Comfortable distance from Radiant Propane Heaters

My German shorthair would put her nose against it.

Her face would get hot - HOT to the touch, but I guess it did not bother her. It bothered ME! I would put a scat mat in front of the heater so she would not lay so close to it.

As for me, I prefer to stay about 6" away from it while doing something near it, like cooking breakfast. Many times I would shut it off in the morning while cooking, because it plugs in with a 18" long flex gas line to under the stove. I put a tee under the stove, with the fitting coming out near the wall, in the under counter kickspace.

The front is not all that hot, once about 3" away, you can keep your hands there for a long time. It is sort of like a stove burner, keep your hands about 4" away, and they will warm up, but not overheat.

I have a 1994 version of Olympic Catalytic Safety heater. The dust cover protects it while stored in the closet, and feet option on the bottom allow me to move it around in the kitchen. Mainly it points forward, once I pointed it toward the bathroom door, and it sort of overheated the trip a little bit. Now I just run the furnace to warm up the bathroom before a shower. With the door configuration, I could not leave it open very well, or get the heater pointed directly into it, without a 36" or longer flex gas line.

My flex line is not like the steel one on a home water heater or a home stove. It is red rubber hose rated for gas, and sold by RvSolarElectric.com for that use.

Good luck with your installation! From what I have heard about the Plat Cat, they are a very nice unit, and don't use much power at all! Less than a couple of amp hours daily. And the RV uses 35 amp hours daily to run the CO detector, propane detector and refrigerator. That is about what one of my 120 watt solar panels puts out in a day.

I would suggest a solar system if you don't already have one. I have 400 watts, and with the inverter, e-meter, and other things it all added up to $3000 back in the 90's. I figure that I have saved that much at least 3 times over the years - even at a conservative $10 per night dry camping. (Yes I selected dry camping over hookups at least 900 times over the years).

Now you can buy a 400 - 500 watt solar system and controller for less than $600.

SunElec.com is one place for lower cost solar panels.

Fred.

3.9 feet. NAC

We have a wave 6 on a six foot flexible hose. We're most comfortable about 3-5 feet from the heater once it reaches max heat. Much closer and it can get very hot on your legs, but sometimes that feels real good.

YMMV

Ray and June,
Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.

Fred,
Thank you for the detailed reply. It's very reassuring to hear that the dog won't explode in a fire ball should she bump into it:)
Yes, solar is great (have 300 Watts which is plenty for us...even running the microwave a couple times a day).

Steve

Quick question, off topic but related. I have yet to use my portable Buddy propane heater in the RV. I understand as long as a vent or window is open the risk of CO should be negated and of course making sure the detector is working as well. How open should a vent or window be? Of course warm air rises so maybe a roof vent would not be the most optimal. Thanks.

Robocop,

For fear of starting the vented vs. non-vented debate, here is my answer.

My Portable Buddy manual says nine square inches (i.e.; 3" x 3").
(Note that the Canadian version is "Not approved for use in tents or RV's")

Interestingly, the Olympic Wave heater manual, which is a lower BTU rated appliance, says 24 square inches (i.e.: 6" x 4"). Furthermore, they recommend that this be a "combination of a window AND ceiling vents" to allow natural convection to move combustion waste products out of the enclosed space. So that's a 8" wide window open 1/4" to 1/2" AND a 14" x 14" roof vent open 1/4" to 1/2". If it was me, I would go with this ventilation, or more, for the Portable Buddy heater.

Hope this helps,
Steve

Thanks Steve for the technical side of the equation. I was expecting a simple "yes" or a "few inches". Hah! However, it is a genuine safety concern. I agree on creating circulation as opposed to simply opening a window.

Robocop wrote:
Quick question, off topic but related. I have yet to use my portable Buddy propane heater in the RV. I understand as long as a vent or window is open the risk of CO should be negated and of course making sure the detector is working as well. How open should a vent or window be? Of course warm air rises so maybe a roof vent would not be the most optimal. Thanks.

I would never own a Mr. Buddy heater. Something about a design that puts a high pressure propane tank less than a foot from a red hot flame - has me worried.

I have heard that Mr Buddy heaters do put off some CO gas. I am not sure if it is more or less than the Olympic heater. Still I have the Olympic because it is low pressure propane going into it. A propane tank will go way up with pressure when warmer. At 90F it will exceed 200PSI, and 140F will go way up from there- well above 300PSI. You certainly would not want the tank high pressure relief to leak out some high pressure just behind the flame. . . .

It does not hurt to have the vents and windows open a little farther than the recommended minimum amount.

When it is 55F out, I would rather run the furnace a little bit, and keep the windows shut. But below that, I would run the Olympic heater and open the windows. The heater will overcome the cool air coming in. Usually above 55, then the temperature will rise to much inside - even with it set on low heat. Below 30, and I need to leave it on high and run the furnace a little bit too.

Good luck!

Fred.

SteveAE wrote:
Fred,
Thank you for the detailed reply. It's very reassuring to hear that the dog won't explode in a fire ball should she bump into it

The dog will only explode if she tries to warm up in the microwave! :(

SteveAE wrote:
...For fear of starting the vented vs. non-vented debate...here is my answer.

Here's the short version of the debate:

"I've run my unvented combustion heater for years, with a window cracked and lived to post about it"

vs.

"It makes CO2 and CO and people have died from using them incorrectly" (And that's why "just crack a window" isn't good enough for the directions).

Both are correct.

There seems to be a lot of strong opinions on the topic, and I expect this short summary will not satisfy those with the strong opinions.

I would consider what the consequences are of dismissing either of the two sides of the argument.