The DuraHeat DH2304 is a 23,000 BTU Convection Kerosene Heater that can heat up to 930 sq. ft. The DH2304 has a 1.9 gallon internal fuel tank that provides enough fuel to burn 9 – 12 hours depending on the wick height setting. Many people find that the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater is an excellent choice for alternative heating in homes that use expensive heating methods such as electric heat. The DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater also provides a good choice for back up heating during winter power outages such as those caused by ice storms. A severe ice storm in many cases can cause enough damage to the power lines that some people will go for days or even a week without power. The DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater can provide the heat you need to remain comfortable in your home and avoid costly damage from having your pipes freeze. The DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater is much handier than a wood stove as it does not have to be fixed in place taking up room when not in use and the fuel for it can be stored in a couple of five gallon jugs vs. a woodpile in the yard and another woodpile under cover to keep an ample supply of dry wood. You also do not have to worry about cleaning the ashes out of a DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater and the hazards associated with the disposal of ashes.
To use a DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater for heating you will need to buy the heater, a five gallon blue plastic container for kerosene, and a siphon pump for transferring the fuel. Many people make the mistake of buying a battery operated pump thinking it will be easier but when you do the reliability suffers with troubles like dead batteries when you need them and even failure of the pump. The siphon pump is easy to use with just a couple of squeezes to start the flow then when the heater is full unscrewing the cap to break the siphon and stop the flow. Never overfill the heater it can be dangerous and cause a risk of fire, if you overfill the heater reverse the siphon pump and pump the excess back out before lighting the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater. You should also keep a couple of spare wicks on hand that will fit your heater and a couple of spare igniters as well. The DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater’s automatic ignition system uses 2 “C-cell” batteries for easy lighting but the heater can be lit with a match as well.
The fuel selection is very important and only 1-K Kerosene should be used in a DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater. Never use a fuel other than 1-K Kerosene! The DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater manual states the fuel should be clear but in the US 1-K Kerosene has a red dye added because fuels that are used for purposes other than motor vehicle fuel are dyed red showing the road taxes have not been paid on the fuel. The dye in the 1-K Kerosene does not present a problem when used in the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater except for staining of the components. Kerosene is available in three different ways for sale. The first and most expensive is in sealed metal containers, which offers the highest purity fuel at the highest cost. The next would be from a dealer which buys it in a 55 gallon drum and dispenses the fuel out of the drum, the price will be lower and quality may vary somewhat. The last method and the cheapest is purchasing kerosene from a dealer that has large underground storage tanks and dispenses fuel from a pump. With the underground tank there is an added risk of water contamination but this is easily averted by tilting the container and drawing fuel from the bottom of the container into a clear container where the water will separate and the fuel can be put back into the original container for use with only a small occasional loss which is disposed of.
To operate the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater it is as simple as filling the heater with fuel, then waiting 60 minutes for the wick to soak up the fuel. Once the wait is over you simply turn the knob all the way up, open the door above the knob, and push the ignition lever while watching through the door for ignition. Once the wick ignites, release the igniter lever and move the burner knob from side to side to make sure the burner is positioned properly on top of the wick adjuster. After 5 – 7 minutes adjust the height of the wick using the knob so the burner flame is set at the correct level per the manual. Too high a flame produces smoke and soot, while too low a flame can produce carbon monoxide and odors. The first time you use the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater you should light it outside or in a well vented area as oils used in the fabrication of the metal parts burn off and produce odors. In use you will find the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater to be very clean burning with a slight odor when first lit or, when it is shut off. You need to maintain a clear area around the heater and you should have a carbon monoxide detector in the home. The heater has an automatic safety device that automatically shuts the heater off if it tips over and a large wire guard to prevent contact with the hot surfaces of the heater. Properly used you will find the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater to be a safe economical way to heat your home.
The DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater will require periodic maintenance which the manual covers well. One of the things you will have to do is a dry burn when the wick gets a build up of carbon on it. Dry burning restores the wick to new condition by burning off the carbon. Another is cleaning the wick assembly. These will be the common maintenance items that you have to perform to keep your DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater running properly, these steps are covered in the manual quite well and they are not difficult. At some point during use the wick may become damaged from water in the fuel or, no longer respond to dry burns. When this happens the wick requires replacement with a new wick. Use only the wick brands and model numbers specified in the manual for your DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater. The replacement you will find is quite easy requiring only a flat screwdriver, pliers, and a plastic bag to accomplish. The wick the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater uses is one of the easiest wicks to replace as it locates using 3 pins on the wick avoiding time consuming measurements.
You will find the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater to be an excellent choice for saving money as well as a backup heating source in the event of an emergency heating need.
You can check out and purchase the DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater at Walmart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot.
If you have any questions or, comments please post them below, I will reply.
Re: DuraHeat DH2304 Kerosene Heater
How many btu’s are given off at the “low” setting? I can only find max out of 23k BTU’s for the high setting.
Thanks
Hi Randy,
There will be some variation on the lowest level that can be attained.
Basically there is a minimum flame height for clean burning and if you go below that the heater will produce soot, smells, and CO gas. Due to slight variations in the unit, fuels, atmospheric conditions the low setting will have variations and it is not listed.
