Bill Litwin, according to his LinkedIn page, has had several distinguished careers. He is a Navy veteran, flew for Pan Am airways, and has owned several companies.
In the seventies he traveled to Japan to negotiate becoming the U.S. distributor for a kerosene space heater, widely used in that country for many years. In the beginning, he sold this product out of his small hardware store in Connecticut until it grew into a $100 million dollar business.
According to a New York Times article published in 1985, several unfortunate factors converged to bring about a swift demise to this prosperous company. Competitors began importing their brands, the winter was unusually warm that year, and Consumer Reports ran a review warning against the use of these heaters. They claimed that the heaters emitted dangerous fumes and were a fire hazard.
The parent company, Toyotomi of Japan, is still in business today and kerosene space heaters are still widely used in that country. According to a Japanese Heater safety website, electric space heaters have caused a higher number of injuries and deaths than kerosene ones.
How clean a heater burns depends directly upon good maintenance and clean fuel.
I bought one of these heaters in the early eighties and used it for several years in the early Temples. The orchid plants, highly sensitive to emissions and ethylene gas, thrived. I became a factory authorized serviceman for KeroSun, and sold and serviced these units at Greenacres True Value Hardware where I was employed at that time.
Recently, I found an Omni15 model on Ebay, and was pleased to acquire this heater very reasonably. This unit will provide some fine heat this winter in the Temple.
I found a wick badly in need of replacement, wiring that had become disconnected from the ignitor, and the need for a good cleaning.
The new wick is in place. Fortunately, parts for these heaters are readily available.
The heaters were able to obtain UL listings in spite of the claims of Consumer Reports.
Here is the finished product. I wrapped it and carefully put it away until the weather cools down.
