Are there portable space heaters that aren't electric? Can you recommend one?

There’s always kerosene. I have a small kerosene heater for power outages. Smells a bit when you first start it up, though.

Do you have natural gas in the office?

How big is HQ? We have one space heater (electric) and it heats our entire (small) house.

this is the best space heater I’ve ever owned I only needed 1 to heat 3 (smallish) rooms

These are the most efficient and safest I have ever found, easily capable of heating a room.

HQ is the corner ‘office’ of a 5000 sq foot space with 20 ft ceilings. All the heat goes up to the roof. What about heaters like this?

We have an electric oil heater just like the one @tyrantxseries linked to, but it’s only really good enough for one person—once you get more than 2 feet away you lose the heat.

my apartment went from 10deg to 65deg with the one I had (though I wasn’t in the BAT CAVE like you)

ya our roof isn’t nearly that high

I did find This

I say you, Ben and Tim just cuddle together for body heat. Save money, and it’s a bonding experience.

You could try the Vornado heater. We have one in the house (well, in the bathroom) that we have used to keep it warm for the kids’ bath. It does a decent job. Only downside is that ours, after several years seems to now have a slight burning smell when it first comes on. Otherwise, it works very well. Haven’t tried it in a large room though.

I have tried them all (back when I lived where it was cold) and I always ended up with the kerosene. More bothersome than electric alternatives, but seemingly greater btu output. I filled it every day and heated my entire home with it.

Oops. My bad, didn’t realize the Q said, not electric. I retract my former quip (though the Vornado is one damn fine electric heater).

So, besides kerosene, are there any other types of space heaters?

Also, our ‘walls’ are only 10 feet tall… so really we’re only getting radiant heat. The space itself eats up all the heat.

@rooeytoo Where do you buy kerosene?

Four possibilities
1) Kerosene
2) Wood
3) Propane (propane is probably sold at your grocery store or gas station)
3) Frickin’ laser beams (sadly, they are not mounted on sharks’ heads)

@andrew – I lived in Pennsylvania and kerosene was available at all gas stations. But I personally had a small tank outside outside of my house and the fuel oil company tanker came and filled it when it ran low. Obviously not practical in the city. But a 5 gallon can went a long way.

I would definitely not use kerosene in an enclosed space (or semi-enclosed, like yours). I used to work in a warehouse environment, and we used those heaters exclusively. What a terrible stink, and it gave me headaches. Maybe you guys should just buy some Snuggies! :P

instalurve for snuggies

I think the older ones were smelly, but the newer ones (and I am speaking of new 12 or so years ago) didn’t really smell and hopefully they have improved since then. The only real danger was using them in a completely air tight space, you run out of oxygen!

After doing some research, I found out that radiant heat is exactly what we’re looking for—it only heat a specific person and is perfect for areas with high ceilings—and they have models that are 400W/800W. I’ll let you know how it works.

I just picked up the Soleus 09 oscillating heat dish. Wow. At 800W, it’s almost too warm for under my desk. Unbelievable.

Win for Fluther HQ! Though you all fail!

Glad you’re warm and all, but Bad Founder for failing us. :/

@andrew Don’t you fail me. You didn’t even try my suggestion.