Portable heat

[PITBOX]

Santa left a Mr. Heater Portable Buddy under the tree for Christmas.My concern is venting in such a small TT. We plan to use it before bedtime,and when we rise in the morning.Just curious as to anyone else has used one of these.
Also,does anyone have experiences with refilling disposable propane cylinders,is it worth the hassle,or just keep buying new ones?

Thanks,

[Steve Collins]

Originally Posted by PITBOX

Santa left a Mr. Heater Portable Buddy under the tree for Christmas.My concern is venting in such a small TT. We plan to use it before bedtime,and when we rise in the morning.Just curious as to anyone else has used one of these.
Also,does anyone have experiences with refilling disposable propane cylinders,is it worth the hassle,or just keep buying new ones?

Thanks,

I have one of the adapters for refilling a 1 lb. disposable propane tank from a 20 pounder or bigger. It works, but it'll only fill the little tank to about 50% to 75% full. Without a pump you can't bring it back up to the full 1 lb.

It's a bit time consuming, but it can be done.

I tossed the adapter in the back of a drawer and bought a couple extra hoses and adapters to run that type of appliance direct off a 20# tank. That gets used a lot more outdoors.

But I am very hesitant to suggest that you run that heater inside your TT off a 20# tank. There are some loud safety bells clanging in my head.

You can use that type of heater in a TT, but you need to vent well. Not only do you want to prevent CO buildup, but you also will get moisture from the combustion and the people.

I don't think there is a good answer on this. I have a vision of adding a port on the stove to connect a heater. Probably the safest place to locate it anyway.

[dkasten39828]

We have a Mr. Buddy, but we've only used it in our popup. Since our Sunline has a furnace and our popup did not, we haven't needed it since we "moved up".

We only used it with the disposable LP bottles. It REALLY heats well. Puts out more heat than the electric space heaters do. We never ran it at night, choosing to use the space heaters and our heavy sleeping bags to sleep warmly. We did have some condensation issues but nothing serious. We did leave a 4x6 inch zippered section of window open near the heater for venting, but that's all.

[Honda03842]

I've never owned a heater like this but it does have a low oxygen sensor that automatically shuts it off if the oxygen level drops. As well if your 1979 is like my 1982 their is plenty of air leakage in the unit.

Since you only plan to use it while awake, before bed and in the morning, I suspect you will be fine.

[Tweety]

We have a Mr Heater and just keep the roof vent open an inch when running it, which we do anyway in winter. You have to be VERY careful where you sit it since anything directly above it gets very hot. ie. it cannot sit on the floor under the dinette without making the undersite of the table way too hot. We put it on the cabinet that Steve installed as a pantry, which is 31" off the floor and located pretty near the roof vent, and that seems to work without heating the ceiling up too much. We use it just to take the chill off, which it does in no time, and never use it overnight or leave it unattended.

[PITBOX]

Thanks for all the replies. It does have a low oxygen shut-off feature,as well as anti-tip.I was curious as to leaving a roof vent open,if all the heat would escape or not. The heater in the TT is a bear to light,(pizeo) and the TT is small enough to warm up very quickly.

I tried out the new toy the day after Christmas(thanks Santa)in the little Sunline,and it was suprisingly efficient. Not to the point that I walked around in Bermuda shorts and a T shirt,but after 35-45 minutes,it was warm enough to take my coat off.

Spring seems so far away.......

[markbrit]

I just bought one of these and was impressed, Lowes has them on sale for $40

[Mark]

I have a version from Home Depot...equivalent of the "Big Buddy", capable of two cylinders.

I bought it for emergency use for my parents LAST year....used it again this year.

I have a long hose adapter for my 30 LB tanks from the Sunline (which I must detach due to underground storage in the winter).

Great for emergency use, or garage heat too.

[emam]

Originally Posted by Honda03842

I've never owned a heater like this but it does have a low oxygen sensor that automatically shuts it off if the oxygen level drops. As well if your 1979 is like my 1982 their is plenty of air leakage in the unit.

Since you only plan to use it while awake, before bed and in the morning, I suspect you will be fine.

I agree with Norm. We use ours on a daily basis when the temperatures are cold as it pulls the chill out of the camper very fast and doesnt draw any electricity off our battery bank.

It has a low oxygen sensor, and we dont even crack the roof vents anymore, although it can create condensation if left on for along time, but then again all propane heat will

Another option that we plan to have installed is have a pig tail ran off our stove Propane line and left dangling between the couch and the stove right near the floor.

This way we can hook up to that and not have to waste so much aluminum with the little 1lb propane bottles. We tried refilling them, but it's very time consuming and they only fill half way, which goes pretty fast when using the Mr. Buddy daily