EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

[Mikerodrig27]

Hey guys,

New to the site. My wife and I have been camping out of the back of our truck for a while going around North America. I'm going to be doing reviews here and there on products that we've used. Here's a couple that I've done so far:

http://treepottravels.com/edgestar-fridge-2/

http://treepottravels.com/mr-heater-mh9bx/

http://treepottravels.com/truckbedcamping/

Let me know what you guys think!

[noelectricplease]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

I did like the heater and left a comment.

[noelectricplease]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

OH - the truck bed design is great !

[James.]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

I have a ladder rack on my truck that I am toying with the idea of simply throwing a tarp over to use as a tent when I am camping alone.

[noelectricplease]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

OK ! I am not picturing this ladder thing with a tarp. Could you explain more? Which way is the ladder on the truck and how big the tarp? Some women collect shoes, I collect tarps......

[James.]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

OK ! I am not picturing this ladder thing with a tarp. Could you explain more? Which way is the ladder on the truck and how big the tarp? Some women collect shoes, I collect tarps......

No ladder, just the ladder rack.


The tarp would have to be big enough to go over the sides of the rack and either use bungie cords to hook it to the bottom of the truck bed or tie it to steaks in the ground. And long enough to cover the back of the truck and wrap around the front of the ladder rack. I would think it would be better to bungie it to the bed because it would help keep the wind in.

If I get some time later I will try and draw a picture of what I am thinking about.

[tplife]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

1. The fridge uses an unholy amount of juice! 2. Mr. Buddy heaters (or the Wave series) are clearly the way to go for safe portable heat. 3. AFA the golf cart battery system, a couple of AGMs would do the same work for a lot less space, weight, don't require battery boxes or venting, and are safe for use inside of occupied spaces. Golf cart batteries are, well, a bit 20th-Century, eh?

[MacGyver]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

I'm real curious how you use a Buddy Heater in a confined space like that. The manufacturer recommends 30 inch clearance over the heater and 24 inches in front. I have the Big Buddy heater and, even on low, I don't even let anything get that close to it. In fact, I made a small stand to get it off the floor of my tent because that was getting too warm for my comfort.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

What a luverly fridge freeze....what have you stored in it past Pepsi:D? How many meals before it emptied?

[Bigdog57]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

I have this one ("Buddy Jr.) and the Big Buddy - both are very good. The big one holds two bottles of gas and can run twice the time on low. It has a higher Max output, better for larger spaces. The big one is easier to work, having all functions in one knob rather than the separate starting button. I use the small unit in my hunting blind, a 4'X4'X6' box structure well ventilated, and the two big units in my home. I like them a lot.
Some prefer the Olympian Wave 3 heater, but it is more expensive. So the Buddy does have competition, but in a very different price range.

[gr8brew]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

I just scored a Mr. Buddy heater, Coleman Powercat heater and 7 1lb fuel cylinders on craigslist. All for $45 bucks. Both heaters were only used to test. the seller was moving back to Hawaii, Lucky him lucky me.

[Mikerodrig27]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

1. The fridge uses an unholy amount of juice! 2. Mr. Buddy heaters (or the Wave series) are clearly the way to go for safe portable heat. 3. AFA the golf cart battery system, a couple of AGMs would do the same work for a lot less space, weight, don't require battery boxes or venting, and are safe for use inside of occupied spaces. Golf cart batteries are, well, a bit 20th-Century, eh?

How do you figure the fridge uses a lot of juice? The heater is safe so long as the dial doesn't get stuck on you. There have been a few occurrences where it has happened again since the review.

AGM technology is great. In fact that is what I use for my starting batteries. They are great because they get charged right after they start the truck so I can expect a long life out of them. It's also nice to not have to deal with corroded connectors due to a faulty charging system.

That being said I haven't heard too many good things regarding the AGM deep cycle batteries. I think wet cell still rules in that category. Look at all of the off grid, golf cart, zamboni setups that require deep cycle and you will usually see a wet cell. I used to maintain a fleet of golf carts for a upscale marina and AGM deep cycles were used in the GEM carts that they had. They also had different golf carts with wet cells. The AGMs lifespan was not that impressive when compared to the wet cells that we had in normal golf carts. Keep in mind these were even plugged in every day. If an AGM battery goes completely empty, they don't come back from the grave like a wet cell does. Wet cells are also a great deal cheaper.

