I need to work in my unfinished, uninsulated attic several hours a week. There’s no electricity up there, so I need a non-electric source of heat during the winter. What are the pros and cons of the different types (propane? kerosene?), also taking safety into consideration?
I don’t know the whole answer but people die every year because of carbon monoxide poisoning from space heaters. The problem with carbon monoxide poisoning is that it destroys judgement first and makes it likely that the person will not know what is happening and just slowly die in a stupor.
A malfunctioning space heater wiped out a whole roomful of my fellow college students when I was at Tulane. They also pose a serious fire risk as well. Most of them don’t have any problems of course but you should be aware of those deadly risk factors before you get one.
I would invest in extension cords-heavy gauge extension cords-and an oil filled electric space heater.
I tend to agree - the hassle of wiring a suitable electric supply is probably less than the hassle of safely using a gas or liquid fuel heater.
What exactly needs to be worked on in this attic with no electricity and no heat? I’m assuming no lights either? Sounds fishy…
To play devil’s advocate here, I used a kerosene heater for months in Japan and suffered no ill effects. Apparently they’re very commonly used in rural Japan, where central heating is all but unknown. I did have to open the doors every three hours to ventilate (which, of course, negates some of the heating effect, but anyway…) Is your attic so ill-insulated as to have natural cross-ventilation? If not, you could always open the side windows or vents.
(YMMV, IANAHVAC specialist)
To play devil’s devil’s advocate, I’d worry about a vapor barrier and carbon monoxide.
The insurance company will say, “If the Pope were using that heater up here we wouldn’t pay.” 
You know the little voice that says, “Man, I wouldn’t do that shit” when you’re thinking about something? The little voice is right. 
It’s very common in urban areas as well. Electricity is expensive everywhere in Japan, and kerosene heaters are much more economical. I’ve used them for years and never had any problems. Mind you, I’m talking about modern microprocessor-controlled kerosene heaters like this. There are no exposed heated parts where you can burn your fingers, and they burn very clean - no noticeable odors. But I have no idea where you’d find one in the US. (Or where to get the kerosene - in Japan, just about every gas station has a kerosene pump for this purpose, and there are delivery services as well.)
I’m pretty sure carbon monoxide is odorless.
The attic is *totally *uninsulated; the ceiling is the bottom of the roof, and on a windy day you can feel a breeze, so I’m not worried about CO buildup, except on a totally calm day. I do plan to install a few battery-operated CO detectors, just in case. So bearing all of this in mind, is there any practical difference between kerosend and propane?
Availability?
I’ve used both Kerosene and Propane heaters to good effect in a similar situation you describe. A shed with no insulation that wind blew right through.
I preferred Kerosene because there were no canisters to deal with. At the same time it was pretty easy to spill Kerosene when pouring it from a full five gallon tank. Overall I think I’d go Kerosene.
My take is Kero has more of a odor (normally during startup/shutdown), liquid fuel has a spill and ignition risk, but easier to get fuel. Also they come in 2 sizes, 10,000 btu radiant and 23,000 btu convection heater, they operate at full heat, you can’t set it to lets say half level and expect a clean burn.
Propane is cleaner burning, adjustable BTU output, I feel it’s safer, though you wouldn’t want a major leak, the LP tank is a bit of a PITA, and more expensive as LP gas cost more per unit energy.
YOu will also want to decide on a radiant vs. convection heater. Radiant heaters heat solid objects (like people), great in drafty places, convection heaters heat the air, more comfotable unless the air blows away.
Cheap, poorly adjusted, badly managed kerosene heaters can smell really bad in my experience. You get that “burning petrochemical” smell, just strong enough to keep you awake at night wondering if the house is on fire. If you do go with kerosene, get a decent one, and pay attention to the instructions.
I’ve used kerosene heaters which are common in Sicily. I recommend Aladdin brand which uses a blue flame, although there are many other very good heaters.
Um, how about dressing warmly enough so you don’t need to attempt to heat a whole draughty attic (which is to say, attempt to heat the whole of NE Ohio)? If that’s not enough, insulate it.
So the studs are all exposed? Then it should be real easy to add a few electrical outlets up there. And from an open attic, pretty easy to fish a cable alongside a plumbing vent pipe and down to the basement or wherever the main circuit panel is located.
So do that. It’ll probably take less than a day to do this, and you will have made a permanent improvement to the house. As well as made it real easy to use an electrical heater up there.
I’m not seeing the logic here. You can buy a heavy duty extension cord for less than $20 and an electric heater for about the same. You’re proposing to buy a kerosene, or propane heater and CO detectors, both of which will cost a great deal more than the electric option.
Unless you’ve left out something, it doesn’t make much sense.
BTW, I once nearly did myself in w/ a kerosene fired catalytic heater in a pickup/camper rig.