Choosing Between Various Heaters and Stoves

[thataway]

Yes, the silent, and often mysterious killer. Of course I saw the most cases of CO poisoning, when I was working in charity type of hospitals--where we had unknowns off the street or highway. Of course lab tests are much better now than 50 years ago, but often it was a person who was unconscious with no history. In several cases we were able to trace it down to a car with a leaky muffler. CO used to be in vogue for suicide--when I was a teen one of the neighbors died that way in his garage.

 

[macmac]

Please take great care when considering the use of propane in your boat. If you want to make sure there is sufficient ventilation, that is an excellent plan, but also make sure that any kind of active or powered fans used to aid in ventilation are spark-arrested fans. To the best of our knowledge, computer fans are not required to be spark arrested and therefore may or may not be.

Computer fans are an excellent source for inexpensive, efficient air motion in diesel powered boats not using explosive fuels. They can be very helpful in moving air to keep boats dry and comfortable.

Our opinion is that accidents happen when products designed for use outside the marine industry are pressed into casual use without complete consideration of their interactive problems. Be sure to do what is necessary to handle any fuels and fuel powered products you employ safely, carefully and as their design intended.

 

[DaveS]

CO used to be in vogue for suicide--when I was a teen one of the neighbors died that way in his garage.

Over the 31 years that I've been involved in emergency medical services I've been called in on quite a number of attempted and successful suicidal individuals. Most of them have been simple and with not too much planning involved, however on one occasion the fella employed a fairly intricate system in his car to introduce the deadly gas into the passenger compartment. Additionally, I've been involved in a number of accidental CO poisonings, to include kids riding in the canopy covered back of a pickup truck, and generators that were operated in enclosed garages following power outages. We transport our CO saturated patients to Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle for treatment in their hyperbaric chamber. (Hyperbaric Chamber therapy gives the ability to provide Oxygen to all parts of the body in amounts greater than possible under normal conditions. 100% Oxygen is given to the patient under increased atmospheric pressure). Recently there have been discussions in the medical community regarding the efficacy of HBO (hyperbaric oxygen) in the treatment of CO poisoning, but our focus in the field is to see that these patients reach the appropriate facility where the medical experts can direct the patient to the most appropriate care modality.

Since the title of this thread addresses heat sources for our comfortable little cruising boats, we obviously need to choose wisely and install properly these sources of heat so folks like Dr. Bob and myself don't need to intervene on your behalf when the procurement of heat becomes deadly....and don't forget to install your heating appliance in a manner so those of us that "wear firehats" as well don't have to extinguish your blaze.. :wink .