Buddy Heater inquiries

[isoc]

I got the Buddy Heater just to warm my tent in the morning and perhaps once in the evening, and just "in case" we find ourselves camping and it's really cold., and also for supplemental, emergency heat at home if we have electric power failure and it's winter.

It has a pilot light. Any idea how much fuel that pilot consumes? Should I shut everything down after running it in the evening, for example, and then start it up and light the pilot in the morning? Or is the "savings" so negligible as to be insignificant?

Releasing from any liability (to me), what is the advice re using the large propane tank instead of the 1 pound canister? OK for tent camping? The instructions are very explicit that this must never be done indoors. I presume the manufacturer doesn't want to be sued if I blow up my house and am injured. But if I can have my 23000 BTU Dyanglow kerosene heater in the house, and it has a plenty of kerosene in it, I don't think the large propane tank, properly connected, checked for leaks, etc., is any more hazardous than my gas furnace or water heater.

Any comments or suggestions?

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

I hook mine up to my 20# propane tank. I don't run mine at night, while sleeping, not even the pilot. I have a propane tree that set's up on top of the tank, that you can run your hose off of and have a lantern at the top. Works out pretty well.
I think your buddy heater is rated for indoors, just not the propane tank.

[Mike]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Don't worry. If your large propane tank leaks and catches on fire with you in the tent, you will never know what hit you. You will wake up at the doors to the Pearly Gates.

This is not to scare you, but just for thread fodder. I remember as a kid when I was camping with my family at a campgrounds, a pop up trailer caught on fire. It was one helluva fire from the very start, so I am thinking it might have been a propane leak. The pop up had two large propane tanks attached to it.

Everybody was screaming to keep the fire away from the tanks, but it was hopeless under those circumstances. My folks hustled us away from the fire, but we still saw the enormous fireball explosion when the tanks blew up. Actually, I don't know if the tanks exploded or if a release valve/device let go and allowed the gas to escape in a gigantic rooster tail fireball. Anyway, it was frightening and the fireball shot into the sky like the fourth of July - literally. It was a campgrounds mini version of Hiroshima. The second "Nagasaki propane tank" explosion followed right after the first Hiroshima explosion.

I have always had a certain nervousness about propane tanks ever since. I see guys pulling pop-ups with double tanks mounted near the trailer tang, just a few feet behind the vehicle. I shudder to think what would happen if they got rear-ended and those burning tanks ended up inside the vehicle. Good Night, Irene!

[isoc]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

KingQuad, I would not (deliberately at least) ever have the Buddy on when sleeping, except perhaps, the pilot. You are right, the heater is rated inside, but not the tank. I just wondered what was the actual practice, compared to the rating.


Mike, thanks for the camping "war stories"! According to a friend on the fire department, tobacco smoking is a major cause of fires, and that could have started the popup fire, too. People fall asleep at night with a lit cigarette, and that starts a fire.

The cost of the adapter line to run the heater with a regular propane tank would probably pay for a couple of years of use of the 1 lb cans, so I'm not too likely to do it, just curious.

- Ted

[MacGyver]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Bottom line for me:
»The Big Buddy heaters aren't open flame, they're catalytic. So, right there, the CO emissions/oxygen consumption is lower.
»They're rated for indoors.
»The manufacturer calls for a minimum of 18 square inches of ventilation. With all four windows zipped down half a foot and the two side vents open in my Kodiak, I've got about three square feet open. It was 9°F on my last Winter trip and 70+ in the tent, maybe low 60s when the wind started kicking.
»A soapy water test of your connections eliminates that potential problem.
»A portable CO detector with a fresh battery completes the safety setup.

Personally, I'm more concerned about wildlife getting into my tent than I am the heater killing me. And, if I was that concerned about getting eaten by a bear, I wouldn't go camping.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

I leave my tank outside the tent and use a hose ran inside. I keep my tank inside a mil crate. Easy to lift and makes it stable as well. Oh, I also but the heater on a piece of wood, so not to melt the tent floor.

[tplife]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

The Olympian Wave catalytic heaters boast the lowest emissions of any non-vented heater on the market. Here's a link to the Olympian Wave three, and a picture of the larger Olympian Wave 8:

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...y-heater/19332

[MacGyver]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Quite a few reviews that I've seen on the Olympian heaters reveal that they're very subject to fail due to dust and dirt contamination. All catalytic heaters are prone to it, but the Wave heaters seem to be more so. Not exactly the kind of thing you want to take when you're out in the woods. Although you can buy feet to make them portable, they're best installed on a wall, in a house or an RV. But even some RV owners have said they've had trouble with contamination. On top of that, they're considerably more expensive than the Buddy line. The 3,000 BTU model runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $200. That's as much as the Coleman BlackCat - and it wont heat a good sized tent in cold weather.

[isoc]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Kingquad, thanks for the idea of the milk crate, wood base and hose for camping use.

And everyone, thanks for the comments and ideas! - Ted

[toedtoes]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

I have the Mr Heater Little Buddy. It only uses the 1lb propane bottles. Like others, I never use it when I'm sleeping (I do have a CO detector). I place it in my stainless kitchen sink at the back of the clipper and face it towards the front - that way if it falls over, it won't touch anything flammable. It takes the chill out in about 30-60 minutes. I turn it on in the evening when I'm hanging out reading or relaxing, and turn it off when I go to bed. In the morning, when I get up for the bathroom, I'll switch it back on - then I'll climb back into bed and read for a while until things warm up, then I get up and get dressed, etc.

It will last about 4 hours on a 1lb bottle.

[Mike]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

I have never used any type of heater in my tent and I camp on snow and ice in temps as low as -40. However, I have considered it and I do have several of the old liquid Coleman fuel heaters that I use to heat up the garage.

$12.00 of Coleman fuel will last about 8 hours at 5,000 BTU.

Anybody know how much it costs to run a propane Buddy heater?

[Bigdog57]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Never used my Buddy heaters in a tent, but I do use a couple Big Buddies at home during the winter to augment electric heat. My household furnace failed about three years back, so I use portables. Have not used the 20lb. tanks indoors, but a lot of folks do, also inside vans. With good tight connections, not a problem. I do run the heaters all night, without problem. I do maintain ventilation.
The smaller one-tank Buddy will run 7.5 hours on low, 4 hours on high. 2-tank Big Buddy runs 16 hours on low, 7.5 hours on Medium, 4 hours on high.

[MacGyver]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

I've never done the math or run the heater on disposable bottles, but I do know that a 20 pound can gets me through a four day weekend in the dead of Winter. That's using it on high every night and a few sporadic warm ups during the days.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Completely and totally clueless about the use of propane in most any use, shape or form.

[terasec]

Re: Buddy Heater inquiries

Completely and totally clueless about the use of propane in most any use, shape or form.

propane=heat
heat is good