Anyone using portable buddy heater?

[catmanriff]

We tried one for our beach camping trip in the QS 10. It worked well but did have a subtle odor to it. Ours ran for about 6 hours on a one lb propane tank.

Am I missing a way to heat the trailer when there is no hookups?

[jamie]

I have one, the 9000btu size and used it a lot in a tent. Can't say how much time I get out of a tank because it was only used for 15-20min at a time just to heat up before bed or in the morning. (I did fall back asleep one morning with it on, it was off an hr or two later) I have an adapter to hook it up to bbq type tanks but always use the 1lb type. I know the coleman type tanks fit better but I use the kind you get for plumbing because they're generally cheaper. The swivel the Buddy heater has allows the longer plumbing type to fit.

I think it's a pretty good little heater. Never had the low O2 sensor kick in so unsure if it works. I know it turns off when it's tipped over. It starts easy, heats up quickly and compared to some propane heaters I've used at work it's pretty efficient. One added bonus about bringing 1lb propane cylinders is you can use a plumbing torch tip to start a campfire and a propane lantern gives much better light than an electric one in my opinion.

One thing I remember is that there's different versions, like indoor and outdoor. The one I bought at Canadian Tire was listed as outdoor use only but it was on the American Mr Heater website as indoor OK. I've used it indoors with no ill effects. Even used a special air tester borrowed from work (MSA Altair 4x)and other than a little rise in CO, nothing. (You see more CO walking beside traffic). I'd use this in a smaller semi-enclosed space with confidence.

Never noticed an odour (other than a burst of artificial fart when changing the tank), have you used it since? Maybe you had to burn off oils or residues from the manufacturing.

[DavidM]

I am encoraged that your tester only showed minimal amounts of CO. I have used both the Mr. Buddy and the Olympian, both hooked up to 20 lb tanks and they work well. But I think I would only use them for morning and night time  before bed. I would rather not sleep when one is on. Better to use sleeping bags or heavy blankets if it is cold.

David

[pjcd]

I picked one up in a yard sale, $5. I've been waiting to check it out.

[idlerockfarm]

I used one before bed and in the morning in my QS6. It got to 29 at night. I doubt I'd camp colder, maybe with a ceramic heater and power.

[Pinstriper]

We tried one for our beach camping trip in the QS 10. It worked well but did have a subtle odor to it. Ours ran for about 6 hours on a one lb propane tank.

Am I missing a way to heat the trailer when there is no hookups?

If you have no hookups but have batteries and propane and the propane furnace, you are good to go.

Without that, and no hookups for AC, you can't run a ceramic heater, which is our first choice. It nicely handles any temperatures that aren't so cold we shouldn't be camping anyway without winterizing.

So a Heater Buddy can work. I use one in the unheated barn when I'm working on stuff down there. But...

You have 2 worries. CO buildup, and O2 depletion. Either can kill you. In a tent camper, that's maybe - MAYBE - easier to deal with because the thing isn't really sealed all that well (neither are the CL hardsided trailers but comparatively...) But you still want to be sure of ventilation, and if you're asleep, how can you be sure your CO detector is still working, and do you even have a way to measure low O2 ? Either way such sensors will be battery powered, and fail, leaving you dea....er....non-living.

So be careful.

[catmanriff]

We cracked a couple window vents and ran a 12v fan so I wasn't worried about co2. Maybe it needs to be burned in.

I wonder if a double 12v battery parallel setup into an inverter might run a ceramic

[DavidM]

I wonder if a double 12v battery parallel setup into an inverter might run a ceramic

It won't run it for long.

Two 6V golf cart batteries in parallel (the best for lots of capacity) holds about 12 x220 = 2,640 watt hours. A ceramic heater on high draws 1,500. So it will last less than two hours and probably closer to 1 hour at the high amperage draw.

A one pound propane cylinder holds about 18,000 btu. Those batteries above, which weigh about 140 lbs, hold about 8,700 btu. Stick with propane.

The foregoing is why electric cars don't get much range compared to fossil fueled cars despite using high energy storage lithium batteries.

David