Heater and a Tent

[grahamfitter]

Knives and fists are also non toxic and they will both kill you. Propane can kill you just as easily as a plastic bag over your head or a tub full of water. It displaces oxygen and suffocates you if the smell doesn't wake you up.

Worse than that, both propane and carbon monoxide are heavier than air and will displace the air at floor level where you're sleeping.

I have a Mr Heater Buddy which is supposed to cut off automatically. Its great but I never run it at night however cold it gets.

Cheers,
Graham

 

[Martyn]

I'm guessing you cut an pasted that from somewhere, please provide the reference. I'm sure the Center for Disease control would like to change their opinion.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/74986.html

Propane is non toxic to humans, but suffocation can cause the nasty as was said in my earlier post.

The quote was from the National Library of Medicine http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=26

Apart from the "qualities" of the gas itself you/we haven't even discussed the more pressing issues of gasses produced by incomplete combustion. CO comes to mind.

While a fully functioning correctly adjusted propane stove or heater produces carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water vapor and heat, an incorrectly adjusted one will produce carbon monoxide.

 

[VikingVince]

I am wary of running anything powered by propane in and enclosed space.. that to me just sounds like it's asking for something to go wrong, even though coleman makes good stuff. God forbid the propane leaks somehow and through a prolonged period of time breathing it in could be really harmful if not fatal. :smilies27

X2....I would never run anything capable of producing lethal fumes in an enclosed space, even if there is ventilation....something can always go wrong.

I posted this story a long time ago but will do so again: My aunt and uncle died from carbon monoxide. They lived on a farm and electricity went out. With all the garage doors open on a 3 car garage, they were running a tractor driven generator in the garage. The wind conditions were just right and blew the carbon monoxide into the house, under the bottom of the closed door to the house, and killed them.

 

[kerry]

X2....I would never run anything capable of producing lethal fumes in an enclosed space, [.

Ever use a gas stove in a kitchen?

 

[I Leak Oil]

I did some winter camping with friends a few weeks ago in Maine. Was -15F. I used my Coleman catalytic all night. Been using one for a few years now with nothing bad to say about it. It does get hot, that's what heaters do, so don't keep anything close to it you don't want melted.
Jason T.

 

[Bergger]

We never run the heater once we go to sleep. Run it for 15 minutes or so before bed and 15 minutes or so when we wake up. The sleeping bags and hats keep us warm during the night.

 

[VikingVince]

Ever use a gas stove in a kitchen?

Of course...I use one every day. What I meant and more specifically, I wouldn't let a heater (or my stove) run all night while I'm sleeping.

 

[gpwpat]

I finally got a chance to use my zodi tent heater over the weekend. It ran for about 5 hrs. 2 hrs at night while playing hi ho cheri Oh. I have young kids. Made the tent very nice and toasty. Then I ran it again for another couple of hrs to get the chill off to get the family moving in the morning. What a great piece of gear. It will make getting to go camping so much easier since there will be no more complaints from the wife or my son. Temp got down to 30. everything was covered in frost. but our bags and extra blankets kept us very warm through the night.

I can say that a heat exchanger type tent heater in a RTT is a great combo:elkgrin: I won't go caming without it now. Never know when the nights will be bone chilling.

I would be weary of a catalytic heater. I don't like the idea of direct flame in my living area. The idea of having the propane, flame, and exaust gasses outside my tent alot better.

 

[kellymoe]

We bought a propane catalytic heater to use in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Did not work. It worked fine at home but we found out that at altitude there is just not enough O2 for it to light. We were camped at a little over 10k feet. Worked fine at 7k and below. Just a word to the wise for those planning to use them at altitude.

 

[kellymoe]

Knives and fists are also non toxic and they will both kill you. Propane can kill you just as easily as a plastic bag over your head or a tub full of water. It displaces oxygen and suffocates you if the smell doesn't wake you up.

I read an account last year where a backpacker was sleeping close to a campfire and died of C02 poisoning. He was sleeping in a shallow depression 5-7' from the campfire. After the fire went into a smoldering phase in the night CO2 settled in the depression suffocating the guy.

 

[BCJC]

for those with propane heaters, do you find its a "moist heat", as i've heard propane can be, as compared to electric or wood fire of course. thanks.

 

[Big Daddy Chia]

Ok well I survived the weekend. I think my tent was to big to really make a big effect but I did notice after the propane ran out it got much colder in the tent.

 

[TheRoadie]

... zodi tent heater...

I got a Zodi on Ebay a while ago, and brought it out only once in the desert. The marine bilge turbine they use to move the air is a total jet-engine-level whiner, noisier than one of those Honda generators! Did you rig a baffle to keep it quiet, or just live with the noise?

 

[gier]

The heaters dont actualy have a flame. There is some type of reaction that gos on to make the heat. If you read the box or go to colmans web site you can read about it. The tent material is going to breath some also but I still leave a window open a little. I use mine all the time cranked up to high at some points all night. Only thing I worry about is any thing landing on the heater but my tent is huge so I just move it over to the other side. Its been fine.

 

[spressomon]

I got a Zodi on Ebay a while ago, and brought it out only once in the desert. The marine bilge turbine they use to move the air is a total jet-engine-level whiner, noisier than one of those Honda generators! Did you rig a baffle to keep it quiet, or just live with the noise?

I wonder if you could utilize a different type of fan that would be quieter? Finding one in 12V might be the challenge though...