change it every year.
> 
> We stopped using our kerosene heater when the only gas station selling it closed. By then kero was around $5 a gallon and it was cheaper to use electric space heaters.


I didn't think the wick looked that bad but yes tomorrow I will go buy another one...My head hurts and eyes burn...i am scared I just might not wake up in morning so I cut off at night...Thank you for responding


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Old or contaminated fuel Did the previous owner run it with fuel oil/diesel fuel?


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## Kbrks (Jan 14, 2021)

I hope not but they did show me how to use it and they only said kerosene...but if they had used diesel I would think it would be burned off by now?? I have been using for 2 weeks now...do you think that also?


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## Kbrks (Jan 14, 2021)

haypoint said:


> Old or contaminated fuel Did the previous owner run it with fuel oil/diesel fuel?


* No sir I think they only used kerosene but I have used it for 2 weeks...i may replace the wick and just see if that helps...i am so scared of dying cause of carbon monoxide poisoning...i have got headaches and eyes burn...So frustrated!!!*


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

When my grandparents had a coal burning furnace they left a window open just a bit to allow fresh air in the house.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Kbrks said:


> I hope not but they did show me how to use it and they only said kerosene...but if they had used diesel I would think it would be burned off by now?? I have been using for 2 weeks now...do you think that also?


Yes, whatever they might've used would be long gone by now. But what kind of kerosene are you using? It has to be K-1 for an unvented heater. K-2 has much more sulfur and maybe other impurities, and should be used only in vented heaters, or outdoors. If you're using K-2, it might explain your problems.


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## Tsrogers (9 mo ago)

Kbrks said:


> I use an Aladdin TR5000 for heat and it really has a strong kerosene odor to it...I bought it used and have cleaned the will with a soft toothbrush as shown in you tube video...Please Help I am really scared about carbon monoxide plus everything I own smells really bad now...UGH Help


You are only supposed to use it outdoors I heard.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Tsrogers said:


> You are only supposed to use it outdoors I heard.


You heard wrong.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

I still remember the snowy night I woke up with a really bad headache. I rushed outside with the heater, gulping for fresh air, standing there in the snow. I bought a CO detector and saw CO in hundreds of PPM, so I got rid of it. I'm lucky I woke up with a headache instead of waking up dead.

I've since replaced it with this propane space heater, which performs very well. It mounts a 5 gallon BBQ tank on the back and lasts for days at the lower setting. I use it only when it's not cold enough to light a fire in the woodstove.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

MichaelK! said:


> I still remember the snowy night I woke up with a really bad headache. I rushed outside with the heater, gulping for fresh air, standing there in the snow. I bought a CO detector and saw CO in hundreds of PPM, so I got rid of it. I'm lucky I woke up with a headache instead of waking up dead.


Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion, so my guess is you had the kerosene heater's wick set too high so it wasn't burning clean. In this regard a propane heater would be safer because, with the regulator and jet making sure it'll burn clean, it's not dependent on the user knowing how to run it correctly.

At present, if you do the math, you may find electricity makes cheaper heat than propane. Where I am, with electricity at $0.092/kwh, the break-even point is $2.68/gal for propane, if your propane heater is 100% efficient (like a portable unvented heater), and lower for a vented heater that loses some heat up the flue. Last I knew, propane was about $3/gal here, and who knows how high it'll go by the time I need to buy more, so I've been using more electric heat.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

We had a drafty basement door and kept a basement window open a tiny bit when we used to run the kerosene heater in our basement. As soon as they were available, we bought a CO detector. We bought Grandma and Grandpa a CO detector too.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Every house should have at least one CO detector (unless, of course you live in an all-electric house)


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Even an all electric house should have a CO detector if you use wood, kerosene, propane or oil for any of your heat.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Danaus29 said:


> Even an all electric house should have a CO detector if you use wood, kerosene, propane or oil for any of your heat.


...which would seem to make it not an all-electric house, but what do I know? 

Maybe it would be better to say, if you burn stuff indoors, you should have a CO detector.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

It is described as all-electric. But it has a wood stove in the basement.

And yes, if you are going to burn stuff indoors you should have a CO detector. Even people in all electric houses sometimes use portable combustion powered heaters.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

backwoodsman7 said:


> Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion, so my guess is you had the kerosene heater's wick set too high so it wasn't burning clean.
> 
> At present, if you do the math, you may find electricity makes cheaper heat than propane. Where I am, with electricity at $0.092/kwh, the break-even point is $2.68/gal for propane, if your propane heater is 100% efficient (like a portable unvented heater), and lower for a vented heater that loses some heat up the flue.


I used to focus a lot of attention of wick quality, but I just finally gave up on kerosene.

I'm totally off-grid, so electricity is far more expensive because the heat would come from battery storage. This heat would be needed at night, when of course solar resources are zero.


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## furnacefighter15 (8 mo ago)

Unvented fuel burning heaters of any kind are a recipe for disaster.

Even when set “properly” they will eventually produce CO if not already doing so.

Propane, natural gas, etc… they all produce CO.

Stoichiometric combustion, the kind they teach in chemistry does not exist in practical application.

If you have headaches, and burning eyes, throw the damn thing in the trash heap.

Burning things indoors is the number 1 killer and or life expectancy reducer of people world wide. Has been for decades.


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