Feedback requested about a few things (kerosene heater; vendor satisfaction; other products))

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I am looking for some feedback about the following:

Sengoku Kerosene Heaters - These are starting to appear in a few of the stores. They prominently display y2k on the box. Has anyone here used them? If so, please give your assessment of how well they work; any problems; overall quality; anything noteworthy...

Vendor satisfaction - My specific question has to do with how satisfied have people been who have ordered items through Jade Mountain? I had called and requested some additional product information be sent to me about a month ago. The person I spoke with was going to send it out 'right away.' Haven't received anything to date. Granted, I wasn't a paying customer when I called, but I was a _potential_ customer. Trying to find out if this is typical customer service for them or if it was just a fluke.

Other products - I have still been going round and round about a few other items:

Recommendations about flashlights or solar lanterns appreciated. (We do have some oil lamps and oil, but will need something for outside at times, as well.)

Recommendations for water filters appreciated also, as well as any further detail about how to keep them working in cold/freezing temps. (Saw someone post something about a particular type not working in freezing temps for obvious reasons-- maybe not obvious for me, aside from the thing turning to ice-- anyone that cares to clarify this?

If the kerosene heater thing doesn't work out, other alt. heat recommendations? (I do have some alternatives on a list, but was hoping maybe something new would turn up if I asked.)

I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but these are likely my 'bigger ticket' items for purchase. Thanks in advance,

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999

Answers

In regard to Jade Mountain; it has been years since I bought from them (I try to deal with a local retailer of solar and wind energy products and keep the money closer to home) but at that time they were about the same as the rest of the larger mail order dealers. Now, though, all of these people are going nuts trying to deal with the extreme increase in business, mostly people who call up and expect a complete education in alternative energy starting with basic electricity, and then 99% of them never buy anything. Lots of people out there not doing their basic homework of reading some books and catalogs before calling the dealer, and this makes it hard for any of the dealers to find the time to deal with people with real questions that might require some research before answering. Don't give up, but give them the benefit of the doubt- Jade Mountain is probably swamped with questions. Energy fairs are really the place to get questions answered, but it's too late to go to any this summer (as far as I know). Flashlights: we bought an LED flashlight for $35 at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair this summer that has 3 white LEDs, uses 3 D-cell batteries, and is great. We use nicad rechargable cells- the heavier ones that are around $7 each at Radio Shack, and they aren't dimming yet (in use since late June on one charge.) A small LED flashlight using AA batteries, along with a couple of sets of Nicad AA cells, and a small $30 solar battery charger, the kind that has the battery holder in the back and you put in a sunny window sill for a couple of days to charge the batteries, would keep you in light for years. The LEDs aren't quite as concentrated a light as the regular flashlight bulb, but it is a nice almost bluish white light. I don't have any links to LED info handy, but OddOne posts here sometimes about LEDs and he has infor on his webpage. No ideas regarding kerosene heat, we have wood heat (always have, probably always will) with a woodburning furnace, cook stove, and space heater. Good luck.

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.

Jim,

Hey, you brought up another thing-- the solar battery recharger! Have you used the solar recharger during the winter? Any comments on how that worked/didn't? (I think we're "climatologically compatible"... )

Thanks

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.


Getting spacey-- was the solar recharger also from radio shack or did you get it from the MW renew energy fair, too? Do you have a brand name you could reference for both the re-charger and the LED flashlight that runs on the D cells? (The only LED flashlights I've seen advertised run on AA). And, I have been in touch with OddOne about LEDs; know I can't make an LED flashlight from scratch-- also had gotten the impression that 3-LEDs wouldn't put off enough light, so was encouraged to read about the LED flashlight you mention...

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.

The LED lights depend on voltage, not on the cell size. If an LED runs on two AA cells, it will run equally well on two D cells. AA, B, C, D are all 1.5 volt cells, just some have more total power than others. That is, a D will put out 1.5 volts longer than the AA will.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), September 02, 1999.

I purchased a 10,000 BTU "no-name" kerosene heater last December. It is very simple to operate. 2 "D"" batteries starts it up. It runs for about 6 1/2 hours at the high setting on one fill-up. Don't forget your oil lamps give off some heat. I hope this info helps.

-- mwerks3 (mwerks3@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.


