Boy, It is Cold Outside!

[whitestar505]

All,

    I have heard over an over about the Mr Buddy Heaters. Will they help in the home? Where is a good place to buy one? Six degrees is cold, anyone for camping.

[campingboaters]

While I don't own a Mr. Buddy heater, I don't think I would take one into my home.  I wouldn't use a kerosene heater in my home either.  Maybe I'm wrong, but the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is much greater with a kerosene or propane burning heater than with say an electric one.

 
And yes... it is COLD today and going to get colder still tomorrow, I believe.  When winter finally came, it came HARD!  I'm thinking warm campfire thoughts to get me through it until camping season starts again in April-May.

[mike4947]

While I don't make it a practice to use one, I do have a 22K btu Corona catalytic kerosene heater and a couple of old Coleman fueled mushroom catalytics on a shelf in the garage. They have saved saved our bacon on several occasions over the years when the power went out with temps near zero.

We start them outside as most all catalytics have a little smell to them till they get up to temp. That and using common sense on placement and ventillation make them a viable alternative to frozen pipes and frozen humans.
 
As for in the PU, I've used the Coleman's when the battery got to low for the furnace to run. With the same provisions, starting it outside and having ventillation. They were made to be used in a tent.
As for a Mr. Buddy, I'm not in favor of using any unvented heat source catalytic or otherwise as the primary heat source, and the Mr. Buddy isn't even a catalytic.

[Calstate361]

We don't own a "Buddy" but I have considered purchasing one for "just in case" times.  Over a year ago, at the first NCC rally at Bodega Bay here in California, we were dry camping and had run our battery down.  We went to town and purchased another one and proceeded to drain that one also.  Well, to make a long story short, we found out after the second battery went dead that we had a short which caused the problem.  Our good friend and fellow NCCer Ab Diver (Dave) loaned us his Buddy and we were nice and toasty all night.  Otherwise we would have packed up and gone home.   Now, California temps are no where near some of the temp you other folks back east get, but it did the job nicely.   We also kept a small crack in the window for ventilation, just in case, even though the "Buddy" is also made for use in tents.  Around here they run from 75-$100.   If you can get past the cost, I think they are worth it.

Anyway who's talking about not camping?  We camp all year round here in CA, in fact, some of our fellow NCCers are camping this coming weekend!  Wish we could join them, but can't.  We are going through withdrawal because we usually go, at least, once a month, but have not been camping since October.   That is WAY too long.
 
Joan

[calstate360]

We don't own a "Buddy" but I have considered purchasing one for "just in case" times. Over a year ago, at the first NCC rally at Bodega Bay here in California, we were dry camping and had run our battery down. We went to town and purchased another one and proceeded to drain that one also. Well, to make a long story short, we found out after the second battery went dead that we had a short which caused the problem. Our good friend and fellow NCCer Ab Diver (Dave) loaned us his Buddy and we were nice and toasty all night. Otherwise we would have packed up and gone home. Now, California temps are no where near some of the temp you other folks back east get, but it did the job nicely. We also kept a small crack in the window for ventilation, just in case, even though the "Buddy" is also made for use in tents. Around here they run from 75-$100. If you can get past the cost, I think they are worth it.
 
Anyway who's talking about not camping? We camp all year round here in CA, in fact, some of our fellow NCCers are camping this coming weekend! Wish we could join them, but can't. We are going through withdrawal because we usually go, at least, once a month, but have not been camping since October. That is WAY too long.
 
Joan

Oh Boy A new toy I can buy that she want's too.
 
Sal

[griffsmom]

Brrr, are you right!  It must be about 72 here today.  :eek:  I'm going to go put on a sweater!! (We Southern California natives have thinner blood than everyone else around the nation!) :p :cool:

 
Good thing we're in for a warm-up this weekend--looks like it could get about 78.

[2manytoyz]

Oh, it may be a few degrees colder here now, but we gotcha beat during the Summer for heat!

The big plus is our water actually WARMS UP.  

[griffsmom]

Oh, it may be a few degrees colder here now, but we gotcha beat during the Summer for heat!
 
The big plus is our water actually WARMS UP.

You may be right, but ours is a dry heat....

[JonesFamilyJayco]

I have a Mr Buddy heater that I mostly use for camping, but have used in the house during power outages.  It uses a low oxygen sensor that will stop the flame if ventilation is poor.  I use a battery operated CO monitor in my camper & it has not detected elevated levels of CO.  I feel as safe with this product & it has really made cool weather camping more comfortable.

[whitestar505]

All,

   Surprised I have not heard more about the Buddy Heater. I ordered one and it should be here today. Depending on who you listen to, the temp will be around 5 degrees at 5 PM tonight. Our record is -2 degrees for today and tomorrow. I wonder if we will break it? Hopefully I can get that heater working right away to meet the chill.

[vjm1639]

All,
 
Depending on who you listen to, the temp will be around 5 degrees at 5 PM tonight. Our record is -2 degrees for today and tomorrow. I wonder if we will break it? Hopefully I can get that heater working right away to meet the chill.

Did you hear what our wind chill should be tonight???  We're just below you here in Northern VA..and they're saying -20!!   THAT'S COLD!!!!!
 brrrrrrrrrrr  
 
Still looking forward to the big RV show in this area on Saturday and dreaming of camping!!!

[garym053]

Wind Chills of 15 or 20 below??? The temp at my house this morning was 25 below!! The HIGH Temp today was 8 below. Right now it's 20 below, expected to get about 30 below overnight and the wind is supposed to be about 20 to 30 MPH by morning! Possible wind chills of 60 below or more!!! It's even too cold for me to go XC Skiing!!
I could go for year round camping & kayaking in sunny Flordia. It would be really really easy to convince me right now!
Tonight and tomorrow morning should be the WORST of it though, so hopefully everyone up here in the frigid North is safe and warm tonight. AND be very careful if you have to head out anywhere tonight!

[vjm1639]

Wind Chills of 15 or 20 below??? The temp at my house this morning was 25 below!! !

Wow, THAT'S COLD...it was a balmy 6 degrees on my deck this morning!    ;>

[AustinBoston]

Sure looks like I left the Northeast just in time...out here in Minnesota, we're expecting temps near 30 (above), and have had a total of about 8 inches of snow so far.

I thought coming out here was going to get me in winter trouble.  Looks like I just escaped!

Austin