Mr. Heater Portable Buddy 9,000 BTU Propane Radiant Heater

[Corey]

My roof top tent is very warm, especially with flannel sheets and a winter weight down comforter.
But I wanted a way to heat the inside just in case the night was cold or the morning was.
Up where I like to go camping the weather can change on you very fast.

I thought about a 12v truckers heating pad made for bunks, but the bedding is already nice and warm.
I wanted a way to heat the air in the interior, and after reading many threads around the 'Net, I decided to pick up a Portable Buddy heater.

This will not be used to stay on all night, only to heat the tent up on a cold night for a few minutes before retiring, and then again in the morning if it is very cold.
I would never go to sleep with one of these running, even with its built in safety features such as tip over cut off switch and low oxygen cut off sensor.

I had taken my 5 lb "junior" propane tank to get recertified and filled up, and I noticed they carried this brand of heaters.
It was also marked 20% off, so it came out cheaper than just about any place online that I had seen it.
I had taken in the small tank to get it working properly to use with my two burner stove for the upcoming season.
This way I no longer have to use the throwaway 1 lb bottles for it.

Fired up the heater when I got home, and it works great.
They recommend a 3"x3" opening in your tent via window, and I sleep with all four windows in the Maggiolina AirLand open much more than that.

I also found a case for it at Cabelas.
http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0005701517149a.shtml#customer-product-reviews

Anyone using one of these to heat their ground tents or a roof top tent?
As mentioned, I do not plan on leaving it on all night, it would only be used to take the chill off for a few minutes.
For starters it is also too easy to knock one over in a roof top tent.

For those who may have ran one of these all night long in a regular tent, any ill effects come morning?

Links:
Mr Heaters website
Amazon and reviews there

 

[cydonia-jacc]

I like this idea but where will you put it while it is running? Would you set it on your bedding or could you hang it? A coworker of mine has the Big Buddy and he uses it to heat up his garage before he works on a project. He likes his.

 

[Willman]

There are a few threads around here that have talked about this issue...

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19075&highlight=tent+heaters

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12825&highlight=tent+heaters

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9577&highlight=tent+heaters

I think the way I'm going to go is buy a little diesel truckers heater from Espar from Lubrication Specialist

http://lubricationspecialist.com/front/showcontent.aspx?fileid=19

Scott B. and a few others have install them in their trailers.....About $1000 and your set give or take....

 

[stevenmd]

I have a Mr. Buddy heater that I absolutely love. But, yeah, I'm curious as to how/where you will mount it in the RTT.

 

[mrlocksmith]

I have one and tested it out in my OasisII RTT. I found that the unit puts out way too much heat for the small tent space, and I had to be SUPER careful not to get anything close to it like a sleeping bag as it would melt. It did not work well in my RTT.

However does work well as a space heater under my Kelty Carport Awning with the walls staked to ground. And also heats up the garage.

In my RTT, I now use a Warmlite Sleeping Bag. It is toasty warm and large enough to change clothes in.

Mark

 

[Corey]

I could set it on one of these.



It is only going to be run for a few minutes prior to climbing the ladder and turning in for the night.

If camped somewhere too and I do not have a campfire going, I bet this would keep a person warm sitting in a camp chair outside.
I generally like to have a campfire every night, but sometimes it is not feasible to start one.

 

[kerry]

I used a Mr Buddy as you intend in a 22' Travco motorhome. Quite happy with it.

 

[Corey]

Another one that I saw in one of the threads posted above was the Zodi tent heater.
To bad they quit making that, I think that one would be very cool (hot ) to use since there are no fumes pumped into the tent.

I will also get some usage out of this at home during the winter.
The power goes off for at least a day or more at a time during a bad storm.
I have used my ARB fridge and an older Dometic one running it on propane to put perishables from the freezer into to keep them safe.

I have electric heat here, and when the power goes out, it can get mighty cold inside.

 

[Corey]

PS, Zodi is still showing these with a Google search.
http://www.zodi.com/web-content/Consumer/zodihotventhp.html

 

[bronconite]

I have one of these that I bought primarily as a backup heater for when the power goes out. I did try it out a a tent heater last fall with this tent in a 2 man version http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...arentType=index&parentId=cat602107&id=0055294

This tent has a door on both sides and the fly creates a vestibule on both sides. I set it directly on the ground in the vestibule leaving the tent door open. It heats the tent really fast as you might expect. But you can't back it down enough to let it run continuously. I'd run it for maybe 10 minutes and the tent and mattress surfaces closest to the heater would get to hot.

The bottom of the heater doesn't get hot, but the surface directly in front of the heater gets very hot. I think you'd be fine using it like you described if you set it on a small table like the one that was already pictured or figure out a way to suspend it.

 

[Corey]

Not sure if I would suspend it, it might heat up the roof to much, even for a few minutes.

I am really liking that Zodi one.
Has anyone ever contacted Zodi to find out why they are not offering it anymore?

Here is a review on them and a shower.
http://www.4westernadventures.com/product-test-and-evaluation/77.html

 

[450 DUDE]

I use the buddy heater in the rig for taking the chill off and just leave the pilot on just in case I wake up cold.

But as said before I not so sure it would be that safe in a RTT.

ken

 

[Layonnn]

I have one. It gets super duper warm in a 3 person tent. It will not last an entire night on one 1pound tank though, kind of a pain if it's really cold and you wake up and have to change it.

I accidentally burnt my sleeping bag on it in the morning.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Dozens of nights using my Mr Heater in the RTT's over the past 3 years, no issues to speak if. They do consume alot of propane, but I run it for 30 minutes a day tops.

We don't leave it on "unattended", basically I'll turn it on 10 minutes before I climb into bed (making sure it is completely clear of any bedding), leave it on while I change and get my bag situated, then for just a couple minutes afterwards, then kill it for the night. Come morning the first thing I do when I wake is fire it up, leave it on for 5-10 minutes and everything is nice and toasty in the tent.

You do need to be careful with the placement, I put mine right on the side against the hinge setup (middle of tent), I've never been too worried about it tipping. While it is resting on a mattress, its quite stable (ARB RTT for reference). If one were worried about it tipping I would recommend using a small bungy cord between the handle of the heater and the bows of the tent.

And obviously you need to be careful with things touching it, the body of the heater is completely cool, so you can butt the back of it right up against the tent. However the grill section should not come in contact with anything. Again not leaving it unattended (while sleeping) so I don't worry about us rolling over into it. They do have a tip-over protection and low oxygen device built in and are advertised as tent-safe.

Lastly provide fresh air while operating the unit. With the tent I use it works out perfect, I can open up the side window and fold the flap just enough out of the way so that the fresh air is provided right behind the unit, seems to work just fine? The low-oxygen setup has never kicked in and we wake up in the morning

 

[kcowyo]

With all due respect to Kurt, and it's a lot of respect, I wouldn't put a heater in a tent.

I've read all about the Mr. Buddy's safety features, but to me the consequences of an accident far outweigh the single benefit. If it's so cold that a heat source is required I would suggest, and have used in our RTT, a 12v electric blanket. But that was for her, I was too hot with it on.

I'm way too old-school to ever want a heat source in or near a tent. My old Scoutmaster would have my hide...
.