Thanks bw for the clarification. There's a lot of things I don't know (obviously!). I reached the wrong conclusion about the batteries making a difference because somewhere else I read someone was unhappy with the light output of a group of 3 leds-- and OddOne also stresses that in the case of leds 'more is better.' Although I could be putting words in his mouth. Then when I read about the D cells flashlight and LED combination, I thought perhaps that was the difference. Drew the wrong conclusion. Appreciate the input.

mwerks3 - Thanks for posting your experience. I'm glad to hear you had good fortune with your no-name kerosene heater. Do you know how long the wicks are good for burn-time-wise before they need to be replaced? Did you have any problems getting spare wicks?

What other spare parts should people get if they buy a kerosene heater?

Any good fuel storage solutions out there? (I hear tell they're going to make me change my handle to 'questionbox'...) ;-)

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.


Our little solar recharger is about 3" by 6" and has an enclosed compartment on the back for 2 AA cells. No name on it except it says"Solar Power Pack" on a small label on the back of the battery compartment. Got it at the energy fair a year or two ago.

The 3cell D cell LED flashlight is a big yellow one, and since my son has it with him on a trip out to the west coast, I can't tell you what brand it is. Bought it from a fellow from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis St Paul, Minnesota area) named Greg Lynch who specializes in solar cooking- he does some workshops at the energy fair.

We charge the bigger nicads in either a regular charger running off AC house current or an old Radio Shack one that plugs into an automotive cigarette lighter outlet, that runs off our large solar panel battery array.

As "bw"mentioned, the difference in the AA or D cell flashlights will be in how long the LED lights before the batteries are dead- I am told 4 weeks with alkaline D cells, with a 3LED light like mine--that is 4 weeks left on all the time. So I would think that a small AA flashlight would give light for a week if left on, and if you used it only occassionally and used nicads, the nicads may self-discharge before the using them with LEDs discharged them.

Sorry I can't come up with name brands- If I find more info I'll post it.

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.


Forgot to answer your question about winter charging. It works okay, just have to be sure to put it in a south window instead of just about any window, and be more careful about aiming it at the general position of the mid-day sun. Still takes a couple of days to get a good charge, but we usually have enough nicads around that we always have some in the charger and a couple of charged up sets to use.

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), September 02, 1999.

ww,

Westergaard (www.y2ktimebomb.com)has on their site a series of Y2K Tips of the Week columns. Click on Tip of the Week, then choose Past Tips of the Week. Tip #70 by Jim Lord describes vent-free gas heaters. Combustion is so complete they produce no carbon monoxide and require no electricity. Fuel is natural gas or propane and requires a simple hookup. Sorry I don't know how to link.

-- Jill D. (jdance@mindspring.com), September 02, 1999.


I had a similar experience with Jade Mountain, and someone here (Sparks... has anyone seen him post here lately?) recomended Backwoods Solar. They are extremely helpul and prompt, and their web page has a ton of information on solar systems. Good luck.

-- Bob (bob@bob.bob), September 03, 1999.


HI: I bought a solar battery recharger from Emergency Preparedness www.beprepared.com and the thing works well on the common rechargeable batteries Ive bought at Walmart. Charges 2 AA's in about an hour. Havent tried it during the winter. This is an item that costs less than 20$, and Id really recommend 2, just for a back up or for lots of batteries to recharge. Im very pleased with mine. Model ES 879 charges AAA, AA, C,D and some prismatic batteries (what are they, anyway?) but not 9volts as far as I can tell.

-- LauraA (Laadedah@aol.com), September 04, 1999.

re: LED flashlights. I spent all afternoon surfing the web for info and suppliers of both the readymades and do-it-myself's. The LED's start at $2.67 each and one site listed them for $4.95. Buyer beware!

The ready mades are available as "Tech-Lite", "Photon" and a very common and sturdy brand is "eveready". These use from 1 to 3 WHITE LED's and are powered by one "AA" to 2 "D" cell batteries. Do a web search on " white +LED +flashlight " I use "WebFerret" to look for this stuff.

Prices range from $14.95 for a keychain light that uses a watch battery to a rare earth unit that you shake for a minute and it lasts for 5 minutes of light. The 1 to 2 "AA" powered flashlights run $19.95 to $39.95 so do some shopping.

These lights are great for these reasons. Old alkaline batteries that are nolonger producing "white" light from a filament bulbed flash can be used in these for a long time. Almost no heat from these flashlights and the white light is easiest to read by.

Hope this helps on the flashlight question. On the heat issue, natural gas and propane are the safest ( other than a wood stove, properly vented)indoor sources of heat and light. Byproducts are carbonDioxide and water vapor and no smell ( which effects my wifes allergies)

God Bless everyone.

-- Richard Bloom (rfbloom@uswest.net), September 05, 1999.


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