Wee little propane heaters - comparison?

[madpogue]

We're looking to sleep in the bed of our pickup (with fiberglass topper) in a coupla weeks; it's expected to go down into the 20s-F. Looking at one or another little propane heater that runs on a 16-oz can, and I'm confusded. The two major players are the various Coleman ProCat, SportCat, etc. and the Mr. Heater Little Buddy. The Coleman heaters are catalytic, which AFAIK means no flame, but it consumes oxygen in the space. The Mr. Heater unit appears to be a radiant heater, and I _think_ that means it burns with a flame, but supposedly it's a complete burn with no CO emission.

But I haven't found a single site that compares them, wrt. efficiency, CO emission or general safety. The Mr. Heater product is self-starting, and the Colemans are a mix of self-igniting and match-lit.

So what are the advantages/disadvantages of the two types of heat, and of the different types of ignition? Anybody know of a site out there that compares them side-by-side?

 

[tommu56]

The mr buddy burns the air too the only thing that won't consume O2 will be a vented heater.
I have a rm buddy for my cabin and use it in the bathroom to take the chill off for showering.

I've slept in the back of many truck for hunting and fishing and never used a heater just bundle up it is heck getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning. (the more people in there the warmer you will be):laughing:

One of the most important places people forget to insulate is insulate under neath your body.
card board will work but stack it up about 1-1 1/2' thick.

The other thing besides the carbon monoxide problem would be some thing touching the heater and catching fire all the flames are open with a metal grid to keep you from touching but paper or nylon sleeping bag would melt for sure.

tom

 

[SPIKER]

the radiant heaters could in theory be put outside the camper ans shine though a window.

ALL of them will produce Carbon Monoxide (deadly in a confined space.) There will also be CO2 from the people sleeping in there. If they are burning cleanly you can use them under moderate conditions a sealed up pick up cap is not a good space for one though. A better choice is the radian heater placed outside shining in if you have clear glass in itl Even leaving the tail gate down with it shining in will help but will still have issues with the orderless tasteless gas slowly choking ya...

If you have electric available that will be much safer. or you can heat up a slab of steel to warm the area. also if there are a couple few of ya in there there will be some body heat to help. best bet is a GOOD sleeping bag...

also toss in a 4x8 sheet of styro-foam insulation board. works great! also takes care of the ridges in the bed, been there done that.

Mark

 

[madpogue]

Thanks for the reply, man. Yeah, I've heard the same thing about the bottom of the bed being the important thing to insulate. We're actually fixin' on blowing up an air bed, so that should do nicely.

And all the heaters I've seen, they say NOT to run it while sleeping, so the plan is to just run the thing 'til the space is nice and warm, and then shut it off and tuck in. Maybe get up in the middle of the night once to re-fresh the heat.

Any ideas for insulating the bed sides? Something that'll be safe with the heater?

 

[tungularafishcamp]

We use one of those thick blow up queen airmatress' weither in the truck bed or in the tent on the snow and it works great to stay warm. We also have the larger size little buddy (get a hose and hook it to a larger bottle) and use it to warm things up before going to bed and before getting out of the bag in the am but NEVER during the night asleep. Also get 2 bags that zip together:thumbsup:
Have Fun!!!

 

[LakeRat1]

The Mr. Heater Little Buddy is a great heater, i have 3, but i would not want to go to sleep in the bed of a truck with one of them lit. unless you had made some kind of shelf to make sure nothing get near it, it will burn 6 hr. on low if i remember right, we have 2- 8 x5 and 1- 5 x 5 deer blinds that are tight, and we have no trouble other than anything in front of it gets hot, on Low not to far out, but on High out about 3 Ft get warm, they also have a saftey tilt over switch, There is a lot of heat going up also, so you could not have it to near the top of the camper shell, be Careful

 

[tommu56]

again on the sides card board would work

We use to have a 2' plywood wide board across the truck bed laying on the cap flanges with some 2x4 reinforcement and would put alot of stuff up on there above our feet the rest would be in the cab we even had a 3rd person sleep on it one time but that guy was short.:laughing:

tom

 

[madpogue]

No need for the hose, since (shhh, don't tell no one...) I refill the 1 lb cans from the 20 lb tank, so it's the same cost to run either way.

Good to hear the positive Mr. Heater feedback. What favors the Mr. Heater in my mind is that it has both a tip-over AND an oxygen depletion shut-off. The Coleman doesn't mention whether it has these or not.

I still haven't figured out whether the catalytic heat is inherently safer, or if the radiant is plenty safe enough. I'm reckoning the Mr Heater is plenty safe; you're not hearing of fellas keeling over from them in their shanties, etc.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

We leave the tailgate open with the heater on it, glass closed so it keeps it away from s bags and such.
So did you find the trick of putting the 1lb cans in the freezer before you fill them, they get a lot fuller that way.
Rick

 

[madpogue]

We leave the tailgate open with the heater on it, glass closed so it keeps it away from s bags and such.

So the heater sitting on the tailgate, head pointed inward, is enough to heat the space? Doesn't the open tailgate let out too much heat?

