Peter K. lived a life of incredible luxury and extraordinary leisure. He owned a $290,000 Aston Martin.
He collected gold-plated watches worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In other words, for Peter, money was never an issue.
The son of a furniture magnate, Peter is believed to have never worked a day in his life.
But all of that privilege couldn’t save him from a tragic death.
Peter froze to death inside his multi million-dollar Upper East Side New York town house.
The absence of heat in his five-story home was something he never talked about to his few acquaintances, but according to utility company Con Edison, they knew Peter had no gas.
The utility company had known he was without gas since 2014.
The problem was that information was never shared with anyone who could check in on the 75-year old man.
When Peter took over the slender brownstone near Madison Avenue in 1974, he was divorced and battling substance abuse.
After getting clean, he split his time between New York and Florida and turned into a philanthropist, donating money to Habitat for Humanity and other causes.
He gradually became more withdrawn and more suspicious of those he didn’t know.
According to those who knew him, Peter was not the kind of guy to make a fuss or speak up for himself.
Instead, he dealt with the cold as best he could. He bought electric space heaters.
In the dead of winter, he stayed with friends at night and spent the days at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
One day, Peter’s financial adviser noticed that he hadn’t used his debit card in several days.
Bone-chilling temperatures had dipped as low as 9 degrees that week.
The adviser called police and officers found Peter’s frozen body in his upstairs bedroom.
The fact is, many people are facing freezing temperatures this time of year, but heating a home is not always cheap.
To save money, many folks look at other ways to heat their homes such as space heaters, instead of a traditional home furnace.
With that being said, with the low cost of kerosene these days, many people are turning to kerosene heaters.
So, today, I want to share with you the top kerosene heaters I would check out for heating your home.
Mr. Heater F270270. This heater is cheap to run, efficient and will warm up your space instantly so there is no long delay waiting for the room to warm up.
On a full tank of fuel, this heater will operate for about 11 hours before you need to add more fuel to the tank.
In addition, it can offer your room a fixed heat output of around 75,000 BTUs.
This means that this powerful heater can heat an area of around 1875 square feet.
The Mr. Heater comes with a 6-gallon fuel tank and overheat safety shutoff.
It is also CSA certified for safety and uses a continuous ignition for an easy start.
This heater does have a carry handle at the top, but does not have any wheels.
Dura Heat Convection Kerosene Heater. This heater is a good choice when you want a central heat source that is capable of heating a room in a 360-degree radius.
With an output of 23,000 BTUs, this heater kicks out a lot of heat and it is the perfect heater for an emergency backup heat source for winter power outages and any emergency situations where you may need a portable heater.
This heater is safe to use indoors and includes safety features such as an automatic shut off if it is tipped over.
This heater can warm a room of up to 1000 square feet and does not need an electric supply.
Heat Mate Radiant Kerosene Heater. The Heat Mate is ideal for heating smaller rooms in your home.
It has a 10,000 BTU output, which is capable of heating a room of up to 380 square feet.
For safety, the heater features an automatic shut off switch and a tip over switch.
In addition, there is a safety protection guard that is integrated into the front of this heater.
The fuel tank has a 1.2-gallon capacity. This is capable of heating your room for up to 14 hours before you need to refuel.
You can empty the tank easily thanks to the siphon pump that is included in this heater.
Plus, an easy to read fuel gauge and automatic ignition makes this a convenient heater for your home.
Kerosene is becoming popular again thanks to the fact that is it one of the cheapest ways to heat a home.
A gallon of kerosene sells for about $0.90, which is much cheaper than gasoline, propane, or natural gas.
As with any portable heater, always follow the instructions and double check to see if the heater is safe for indoor use.
Many heaters require ventilation such as a window, since they do produce dangerous gases.
Next time you are looking for a back up heater, I would definitely consider kerosene.
