Sengoku HeatMate Portable Kerosene Indoor Outdoor Space Heater for 400 sq. ft., 10,000 BTU

I have 3 of these Heaters. I’ve heard mostly problems lighting and wick longevity. After 8 years of use, both in home and out in garage. The problem isn’t the wick. The Factory Wick is excellent..!!Using this unit, it is Vitally important to maintain the wick by Not Allowing any buildup of resin. How do you do this..??All I can tell you is that every wick has a lifespan. The more the unit is used, the more often in requires cleaning and/or replacing.After each 4-5 uses, the wick accumulates resin. Allowing the resin to burn off is Key.I always transfer the unit outside or into the garage while running. Install an empty tank or allow the tank to run dry. It will totally run out, burning off the resin.After it’s cooled off, open the cage, remove the vertical tube heater, set aside. Then with nitrile gloves, feel the wick. If it’s not soft or it’s brittle the wick is going bad.At each 3 tanks fuel, i moisten the wick with a small 1” throw away paint brush. A small pan or cup of fresh fuel. Lightly wet the wick with a soaked brush. With finger n thumb, feel the wick, if the wick softens, I allow it to go down into the off position. Using a small squirt bottle I wet the wick 360 degrees. Do a few up n downs. If the wick is black n crusty. It’s either shot, or was never burned off.When you light it, if it takes more than 20-30 seconds to light 360 degrees. Wick requires replacement. I manually light my burners. Install the glass tube carefully not to disturb the newly cleaned wick. Back n forth wiggle the tube to ensure it’s seated properly. If it sounds like it spooling up, that was a good light. Pre Wetting the exposed wick is very helpful if you want the auto light function to work. I always light and shutdown the unit outside or in the garage. This is when the smell occurs. Of all my burners, the factory wick is better than aftermarket. If you clean the original wick properly it will last so much longer. When replacing the wick. Don’t take everything apart, simply remove the black lever knob by pulling straight off. Remove the glass tube. Unscrew the 5 screws around the bottom. Don’t take off the heat shield, sparked etc. go right to the wing nuts to remove the top assembly and flip over n lay aside still connected. Rotate the outer wick tube to get the pins out of the forks. If it’s dry, Burnt or stuck, wiggle it using your full hand. Sometimes wetting it’s inner surface with fuel will unstick it. Once you get that tube out of the lifting forks, slide it up n out.Remove any residue from the fixed vertical cone with a scotch brite. With your new wick. Align the black line of the wick to the outer shell and carefully allow the holding barbs to punch through the new wick. It’s vital to slowly go around the wick and fully seat it perfectly. Otherwise the flame will not be symmetrical. If you damage the wick, or are not happy how it’s seated, have another wick available. You can try reseating the wick again unless overhandling caused it damage. Reassemble. Wet the wick on bench and move the up down lever. It should smoothly slide up and down fully. Test the up lock and auto retract system. If all appears good, flip the previous removed top burner assembly. Tighten wing nuts gradually. Like a car tire. One nut, the opposite nut, then the other two. Half turn each randomly until the top burner is seated. Using your wet brush, fully lube the wick. Retesting up n down.Put the cage in place and the outer shell top Back on. Inspect the heat shield. Take pictures with you phone as you disassemble so you can look back at everything if needed. Fill the tank n let sit n hour. You’re good to Go. The start system is flawed. It usually only works on a brand new burner. So if your not comfortable hand lighting, this burner is not for you. My first time, it was a bit nerve wracking. But after several wick replacements, it take me 20 minutes start to finish. Key to success is wick health, starting outside and especially shutting down outside. When at temp, it catalyzes and vapor. I use a home air purifier and humidifier. It filters the air well. Only use in home if you have average air leaks to keep co2 ppm low. Never use in a small mobile home. I use mine in my tiled kitchen and it heats my entire first floor. I leave my air handler on circulate. Keeps air moving and fosters convection.

Of course you will need K1 kerosene! I went to a local big box store and got 2.5 gallons for $20 which was a pretty good buy I think. Amazon does have kerosene, but the weight, what it is and shipping costs (wrapped into the price even if you are a Prime member) make it too expensive unless that's your only alternative. Anyway, this heater is PERFECT. I did have one of the large round kerosene heaters, but I live in a mobile home - lived for 5 days without electricity during the February 2021 Texas blizzard. At that time I did not have heat, lights, a way to cook/heat food and since then, I have become prepared. The original kerosene heater worked WAY too well - it would have worked in a larger house, but my house, being a single-wide mobile home, it was just putting out too much heat. This one that is "one-sided" makes more sense - it heats my living/kitchen area well. I did "prime" this heater by putting in a few cups of kerosene and burn out the "new stink" so the first time I lit it inside it was a quick and easy lit with no after-smell. If you want to be prepared for days without electricity, get this heater! Price is reasonable, it is fairly lightweight and easy to fill. Last thing - I am older with arthritis in my fingers and wrists, so while this heater came with a syphon pump to transfer kerosene from its container to this heater's pull out container - I just can't do it long enough to fill anything. I purchased an electric syphon separately and would recommend it to anyone who want to get the filling done and over with so they can get the heater up and running fast. Just a suggestion. Again, get this heater!

I purchased one of these last year. Great heater! Bought another one this year.A lot of bad reviews are easily fixed by simply changing the wick before you ever use it. The factory wick is not worth the trouble. The wick pictured above was also purchased through Amazon and is a high quality wick made in the UK.Changing the wick is pretty easy. I folliwed the instructions carefullythat came with the new wick.NOTE: the most difficult part was removing and reinstalling the "wind deflector" on the heater. It would have been much easier to use a couple of screws to connect the pieces together rather than the tabs. You'll see what I'm talking about if/when you replace the wick. I ended up using some electrical tape to hold the two pieces together. Works.If you use the FACTORY wick I believe it's fair to say you won't be happy and then you'll have a kerosene soaked, smelly mess to deal with.If you change the wick before first use you'll be pleasantly glad you did.And YES, there is some kerosene odor when you first start it AND when you shut it off. Get used to it. No kerosene heater is without it in my experience.We use our heater typically when daytime temps are in the 30's and nightime temps are 20's or lower. The heat pump just cannot extract enough heat from the air at those temps to keep the house warm.

The HeatMate HMN-110 is one of the best kerosene heaters currently on the market. This is our second one of this model to date and it performs just like the first one bought more than 10 years ago. As long as you keep the wick clean, start up is easy. The chimney design of this model is what makes it great. This allows for the complete burn of the fuel resulting in no smell. This heater is an excellent choice for supplemental or emergency heat for your home.