Redwood
Is it possible to save fuel by burning at a lower level? I will be using this unit (only) to heat a van during cold weather when trying to make sure that equipment inside my van doesn’t freeze. I don’t suppose it’s too hard to heat a standard size van. I am also curious about two other things:
How much does the kerosene generally cost?….and
Is the an automatic safety device that shuts the unit down if it produces to much carbon monoxide or other chemicals harmful to humans? I DO NOT WANT THIS! I cannot have the unit shut off during the night, allowing equipment in my van to freeze. Any info would be helpful. Thank you!
Steve Miller
Hi Steve,
I’m going to say I’m more than a little fearful of your using a large kerosene heater in this application.
1.) The DuraHeat DH2304 is designed to heat over 7,000 cu ft of space so unless you have a tractor trailer for a van you are into severe overkill.
2.) The kerosene heater requires clearance between the heater and combustibles to prevent fire which in the confines of a van is next to impossible to attain.
3.) The heater does not have a shut off device for CO gas but when operating at a low level improperly burning the level of soot produced would certainly have you washing the soot off the windows in the morning. Also CO gas is a flammable gas and at elevated levels fire or explosion may result. Also your customers may not want soot stained, smelling carpets installed.
4.) You have more than a few flammable glues and solvents you also store in the van which will be too close to the heater.
I would encourage you to find other means to heat your van.
Possibly a small electric heater you can plug in at night that has smaller clearances to combustible items, is designed for a smaller space, and only blows hot air out of it so there is not a fire hazard.
Parking in a heated garage at night, or setting up heat in the van using a block heater and auxiliary heater in the van.
Hopefully I’ve succeeded in talking you out of your plan,
Redwood
Hi. Do you have a suggestion for a heater that could be used to keep an unattended cabin from freezing up in the event of a power outage? The cabin is uninhabited much of the time – a weekend place in the country with no neighbor to check in, and where the power occasionally goes down in a storm, etc. My sense is that most kerosene heaters require some adjustment upon ignition, so I’m assuming they don’t typically come with an auto-ignition that kicks in at a preset temperature. Any models out there that do have auto-ignition? Any suggestions you have will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Kirby
Hi Kirby,
I’m afraid I don’t really have a good answer for you as almost every back up heating system I can think of would require some sort of human intervention or, electrical power to bring it into action. Kerosene heaters such as this would require you to both light it and refill it after 8-12 hours of operation.
The suggestions I can offer would be back up power either in the form of a backup battery powered interruptible power supply that is large enough to provide power through the outage, or a standby generator with automatic starting and auto transfer. Neither of these would be inexpensive and given the fact that this is a cabin outages may be prolonged making batteries unfeasible and generator fuel a concern. Using the same fuel for the generator as you use for heat may lessen this as a concern, diesel if you use kerosene or, fuel oil, LP or, natural gas are all possible fuels for a generator.
Another possibility that probably is advisable for any unattended building is an alarm system that will provide notification to you of power outages, and low temperature in the building. Even with power the heating system may have a failure and this would let you know a problem exists. Of course if the cabin is too far away for you to travel to it in a timely manner you will need to have someone local that can deal with the problem for you.
I hope these suggestion are helpful to you,
Thanks for posting your comments,
Redwood
Hi, what is the difference between the DH2301 and DH2304?
Hi Alejandro,
I cant say for certain what the difference is except that it is an older model and the specifications are the same.
I’m sure the changes involve safety components I do not have the information available to me. When the model was dropped so was the information.
Redwood
I purchased a DH2304 for heating my garage when I work during cold temperatures. Didn’t use it frequently, but thankful I had bought it when our heat pump failed recently. It has kept our 2,000 square foot home comfortable when overnight temps dropped into the teens. It actually becames too warm at times when daytime temps reach the forties.
I generally agree with your review. My DH2304 has a listed fuel capacity of 1.67 gallons which easily lasts 9 hours, but I don’t believe 12 hours is possible. I don’t want to try that either while heating the home as that much time may approach the the dry burn period thereby causing carbon monoxide & higher levels of soot. I also don’t agree that kerosene is economical, particularly for long term use. Packaged 1-K kerosene sells for $7 – $10 per gallon in my region, depending on package size (locally, a 5 gallon can at Home Depot sells for $42). I haven’t found a distributor that dispenses from 55 gallon drums. K-1 at the pump sells for $3.299, so even at that price, my cost is approximately $.61 per hour. I do use an additive with a vanilla scent to combat moisture & reduce odor; that works well.
Hi David,
They are indeed a great backup heating unit to have when the main heating unit for your home can’t operate due to either problems with the unit or, something like an ice storm knocks out power for an extended period of time. Your heat pump failure could have been very costly if the pipes in your home had frozen while the heating was out of service.
You are right the economy of the unit is dependent on the energy costs for kerosene and whatever energy runs your heating system. In my case the electric baseboard with $0.27 kw/hr was pretty steep and the kerosene was lower than it is now. When you look at alternative fuels the energy costs of each always has to be weighed as the energy costs fluctuate. Right now my kerosene heater is a back up heating method waiting to be used in an outage where it will save the day.
Redwood