If you own an RV, camper, or boat, no doubt you have noticed that cooking inside warms up the interior. Doesn't matter if you are using a built in stove or a free-standing camp stove. On cooler days that can be an asset but on warmer days it just makes things worse. Some RVs now offer exterior kitchens for additional options for cooking outside. Cooking outside can be fun and convenient as well as reducing unwanted heat (and odors) inside. On colder days, cooking inside is probably more comfortable and helps warm the interior. The same thing, of course, applies to cooking at home, but the affects in an RV are usually more noticeable. However, never use a cooking stove for general area heating -- in your RV, camper, boat or at home. It simply isn't safe!
When a camper or boat lacks a heater or furnace (or the furnace goes out at home) it is often tempting to use the cooking stove to heat the interior. Never a good idea! Cooking stoves are not designed for area heating, although they usually do warm up the room or compartment they are in when being used for cooking. Gas stoves can put off toxic fumes such as Carbon Monoxide (CO) as well as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and water vapor. They also consume oxygen so they can cause suffocation even if you aren't poisoned by the CO or CO2. ALWAYS use adequate ventilation when cooking with a gas stove. NEVER use a cooking stove just for area heating! When you are cooking you are usually paying some attention to the stove and only use it for a short time. When using it for area heating it is WAY too easy to forget about it and that can have very dangerous consequences, including fires, illness, and even death from toxic fumes or suffocation when the stove uses up all the oxygen in the interior space or fills it with carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is invisible, tasteless, and odorless to you can't detect it without special equipment. Gas stoves should be vented to the outside, but even then some of the fumes will drift around inside putting you and your environment at risk. Electric stoves may not have the same risks of toxic fumes or oxygen depletion but the heating elements are NOT designed for long term area heating. Attempting to use them for that is likely to result in burning out the elements and possibly causing a fire. They also use a lot of electricity. Just watch the meter spin sometime when you are using one. And electricity costs money, sometimes a lot of money!
If your unit has a cooking stove but no space heater and you need to warm things up, use the cooking stove to boil some water to make hot drinks. Then turn the stove off. The stove will provide some warming to the interior while you are heating the water and then the hot drink will help warm you from the inside out. Maybe heat up some TV dinners or bake a pie if you need more heat for both you and your unit. But do not just run the stove unless you are cooking on it! They are simply not designed for long term unattended operation!
Why is it OK to use your stove to cook but not heat? First of all, cooking is usually limited to fairly short amounts of time while space heating is often needed continuously. Secondly, you are more likely to notice adverse conditions or reactions while you are actively cooking than you would doing other activities, especially if you are relaxing or sleeping! A third and most serious consideration with gas stoves is that the exhaust from furnaces exits through a stove pipe or side vent directly outside while the exhaust from cooking stoves goes directly into the interior atmosphere you are breathing! People are mostly used to opening appropriate windows or vents for
adequate ventilation while cooking but we are mostly accustomed to
furnaces and heaters whose combustion takes place in a sealed
compartment that is always vented outside so folks are likely to forget to provide adequate venting, especially if it is cold outside and you want to keep the heat in. In any case, gas cooking stoves will create lots of toxic fumes which can be extremely dangerous and even fatal! In addition, furnaces get their air from the outside and cooking stoves use the same air you are breathing. The flames consume oxygen and quite a number of campers have suffocated when using gas-powered appliances in a closed space without adequate ventilation. Usually opening a couple of windows about an inch on opposite sides or ends of an RV will provide enough ventilation for lanterns. I would use more if I were using a stove. Properly installed furnaces use fresh outside air for combustion; cooking stoves use the same air you are breathing! Want to bet whether the flames or your lungs will get any available oxygen out of the air? Not something I would bet my life on for sure! (BTW, the flames would win and you would lose -- combustion is a lot more efficient at using oxygen than our lungs are).
If you need auxiliary heat in an RV, camper, or boat cabin, get a heater properly rated and configured for your application. There are catalytic propane heaters designed for indoor use that can usually be used safely in RVs, tents, and campers if used appropriately according to the manufacturer's instructions. Use of propane heaters in boats is not recommended but I have seen people do it. Should there be any propane leak, propane is heavier than air and will accumulate in the bilge creating a hazard for explosion. The small, self contained propane cylinders that screw directly to the heater are designed to re-seal themselves when removed, reducing the chance of a propane leak and I have seen people use them in reasonable safety on boats. Permanently installed propane appliances have gas lines and fittings that can get loose or damaged and leak so they are strongly discouraged on boats. Boats often take more of a beating out on the waves than RVs do even on rough roads, increasing the risk of gas leaks. There are no springs or shock absorbers on boats! In addition, weather resistant RVs have more natural ventilation than waterproof boat hulls so fumes are more likely to accumulate, especially down in the bilge where gasoline and propane fumes will settle.
Electric heaters are usually pretty safe to use in just about any indoor environment. The only downside really is the need for a significant amount of 120 volt AC power. I have seen a few 12 volt DC heaters but they don't provide a lot f heat and their power consumption draws down RV, camper, and boat batteries pretty fast. Electric heaters are not too appealing for use on boats. Water and electricity don't mix! A little water in the bilge might be a nuisance under normal circumstances but add an electric heater and you could get electrocuted! Also, the added weight of generators or solar panels and battery banks sufficient to support an electric heater usually discourages use on small boats where weight is critical.
When using any heater or furnace do it safely. Permanently installed heaters or furnaces in RVs, campers, and boats will be properly installed in cabinets that ensure adequate ventilation and sufficient clearance between heating chambers and surrounding structures. Never use furnace cabinets for storage! The units require a certain amount of air circulation for both efficient operation and safety. When using space heaters be sure to place them far enough away from walls, cabinets, furniture and other combustible materials so they don't pose a risk. Avoid putting any heater near curtains, drapes, clothes, towels, blankets, or furniture that might fall onto them or get drawn in by air movement. Indoor rated portable propane heaters usually have an automatic shutoff if they get tipped over. For optimum safety make sure your portable heater does have shutoff switch or secure the heater so it cannot get tipped over. If your unit has permanently installed furnace make sure all vents are free from blockage and all the duct work is free from being pinched or crushed. Avoid hanging things in front of air outlets or air returns. Any unit equipped with propane powered stoves, ovens, or heaters should be equipped with both Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) sensors to alert you if either of these toxic gases exceeds a safe level. Most CO2 sensors also react to the presence of propane in the air. Also monitor the air for the smell of propane. To be safe you should also use CO and CO2 sensors when using portable gas powered appliances inside too. Propane itself is odorless but the commercial propane we purchase has an nasty smell added so we can more easily recognize leaks. Permanently installed furnaces usually isolate the combustion chamber from the interior but portable units do not. Some are equipped with automatic shutoffs to shut off the propane when the burner goes out. If you ever use a portable heater that does not have an automatic shutoff and the burner goes out you should smell the propane fairly quickly and should shut down the heater and ventilate the area immediately before attempting to relight the heater. Yeah, you might lose some of that heat you want, but better to lose the heat than your life!
Cooking stoves should not be used for heating residential spaces either. True, your cooking stove will heat up the kitchen a bit while your are cooking, but it is not designed for space heating. Gas stoves emit dangerous fumes. Furnaces are vented directly to the outside, cooking stoves are not. Cooking stoves should only be used for short periods of time for cooking and used with proper ventilation. Electric stove elements are not designed for being used continuously for long periods of time and could short out if you try to use them long enough for area heating. A burned out element can be expensive to replace and could cause a fire! Extended use of high wattage stoves could also overheat supply cables and cause a fire some distance from the stove.
Stay warm -- and safe!
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