terry wrote:
Are we sure this isn't a troll??????This posting is so ingenuous
(that's not ingenious btw!) perhaps even naive?

Using a figure of anywhere from 100,000 to 120,000 BTUs of energy in a
gallon of petroleum oil product burnt at 100% efficiency. An
efficiency which of course a wick (or any type heater) will not
produce! That's very, very roughly somewhere between a tenth and fifth
a gallon a gallon of oil or kerosene being burnt by an un-vented
heater within the house, every hour. So the products of that
combustion will need to go somewhere.

Your numbers are waaaay off.

Here are some safety tips, BTW from the government
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5052.html

and some good reading about them here
http://www.endtimesreport.com/kerosene_heaters.html

OK, the energy in a gallon of K-1 is about what you state, but is actually
closer to 133,000 Btu. But,most heaters are in the 10,000 to 20,000 Btu
range and burn that gallon of fuel over a period or 5 to 10 hours, not the 1
hour you are basing your figures on.

The manufacturers state that the heaters are 99.9% efficient. Perhaps they
are under perfect condition, but let's say they are only 99% efficient.
That would give you 1.25 ounces over a period of hours. Compare that to
burning half a small candle. .

At least make the decision based on actual numbers. It is not my first
choice for heat on a regular basis, but for short periods in very cold
weather, it would be OK for me.