I'm not sure if battery boxes are required in this situation. You need a way to keep the battery stationary but no more than that. There are a lot of holes and passages that allow air to circulate (this can work against the heater at times) and I've never had an issue with gas build up in the camper area. Keep in mind, while AGM batteries are advertised to not release any gasses, they still do just less. When maintaining wet cell batteries, you need to make sure your charging system is not going to boil them over. Mine are bone dry on the outside and the connectors look like new.

I'm real curious how you use a Buddy Heater in a confined space like that. The manufacturer recommends 30 inch clearance over the heater and 24 inches in front. I have the Big Buddy heater and, even on low, I don't even let anything get that close to it. In fact, I made a small stand to get it off the floor of my tent because that was getting too warm for my comfort.

We keep an eye on it. We don't fall asleep with the heater running. Usually if we run it for about five minutes it will heat up the area enough to where it is tolerable. So I guess you can say that we are definitely going outside of the manufacturers safety specs. We also keep one of the windows (the one facing the cab) open to vent any carbon dioxide out while we're sleeping. When the area is warmed enough, we turn the heater off and hang it on a hook we installed from the roof. The top of the camper does get hot but there is no sign of discoloration that would hint that things are starting to burn.

We can't lift the heater off of the bed so we set it on a wood board to keep it off of the blanket. We had a night where the weather was forcasted to be 8*f out and it actually ended up being -20*f out. We were very lucky to have that heater that night.

What a luverly fridge freeze....what have you stored in it past Pepsi:D? How many meals before it emptied?

You can fit a surprising amount of things in that fridge. Usually there is no organization with that style fridge. You just pile things in there. We can get about a weeks worth of food in there easily.

[Mikerodrig27]

Re: EdgeStar 43QT freezer and Mr Heater Portable Buddy Review

1. The fridge uses an unholy amount of juice! 2. Mr. Buddy heaters (or the Wave series) are clearly the way to go for safe portable heat. 3. AFA the golf cart battery system, a couple of AGMs would do the same work for a lot less space, weight, don't require battery boxes or venting, and are safe for use inside of occupied spaces. Golf cart batteries are, well, a bit 20th-Century, eh?

How do you figure the fridge uses a lot of juice? The heater is safe so long as the dial doesn't get stuck on you. There have been a few occurrences where it has happened again since the review.

AGM technology is great. In fact that is what I use for my starting batteries. They are great because they get charged right after they start the truck so I can expect a long life out of them. It's also nice to not have to deal with corroded connectors due to a faulty charging system.

That being said I haven't heard too many good things regarding the AGM deep cycle batteries. I think wet cell still rules in that category. Look at all of the off grid, golf cart, zamboni setups that require deep cycle and you will usually see a wet cell. I used to maintain a fleet of golf carts for a upscale marina and AGM deep cycles were used in the GEM carts that they had. They also had different golf carts with wet cells. The AGMs lifespan was not that impressive when compared to the wet cells that we had in normal golf carts. Keep in mind these were even plugged in every day. If an AGM battery goes completely empty, they don't come back from the grave like a wet cell does. Wet cells are also a great deal cheaper.

I'm not sure if battery boxes are required in this situation. You need a way to keep the battery stationary but no more than that. There are a lot of holes and passages that allow air to circulate (this can work against the heater at times) and I've never had an issue with gas build up in the camper area. Keep in mind, while AGM batteries are advertised to not release any gasses, they still do just less. When maintaining wet cell batteries, you need to make sure your charging system is not going to boil them over. Mine are bone dry on the outside and the connectors look like new.

I'm real curious how you use a Buddy Heater in a confined space like that. The manufacturer recommends 30 inch clearance over the heater and 24 inches in front. I have the Big Buddy heater and, even on low, I don't even let anything get that close to it. In fact, I made a small stand to get it off the floor of my tent because that was getting too warm for my comfort.

We keep an eye on it. We don't fall asleep with the heater running. Usually if we run it for about five minutes it will heat up the area enough to where it is tolerable. So I guess you can say that we are definitely going outside of the manufacturers safety specs. We also keep one of the windows (the one facing the cab) open to vent any carbon dioxide out while we're sleeping. When the area is warmed enough, we turn the heater off and hang it on a hook we installed from the roof. The top of the camper does get hot but there is no sign of discoloration that would hint that things are starting to burn.

We can't lift the heater off of the bed so we set it on a wood board to keep it off of the blanket. We had a night where the weather was forcasted to be 8*f out and it actually ended up being -20*f out. We were very lucky to have that heater that night.

What a luverly fridge freeze....what have you stored in it past Pepsi:D? How many meals before it emptied?

You can fit a surprising amount of things in that fridge. Usually there is no organization with that style fridge. You just pile things in there. We can get about a weeks worth of food in there easily.