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  [Aroid-l] Heaters, vented & otherwise (was "Anthurium")
From: Steve Marak samarak at gizmoworks.com> on 2006.11.21 at 23:46:56(14818)
The topic of combusting greenhouse heaters without external venting came up at
an orchid society meeting a couple of years ago and the older, more experienced
growers unanimously issued dire warnings. Most said that their orchids didn't
die, but dropped flowers and leaves and generally ailed until they vented their
heaters externally or switched to another heat source.

I've always assumed this was due to carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion,
since that's always a concern when burning things indoors, and since I've
read/heard many times that carbon monoxide damages plants at very low
concentrations. I have no idea what the chemical mechanism would be and for
some reason find it counterintuitive, but it seems to be so - dying plants is
often listed as one of the things to watch for when a carbon monoxide problem
is suspected.

But I've seen a lot of these self-venting greenhouse heaters advertised, and
I've used a portable kerosene heater to heat my sunroom, one winter until we
could get the failing house system replaced. I was meticulous about everything
to get the most complete combustion I could, used the heater the bare minimum,
and kept two carbon monoxide detectors nearby, and didn't see any problems.

If there are people with experience here, I'd love to hear from them - I need a
non-electric backup heat source for a new structure.

Steve

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