KeroHeat KeroHeat CTN-110 Portable Kerosene Heater

You don’t see many of these heaters anymore these days. I grew up with three Aladdins in my family. Two still work after 32 yrs at my parents place. But no stoves or parts are made anymore. It’s really a shame.

In my home, I used a small Enviroheat 11000BTU kerosene heater. A combination of the hand crank and impossible wick replacement finally lead it to the junk heap. And this is the only modern “floor model” kerosene stove I’ve seen. You’ll find three different manufacturers all put their name on this same model stove. Sengoku is actually the original maker….all other just import it and put their brand sticker on it.

When you first fill up the cartridge tank, you will notice a dark oil already inside there. This is normal and mixes with kerosene fine. I assume it’s just something to keep the tank from drawing in moisture as it sits for long periods.

Be sure to let the first full cartridge tank set for about an hour. This lets the wick soak up the kerosene fully and evenly for the first time. The igniting method is just great. I’ve used the round crank on older heaters all my life. This simple “lever” style igniter is just great. Push the slider all the way down, you’ll hear a buzz and see the stove ignite. Then simply let go. The slider will return the the “high” position. A slight push up and the flame will go 1/4″ down to the “low” position.

It puts out quite a lot of heat. Moreso than my previous 11000 BTU I think. But now this leads me to the only “drawback” of this stove. If you’ve had experience with kerosene heaters, you’ll know that some have a blower built in. Other models like the Alladin could be outfitted with an external blower attatched to the top of the stove. The Sengoku doesn’t come with any internal blower. I had planned on using one such external blower on it. But just below the top “shelf” of the heater, just above the lamp, there’s some kind of metal (carbon?) plate. This plate dampens most of the heat going to the top of the heater.

Now, on one hand this is good. Keeps all the heat coming from the front of the heater. And while the top is still hot,it won’t melt your skin off if you touch it like older heaters would. But the major drawback is an external blower, putting a fan behind the unit, or anything else like that has little effect. But nowhere does the manufacturer say that you should put accessories or blowers on their unit. Nor do they claim to have an internal blower. So this “drawback” is more about my general expectations than a fault of the product itself.

The backside of the heater is cool. The sides are even touchable, although the front edge of the sides are a little warm. But from the handles back, you’re cool to the touch. I would be careful not to put this in a “tight” place. At least leave a little room on the sides. It really just begs to be pushed up against the wall and between your furniture b/c it’s only about as wide as a surround sound receiver. But do be careful with your placement.

It has a manufacturer’s warranty and contact information card is the first thing you see when you open the box. Every part number is found inside the manual. I know Ace carries the wick for this heater b/c they sell this heater with a different brand name for 20 bucks more. I’m not sure how the part numbers match up, but they definitely have it. Search Ace’s website for kerosene heaters and you’ll see this one.

The manual also has very detailed info on wick maintenance so please read it. It needs to be done with every new wick at least a few times, or you’ll have to change it every season. So far I’m very pleased with it’s performance and price.

Update 2019: Most owners of this probably know what a jammed up wick is like. Using pliers and screwdrivers to coax the wick up and back down again. So, I wanted to put in an update here about the wick maintenance. You will come to a point where the wick will not lower down anymore. Usually this is because of carbon buildup. It needs to be burned off a couple times a season at least. Doing this once a month should keep it slippery smooth. But at least do it when you start to feel resistance in raising the wick.

Run the tank completely dry, and ya it will stink a bit. You need to take the heater outside or somewhere well ventilated. Take the lamp off and relight the wick. This will prolly produce black smoke but let it burn until it goes out. Wait about a half hour and do it again. The black smoke should last less and less everytime you do it. Repeat this, and eventually you will come to a time it will no longer light. Then take some needlenose pliers and squish the wick. This will break up any leftover carbon still there. You can even do the squishing between burns.

Anyway, this makes more of a difference than you might think. And using a screwdriver to raise it is dangerous and silly. The wick holder that’s held on with four wing nuts is actually two pieces put together with a felt seal. Being to forceful will pull the pieces apart and expose the seal. Not that I’ve actually got mad enough one time time to tear the pieces apart with a screwdriver or anything >.>.

Reliable emergency heaters for well-ventilated areas! I purchased two of these: good, cozy heat and the units are very solid and stable. I like being able to turn them on or off with a touch of a button. There will always be a little “puff” of kerosene smell turning them on and off, but this is to be expected with a kerosene heater. The smell dissipates quickly & is very faint once the unit gets going. Highly recommend.

C’est un chauffage de secours en cas de panne électrique, je n’ai plus confiance en Hydro-Québec et cela va servir à coup sûr pendant les pannes d’hiver. Je l’ai essayé pour voir son efficacité et c’est étonnant la chaleur produite par cet engin. Je le recommande!

The unit will heat a room, but there is a strong smell, and I stopped being able to get it lit after awhile. It takes batteries, so I don’t know if the issue was that the batteries died quickly or what the deal was. I was hoping it would be able to be ignited manually without the batteries, but I never could make that work. Seeing I have electric heat, I wanted a unit like this for back-up in case of prolonged power outage in the winter, but if I’d needed it, it would have failed me, anyway, not being able to get it started. Maybe if the user has extra batteries on hand, it would be okay, but if relying on it in case of emergency, the user would do well to test it out from time to time beforehand to make sure it’s still working.