So did you find the trick of putting the 1lb cans in the freezer before you fill them, they get a lot fuller that way.
Rick

Yup; what seems to work best for me is: fill it once (get about 10oz in), put in fridge (or outside on a cold day), fill again. That usu. gets me a 15-16 oz fill. CAUTION: chilling/freezing the canister can allow yout to OVERfill it (it'll bulge out when it warms up. Now (after doing that to a coupla cans) I tare weight the can before filling and weigh again after, to make sure I don't overfill. I retired the bulge-y cans I overfilled.

BTW (oh-oh, hijacking my own thread!), is your 20-lb tank a new OPD (overturn protection) valve? Mine is, and it seems like when I turn it over to fill the little can, it stops working when there about 5 lb still in the tank. I wonder if an old-style valve would allow me to completely empty the tank. I take the tank to a refill station rather than an exchange, so no loss, but...

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Ya it heats just fine that way and most of the fumes go outside and its away from the stuff a little better that way.
As to the propane, I never thought about overfilling it, just thought it would take what it would hold and that the pressure was the same oops, thanks for the heads up! guess I am lucky it never gets hot here:confused2:

 

[tommu56]

I also have been refilling the 1 lb cylinders for the last 20 years.
I had trouble with flipping the BBQ tanks over I think the over fill float in the tanks causes problems getting the liquid out I finally got a forklift tank that is designed to put liquid out and have been happy with that.
I did have to modify the adapter from POL to the forklift type connector by cuting the PLO off and silver soldering the adapter in side a 1/4" brass pipe nipple.

Another thing that you can do to stay warm is boil some water put it in a hot water bottle (make sure you check it for leaks before heading out) wrap it in a towel and put it in the bottom of your sleeping bag under your feet. I've even used 1L water bottles (2 or 3).

For me getting to sleep isn't much of a problem after a good day work or hunting but prying my but out in the morning is harder!

don't sleep in any heavy clothing but put your clean and dry clothing in the bottom of your sleeping bag. then when get dressed the cloths will be warm!

tom

 

[20 20]

And all the heaters I've seen, they say NOT to run it while sleeping, so the plan is to just run the thing 'til the space is nice and warm, and then shut it off and tuck in. Maybe get up in the middle of the night once to re-fresh the heat.

Folks use the little heaters all the time during winter up here in fish shanties. Like you mentioned just get your space cozy then shut it off, don't fall to sleep with it on.

 

[955er]

I have a mr. heater buddy heater (the small one) for my deer blind. The blind is 8X8 wit 7ft ceilings, windows, but no insulation. I feed the heater from a 20lb cylinder under the blind. It heats the space so well, only shirt sleeves are needed. I have had no problems.

Of course, we only hunt from that blind in the most intense weather:laughing:

 

[LBrown59]

No need for the hose, since (shhh, don't tell no one...) I refill the 1 lb cans from the 20 lb tank, so it's the same cost to run either way.

Good to hear the positive Mr. Heater feedback. What favors the Mr. Heater in my mind is that it has both a tip-over AND an oxygen depletion shut-off. The Coleman doesn't mention whether it has these or not.

I still haven't figured out whether the catalytic heat is inherently safer, or if the radiant is plenty safe enough. I'm reckoning the Mr Heater is plenty safe; you're not hearing of fellas keeling over from them in their shanties, etc.

I have a mr. heater buddy heater (the small one) for my deer blind. The blind is 8X8 wit 7ft ceilings, windows, but no insulation. I feed the heater from a 20lb cylinder under the blind. It heats the space so well, only shirt sleeves are needed. I have had no problems.

Of course, we only hunt from that blind in the most intense weather:laughing:

I had 3 of those heaters result in flash fires .
Combine that with a 20 pound tank that the shut off valved failed to shut off on and you have the makings for a real disaster.
No way would I ever sleep in a small confined area with one of those around.

 

[mbosma]

I'd be afraid to sleep with a propane heater running in a confined space. Scary.

As for the air mattress, they are comfortable, but won't do much to insulate you. The air volulme in them just never heats up. Make sure you have a sleeping bag or lots of blankets between you and the mattress.

 

[thatguy]

Not to go off topic - but may be relevent....

Arent the little buddy heater radiant heaters that dont heat the air, but only heat the objects it reaches? Woudnt you be better with a convection heater for this use?

 

[madpogue]

Not to go off topic - but may be relevent....

Arent the little buddy heater radiant heaters that dont heat the air, but only heat the objects it reaches? Woudnt you be better with a convection heater for this use?

Not off-topic at all, and in fact, one of the other things I'm confused about. That's why I've beel looking for a single page/site/whatever that compares the various types of heaters, as well as the different brands and models.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

That's y they r such good little heaters, just like the sun shinning in on you and you can have what fumes going off in another direction outside your confined space. As to the air matress' get the thick ones that get u a foot or more off whatever and then the cold doesnt transfer thru to you like it will with a pad or even a regular matress. You'all missed the best advice for staying warm tho make sure you get bags that will zip 2 together and you will stay toasty warm.:thumbsup:

 

[Skyco]

I lke the tailgate down idea for both ensuring adequate oxygen and moisture removal. Burning LP releases a fair amount of moisture as does the human body...my experience way back in trying to sleep in an uninsulated camper shell in cold weather without good ventilation was I got "rained on" all night from moisture condensing on the cold inner surface of the shell.