Mr buddy heater

To each his own, but comming from someone in the HVAC trade for close to 30 years that has seen people die from using these types of unvented heaters I would not advise using them in an enclosed space. It is a fact that burning anything uses oxygen so even a blue flame burner will start making carbon monoxide as the oxygen in a space is used up. This depends on the cubic feet in the space and how tight the construction is. Also I would not use a CO alarm as a guide that something is not making CO, most of them do not detect lower levels that can start to affect a persons cognitive abilities. There are always going to be people that say well I did it and I am still here, well just look up CO deaths and see how many are not here any more.

powderman426 wrote:
There are ten pages of those who used them and lived to talk about it. We will never know how many pages would be filled by those not so lucky. So like Clint said in the movie, Do you feel lucky punk?

Oh, yeah- I forgot about all those Dead Bodies out there...can you name/link to a news story of even one incident of death/injury from a Buddy Heater?

No, you can't.

Of course, I'm sure that's due to The Vast Conspiracy between news organizations and the makers of this diabolical weapon designed to kill unwary campers.

I think, maybe, the folks that get into trouble with the ventless heaters use too big of heater with too small of space. As mentioned previously my 10,000BTU heater burned my eyes in my little house, a converted 6x12 cargo trailer. It was too big of heater to work in the confined air of the small trailer and near 7000' elevation. I let it run in the toyhauler in the sig. overnight, at 1300' elevation on medium. It keeps the chill off the whole trailer. I keep the window open a couple inches that I run the propane hose through and a ceiling vent in our bedroom. The dogs sleep at the opposite end of the trailer. I don't believe in the blah, blah, of advertising with so important of issue so I turned the heater on high in the trailer in the driveway. I closed up everything and let it cook. After about a half hour, I checked it. The trailer was heated and the CO sensor hadn't gone off. I don't want ANYONE to think this is gospel but just something to think about if you're the worrysome type.. IMO..

pianotuna wrote:
And a window.

old guy wrote:
if you do decide to use one, for God's sake keep a vent open.

...which makes them all worthless if you have to keep a vent and/or window open

Love my Buddy Heater, using it right now.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

HUNTERJEFF wrote:
Has anyone ever used a Mr buddy heater in conjunction with the heater in the tc to conserve battery. I have a 815 with a single battery
Thanks Jeff

Here are ten pages of posts from folks who've actually used the Mr. Buddy and evidently lived long enough to talk about it.

There'll be a liberal mixing-in of posts from the sky-is-falling crowd...you decide who makes the most sense.

Indeed. There are ten pages of those who used them and lived to talk about it. We will never know how many pages would be filled by those not so lucky. So like Clint said in the movie, Do you feel lucky punk?

And a window.

old guy wrote:
if you do decide to use one, for God's sake keep a vent open.

if you do decide to use one, for God's sake keep a vent open.

I grew up with the Coleman catalytic heaters in the 50's-60's tent camping. The Mr Buddy heater came along after that was the greatest heater going then...

Then the more closed-up campers started to become popular and the Mr buddy heaters posed their biggest treat to life then. They are deemed safe if you follow all kinds of operations procedures.

I still use the Mr Buddy heater as a plan B back-up source of heat in my off-road POPUP setup but the heater has its perfect spot to sit which is on a high shelf arrangement right under an slightly opened fantastic ceiling fan. I also vent an additional window to allow fresh air to keep replacing the burned up oxygen hazard of the Mr Buddy heater. After doing all of this it just doesn't make sense using the Mr Buddy heater where you must open up outside vents letting alot of outside cold air coming into the trailer using this type of heater. The few times I have used the Mr Buddy heater was to heat up the inside as best we could then shut it down before we go to sleep. To me it just is NOT worth the risk to leave "ON" unattended all night.

I would go for a more permanent solution of mounting a vented CAT HEATER or use a hydronic type heater that uses hot water from the trailer water heater through a heat exchanger using low current fans blowing thru it. These unit work great for the smaller floorplan like the TC or smaller TT units.

This is the general idea of HYDRONIC TYPE heater setup.

These google photos show what this simple setup might look like


These google photos would be a perfect install idea for a vented CAT heater.. There was some recent conversations about the propane hose might get kinked feeding the CAT heater in this photo.


The idea of beefing up your battery bank is also a better idea to me then thinking along the line of using the Mr Buddy heater.

I would put some good thought before using a Mr Buddy type heater in a closed up trailer with alot of necessary precautions.

Roy Ken

HUNTERJEFF wrote:
Has anyone ever used a Mr buddy heater in conjunction with the heater in the tc to conserve battery. I have a 815 with a single battery
Thanks Jeff

Here are ten pages of posts from folks who've actually used the Mr. Buddy and evidently lived long enough to talk about it.

There'll be a liberal mixing-in of posts from the sky-is-falling crowd...you decide who makes the most sense.