Question 1

will this heater heat a bed room to 140 deg. F. tring to kill bed bugs

Accepted Answer

The answer depends upon the size of your bedroom. With this heater, in a space, measuring 22ft x 23ft x 8ft ceiling height, or smaller, with normal insulation, you should be able to raise the temperature by 100 degrees Fahrenheit (100F) fairly easily. The problems that I see with attempting to do that are:

1) Kerosene is flammable; it has a flashpoint -- the temperature at which it changes from a liquid to a gas -- between 100F and 150F, depending upon the altitude/atmospheric pressure. Raising the room to temperatures above the flashpoint will in turn raise the temperature of the heater's fuel tank and fuel to a point above the flashpoint (because it's in the room too). The tank was never designed to be pressurized, but when the tank and its fuel warms above the flashpoint, the fuel will vaporize in the tank and pressurize the tank. Any leaks in the system will give rise to the escape of kerosene vapor outside of the tank. This is an extremely dangerous situation. On the hot end of the heater, you have an ignition source, and you've got highly flammable kerosene vapor leaking out of the now pressurized tank 18", or less, away.

2) You're looking for uniform temperature throughout the room. It's far more likely that the temperatures closer to the heater will be significantly higher, and temperatures farther away will be lower. It's entirely possible that the temperature at the thermometer in the corner registers 140F while the temperatures 5ft from the heater are over 250F, and temperatures 12" away from the hot end are over 500F.

3) Paper and paper products won't burn until they reach 451F. But many plastics and fabrics will melt at much lower temperatures. Cotton, for example, will start to decompose and generate its own heat towards combustion at temperatures as low as 205F.

4) If the temperature near the heater exceeds 150F, then how will you get close enough to the heater to shut it off? What about in an emergency if something were to go wrong and temperatures near the unit are over 200F? 300F? etc.

5) Sure, you could put a fan or 12 in the room, to help distribute the heat throughout the room and dissipate hot spots, but most residential fans are likely to fail in temperatures exceeding 120F. What happens if the fans fail? If you want to kill all the bed bugs, you will have to hold that 140F temperature for long enough until the heat penetrates the mattresses, box springs, furniture, etc. At 140F, your fans might not last long.

6) Keeping all of the above points in mind, it would be really easy to raise your bedroom to 140F with this space heater. But it would be far easier to burn it down and the rest of the house with it. I would recommend finding a different solution. Perhaps using a propane heater instead. Propane tanks are pressurized to begin with. And if you used an extension hose, you could put the propane tank outside and the heater inside. And then I would determine how much heat, in BTUs, would be required to just barely raise the temperature of the bedroom to 140F, and be patient while it accomplished that.

I think the idea of killing all of the bed bugs in a bedroom by raising the whole room to 140F is ingenious. But I think it would be more important to carefully plan to raise the temperature to 140F without exceeding 145F anywhere in the room. You know the old saying, those who fail to plan, plan to fail. In this case, failure is likely to be a home-sized fireball.

A much safer approach would be to put the space heater outdoors. Place a heater duct (flexible aluminum, like a dryer vent) at the point where you detect 145F air, and use an inline duct fan to blow 145F air into the room from outside. That way, you'll never get temperatures above 145F. And you can stop the flow of air into the bedroom by just kicking the flexible ducting away from the heater.

Question 2

Is it safe for the indoor use (w/o opening windows) ?

Accepted Answer

Yes we use it in the living room but make sure nothing else is around it or close to it , it gets very hot

Question 3

Will this run on used engine oil?

Accepted Answer

No.  It will run on diesel but may soot up.  In which case you have to add some kerosene.  I haven't thought of used vegetable oil, but you might.

Question 4

Is it normal for the unit to shoot flames out it?

Accepted Answer

Yes the unit may shoot a little flame, especially when you turn it off. The flames are never more than two or three inches

Heating Coverage	1200 sq. ft.
Heating Element	Radiant
Heat Output	50000 British Thermal Units
Fuel Type	Kerosene
Heating Method	Forced Air
Recommended Uses For Product	Office, Garage, Home
Mounting Type	Floor Mount
Room Type	Living Room, Bedroom, Home Office
Additional Features	Portable
Form Factor	Pedestal
Indoor Outdoor Usage	Indoor
Power Source	Kerosene-powered
Item Weight	29.5 Pounds
Color	White/Black

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Dura HeatDFA50 50K BTU Kero Forced Air Heater with Carrying Handle,White/Black

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