Off-grid Winter RVing Question

Hi Paul,

It is my understanding that the Big Buddy is not a catalytic heater as it uses ceramic burner tiles.

You are wrong--catalytic heaters will produce CO when oxygen content starts to drop. What is worse is that they do not self extinguish as a blue flame heater does. They simply produce more and more CO. The CO monitor will not tell you when O2 is too low.

You are relying on an O2 sensor in the Big Buddy. I would not trust that much at all.

My generator is also exterior to the RV, on rack that fits the trailer hitch. In my opinion it is not safe to run it while sleeping.

paulnptld wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Paul,

At the first sign of a head ache turn the blue flame heater OFF immediately. It is a singularly BAD idea to use one when sleeping. What could go wrong is that you could die.

paulnptld wrote:
Ok. Here's my plan. 18,000BTU heater and the fact that temps in the Cascades are usually in the 20s and 30s What could possibly go wrong?

Catalytic heaters aren't the same as traditional 'blue fame' units. Virtually no CO is produced. Regardless, I have two battery powered CO detectors in my small RV, and will always have the window behind the Big Buddy cracked open to provide adequate ventilation. I spent a few hours in my RV the other day with the unit operating at 5,000BTU and the CO levels stayed well below the alarm threshold. My generator is actually mounted on an open cage outside the RV, so no concerns there.