Quote:
Originally Posted by bmklawt
Where to find antique wall heater. Does anyone out there have or know where I might get an antique wall heater similar to the one in this photo? I know about Olympian Wave and Platinum Cats but I like the look of the old ones.
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Hi bmklawt:
That heater is in my very early
1948 Wee Wind. I may have, but can't say for sure, seen one other like it
in a photo during the past 10 years. I can't recall if the photo I
may have seen of another was in an advertisement or pictured someone's vintage travel trailer. For Airstream, these very Deco cast aluminum butane wall heaters might have been used before WW II, and were used only in some 1947 and a few very early
1948 trailers. They were quickly replaced in
1948 by a less elaborate and less expensive white porcelain oval-shaped Day and Night brand wall butane heater of approximately the same size.
These are UNVENTED open flame heaters that burn oxygen and create plenty of carbon monoxide. I never have and never will use mine; it is for show only. I do use the new Olympian Wave catalytic heaters in my everyday Airstream without worry, even all night (and have always woke up the next morning). So I'm not a fraidy cat. But these old relics you are asking about are far different and far more dangerous than a current Olympian. These oldsters work by heating two ceramic latticework "bricks" placed in the space behind the horizontal guards. The bricks are heated by an open flame from below and, in turn, radiate and convect heat to the trailer interior. Again, they burn oxygen and emit carbon monoxide, so they must be used with care and great respect, if at all.
IMHO, your best chances of finding a heater like this one are (1) in a derelict prewar or immediately postwar travel trailer or mobile home that hasn't been completely stripped, (2) by happenstance in an antique shop, or (3) perhaps in a stash of some vintage trailer restorer. I've never seen another one in person, so Best Wishes and Good Luck in your search.
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