heaters

[ptbrauch]

I'm looking into portable propane heaters that I can use inside my pup during cold weather.  I've seen the Coleman catalytic heaters readily available and I've seen Mr. Heaters mentioned on here.  Anyone have any experiences/suggestions/thoughts with any of these or others?

[Firedog10]

I have a Coleman Black Cat heater that I bought a fews ago. I love it. It heaters my PU very nicely. The only down fall I have found is that it only has a low and high setting. Nothing in the middle. But most night I can run it on low and it keeps it comfortable in my PU. There nice to since they are smaller in size and doesn't take up alot of space to store them.

[ptbrauch]

How cold have you camped?   I'd like to be able to use my camper nearly year round.  And with this heater, do you use the small bottles of propane or do you run it off your big tank?

[flyfisherman]

I've used both types ... the Coleman catalytic type and the Mr. Buddy radiant type. Although the Mr. Buddy puts out more heat (BTU's), it has more risk involved with it ... like FIRE. You can place a sheet of paper towel over the Coleman catalytic and after a spell it might turn a little brown where it's resting on top of the lit heater, but you try that with the Mr. Buddy radiant heater and that sheet of paper towel will instantly burst into flame.

I've had a Mr.Buddy heater since about the time they first came out (2000) and have used it many,many times and in some downright cool temps. In my book, the big danger of the heater is not CO poisoning as sometimes eluded to, but rather fire. I've seen the results of a couple of RV's that had caught on fire and they burnt to the ground ... fast!  So when using my Mr.Buddy heater, it's extra care time to where I set it and what is set close to it!  And that's not to say that I don't make sure there's good ventalation when it's in use.



Fly

[danjo67]

I had a black cat heater that gave off a stink that would not go away.  I LOVE the buddy heater.  It's clean and a lot more quiet than our PU furnace. It will also shut off in an Oxygen deficient environment.  I don't know of anyone who has been unhappy with the buddy heater.  As for fire danger, we should always be careful with any kind of heater placement.  Our  heater is placed in the middle of the counter with nothing even remotely close to the element.

[chkster]

We use the Buddy heater. Run the provided hose under the canvas to a #20 tank outside that is sitting on a table.. Heater sits on middle of dinette table when running with nothing on the table. We use the pop gizmos and reflectix in the windows and the Buddy keeps the PU nice and toasty on low setting.

[67L48]

I use a Tough Buddy (Big Buddy with a yellow paint job) and a Portable Buddy in my tent.  The tent is a 12 x 10 and the heaters work great.  They have O2 sensors in them to help prevent CO poisoning. These sensors are supposed to inhibit the heaters from operating at >7,000 foot elevations.  I recently camped at 10,000 ft with no problems.

The Tough/Big Buddy has a higher heat setting and an electric fan.  I usually only use the low setting, though.  One night it got into the mid-20s (F) and I used the mid setting all night.

I point the Big Buddy at my boys and I point the Portable Buddy at me.  Nice and toasty all night long.  The only bad thing is that the Portable will only run for 6-7 hours.  That means that I have to change a propane canister out at some point (I sleep 8+ hours).  In a tent, not so bad, because the heater is right at my head.  I'd hate to get out of my sleeping bag when the only reason I woke up was because I was cold.

Lowe's closes out its heaters in late winter (Feb/Mar).  I got my Tough Buddy for $70 and my Portable Buddy for $35.  The Tough Buddy isn't worth 2x the Portable, but it is nice to have the option for the high heat setting and the fan.

[ptbrauch]

Thanks for the information.  Now, its just a matter of what comes first, cold weather or a sale on a portable Buddy!