? Portable Propane heater?

[Iflyfish]

I have just found that our furnace is not working. It will cost a small fortune to replace it and parts for it are not available. 

This got me thinking about a portable propane heater for cold nights.

Some sort of small wall mount hooked up to propane tank would be ideal but I doubt there is such a beast.

This leaves me thinking about a portable propane heater.

Anyone have a recommendation? 

 

Thanks,

Iflyfish

[PatsNook]

A brand called Camco/Olympian makes smaller propane heaters that you could consider "portable". I'm working on rebuilding my 75 Chinook and have looked into these for a heating source, you can wall mount them as well if I am correct or they come with legs/stands so they can be set anywhere long as there is a hose connection to your tank. They come in a couple different sizes and BTU ratings, could be something that works for you! 

[WME]

The easy answer is a large Mr Buddy, but you will need to open a window and a roof vent a bit for fresh air....https://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters/buddy-series.html

No idea of the cost but here is a plan B...http://www.ventedcatheater.com/

[fred heath]

56 minutes ago, PatsNook said:

A brand called Camco/Olympian makes smaller propane heaters that you could consider "portable". I'm working on rebuilding my 75 Chinook and have looked into these for a heating source, you can wall mount them as well if I am correct or they come with legs/stands so they can be set anywhere long as there is a hose connection to your tank. They come in a couple different sizes and BTU ratings, could be something that works for you! 

Be careful with camco. They outsource many of their products from China. I had 4 bad pressure regulators from them before switching to Propane Warehouse. Their customer service is outstanding, but how many times do you want to replace a defective product?

[PatsNook]

10 minutes ago, fred heath said:

Be careful with camco. They outsource many of their products from China. I had 4 bad pressure regulators from them before switching to Propane Warehouse. Their customer service is outstanding, but how many times do you want to replace a defective product?

Dang, first time I am hearing that Fred. Thanks for the heads up, I will keep that in mind. They sounded half way decent from people when I was looking into them a bit ago but I'll take your word for it if you've used them. Definitely am not looking to replace parts over and over 

[fred heath]

2 minutes ago, PatsNook said:

Dang, first time I am hearing that Fred. Thanks for the heads up, I will keep that in mind. They sounded half way decent from people when I was looking into them a bit ago but I'll take your word for it if you've used them. Definitely am not looking to replace parts over and over 

Not their fault. No problem with returns. Very responsive. But sometimes the aggravation of repetitive returns gets to you.

[WME]

Fred were the regulators DOA or did they fail after X hours.

[Derek up North]

5 hours ago, WME said:

No idea of the cost but here is a plan B...http://www.ventedcatheater.com/

 

Though they still have an active website, I heard years ago that they were out of business.

[fred heath]

4 hours ago, WME said:

Fred were the regulators DOA or did they fail after X hours.

Failed within 1-2 weeks.

[Maineah]

There are a few vented propane heaters out there but one issue is makeup air. The vented ones do get rid of CO but I don't think they have any provisions for makeup air. If you look at your camper exhaust port the center port is exhaust the outside part is the intake for makeup air it brings in air for combustion so itdoes not depleat the interior air in the camper/motorhome. 

[JaySam]

FWIW I've been using a Camco Wave 6 in my truck camper that I live in for the last 2 years and it's been great with no issues. I use it daily in the late fall/winter/early spring and it's always been good. You do need a window cracked for a source of fresh air as the combustion process burns oxygen, but it doesn't produce any noxious fumes because it's a catalytic conversion not a process of burning fuel. It also has a low-oxygen safety shutoff so if oxygen does get low the unit will turn itself off. It produces radiant heat so it feels more like sitting in front of a fire than just having warm air blown on you, and actually heats up the material around you and not just the air. The only reason I'm going to upgrade to a furnace in my new rig is the ability to have a thermostat, if you don't need that I'd say a Wave heater will do you just fine.

 

Also I would strongly recommend against using a Mr. Buddy heater in any enclosed space; they use an open flame for heat and it does produce a lot of toxic gasses from the combustion. More than 1 person has died from using them in an enclosed space, even one that isn't very air tight like a tent. They also smell terrible and would always give me a headache. I started with a Mr. Buddy and quickly upgraded to a Wave 6, the buddy heater was horrible for a camper.

[Flyinby]

On 4/9/2020 at 7:45 AM, JaySam said:

Also I would strongly recommend against using a Mr. Buddy heater in any enclosed space; they use an open flame for heat and it does produce a lot of toxic gasses from the combustion. More than 1 person has died from using them in an enclosed space, even one that isn't very air tight like a tent. They also smell terrible and would always give me a headache. I started with a Mr. Buddy and quickly upgraded to a Wave 6, the buddy heater was horrible for a camper.

The tiny open flame on a Mr. Buddy heater is a safety  precaution, besides being a sort of pilot light.  If oxygen gets low, the flame gets too small (or goes out) to generate the small current necessary to keep the heater gas valve open, and it closes, shutting down the heater.  The heat from the heater itself is produced by catalytic action, so CO isn't an issue (though if you go to YouTube and search, you'll find every opinion under the sun, from the guy who's used 3 of them in his shop daily for 10 years and is an aeronautical engineer currently running the Mars program at the top of his field, to a guy who has rescued hundreds of people with severe CO poisoning, and claims that you need a $500 gourmet CO detector if you want it to actually work).

 

Personally, I've used Mr. Buddy heaters fairly regularly in my 2 shops, which have a very small vent but are reasonably airtight (with the in/out door being used fairly often).  I've used these for years, and haven't been rescued yet, and my brain is still functioning, depending probably on who you ask.  CO detectors have never risen above 0.

 

In my 21' Spirit, for testing purposes I've closed it up and left the Mr. Buddy on (on low, high is way too hot for that little space) for an hour or so, and checked the new CO detector I installed for any sign of CO increase, and it showed none.  However, in my case, it's a backup...the original furnace works fine.  I take the Mr. Buddy along, just-in-case, and they're very nice if you're sitting outside in cold weather.  No smoky campfire needed unless you want it for atmosphere.  Prior to getting the RV, the Buddy was wonderful for use in our tent on those cold Yosemite mornings.

 

The Mr. Buddy is probably better as a temporary fix, or if you don't often need heat...just a bit in the morning or evening to warm things up for a while.  I don't think the smell is all that much, but I suppose that depends on who's sniffing.  Cost of use is low, especially if you refill your own disposable gas canisters, which is fairly simple.

 

So while I agree that a more permanent heater installation is the best, I myself wouldn't hesitate to use a good catalytic, with a window cracked just a bit, for interim or occasional use.  I would never go to sleep with one on (however I feel the same about the built in heat), just on the general principle of "don't push it" and the law of Murphy.

[JaySam]

Interesting that our experiences have been so different with the Mr. Buddy heater.

Maybe it's because of the space size, I was using mine in a camper which is maybe 200 cubic feet. In that small a space the fumes gave me headaches, I had the heater go out on more than one occasion due to low oxygen (with windows cracked) and my CO monitor would rise a bit. Conversely I've left the Camco on for 12 hours straight with no issues, and knew a couple who would leave theirs on 24 hours a day in the winter (with windows cracked) and never had an issue.

The Mr. Buddy I was using as my primary heat source through the winter in Colorado, so I was using it a lot. Perhaps as a backup or occasional use it would be fine, or maybe it doesn't bother others the same way the smells bothered me.

But good to know others haven't had the same issues, and it seems like it may just be due to the space I was using it in. Thanks for the additional info.