Mr Heater Buddy

[jornvango]

I just saw a YouTube video promoting the Mr Heater Buddy to keep your RV warm while boondocking in winter.

It supposedly works with the small Coleman RV bottles and doesn't use the RV's battery.

Does someone have experience using this? I'm wondering how long the small RV bottle lasts and how good this heater is to keep your RV warm.

[jake2250]

My little mod that we do with the Mr Buddy!
I took the small O2Cool fan and zip tied it to the handle of the Mr Buddy it blows the warm air deeper in to the trailer and improves performance!
I got the idea from a buddy that uses a 12 Volt computer fan and he made a long cord for it that plugs into his 12v cigarette plug in the his trailer!

I am headed out to the trailer in storage next week and will take and post some pictures if interested!!

[CavemanCharlie]

I have one. I've used it. I keep a window cracked. I don't use it while I am sleeping.

I heat the Travel Trailer up with it and use it while I am awake. When I go to sleep I shut it down and run the built in furnace. I have 2 - 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries on the TT. I can camp for days this way and I don't run out of power.

[wa8yxm]

I do not recommend burning propane INSIDE a closed vehicle. many have done so, many have forgotten to wake up come morning.

now opening a window may get you enough O2 to survive but this runs up the heating bill.. Better to use a proper VENTED Rv type furnace, it runs off your big bottles and will last several nights on 25 pounds.. Takes up no floor space, No tip over danger. and provided the heat exchanger is in good condition no CO danger either.. Have a good CO detector in case the heat exchanger gets religion. (Becomes holey)

[AnFear]

I bought one recently. Very happy with it. I you use it with the 20lb tank you should leave the tank outside your rig and and get a Mr Buddy adapter hose that you can run through the window. What I did instead was buy an adapter to refill the 1lb tanks from the 20lb tank. I like that it's more portable that way. Lots of video's on You tube explaining how to refill the small bottles. Also you can get 1lb bottles that are designed to be refilled if you like.

[Roy_Lynne]

We also love our Little Buddy. When we are plugged in I found that we can't run the coffee pot and the heater, so we use the Little Buddy in the mornings and when we are boon docking.

[pianotuna]

I won't use an unvented combustion heater.

[Merrykalia]

We have a Little Buddy as a backup heat source in our house. We usually lose power once or twice each winter because of heavy snow on the lines. It keeps our bedroom and bathroom warmish, in the 60s, but it's according to the outside temp, but usually in the teens and it is in excess of 450 sq feet.

[DSDP_Don]

We camp at Yosemite once a year during Thanksgiving. We've been using the Buddy Heat for years to keep the coach at about 58-60 degrees during the day. That doesn't sound like much, but ours is a 40' full wall slide coach. I leave it on low in the center of the coach. It will run about 5-6 hours on the green bottles. It's just enough to keep the walls, cabinets and furniture warm, so that you're not trying to reheat the interior at night.

At night we use our coach heat. In the past, we've moved the Buddy Heat closer to the bedroom and ran it all night and it worked well. As one poster noted, you can refill the green bottles with an inexpensive valve from Harbor Freight.

[yankee_camper]

I used one last winter to heat my 25'ft.wheel in temps that were in the teens. Tried the small bottles which lasted about 3-5 hours depending on the heaters setting. I also hooked up a 20 lb.tank with an extension hose. I have no idea how long that would last as I just used the heater to do some work in the rig. It heated the camper to 70 -72 degrees in no time, can't attest to the condensation issue others have mentioned as I didn't experience it. Yes Big Buddy advises to crack a window. Also if running a large tank with an extension you do not need a fuel filter if the hose has a regulator.

[goducks10]

I've the small Buddy heater. We use it mainly to take the chill out on colder mornings when dry camping. Just use the small green bottles. Only issue was at 6000' it wouldn't light. Much quieter than the noisy furnace, but not as quick to warm up the trailer.

[TenOC]

Last winter I spent the winter in TN. I got a 25' (?) extension propane hose from Mr Heater. Ran the hose under the drawer in the kitchen to the outdoor shower door. (had to drill a two holes) Connected the Mr Heater to a 40 lb propane tanks.

Keep the TT warm all winter and probable more efficient than the furnace. I did add 2 more CO detector. They never set of an alarm so I think it is safe.

Problem,
(1) LOTS of moister in the trailer when running the heater.
(2) Since no heat in the floor ducts, on very cold nights the water line would freeze. Since I turned off the water pump and turned on the water to relieve the pressure no broken water lines.

[rbp111]

I own two Mr Heater, One of them, the portable, I had used in my old trailer (and boat while fishing). I used the small Coleman bottles, but I refilled them as needed. I would keep one in the freezer while using one. When I ran out of fuel, I would charge the bottle us by using the adapter which is available and a small tank of propane, like a 5 pound bottle.
I got the Big Buddy for the new trailer and had the dealer put in a quick connect to the larger propane bottles in the trailer. I bought the 12 foot hose which has a quick connect on one end and the female 3/8 female flare on the other. I had to reduce the 3/8 in to a 1/4 in. It works well. I have only used it once so far, but it does the job without opening windows.
The thing is, I don't go to sleep at night with it on, but that is me.

[RoyB]

I use the small Mr Buddy Heater as backup heater in my off-road camper... The heat is fine but it does produce alot of water. I have mine sitting in one of those large camp stove grill trays (WALMART)...


I get around 6 hours of heat from one of those 1lb canisters running on low...

I have mine sitting on a high shelf which is kinda close to the roof fantastic fan which I open up the vent abit to allow fumes to disperse.

This is one of the downsides to the Mr Buddy heaters.... Sort of strange to crack open a window vent to be able to use them. Even doing this we don't sleep with the Mr Buddy going - just get under the covers when we go to bed for the night. My battery bank does support running one of those lap heated blankets which we use as a bed topper...

My POPUP has the big propane furnace installed but it is way too much heat for our small foot print trailer and we have it set very low to only come on if it gets down in the freezing temps outside. The noise from the furnace fan is very loud and wakes me up every time it comes on...

I really would like to replace the on-board propane heater and loud fan for one of those vented CAT propane heaters. I have a perfect spot to mount one on the outside of a door much like shown in these two photos from google...



Another idea for my small footprint popup trailer would be the Hydronic Heater using the hot water from the hot water heater tank.


This really has merit and you would only b using small muffin type fans for heat and propane kicking in ever so often to keep the hot water going. This is a closed loop for the hot water so it would not demand much propane to keep it hot I would think...

This is photo how one dude used it in his small trailer... Reports from him said it worked great up in the mountains...


I was going to order one of these hot water water heaters to use. This would fit just fine where the propane heater is installed in my popup. Aqua Hot has two version of this - 100 and the 200 models. Kinda neat having the heat and fans in one small box...


I also hear alot of campers will unzip the two halves of the sleeping bags and use those on the beds for great sleeping. You could actually zip up during the night if it gets really cold as well I guess haha...

gotta have some good PLAN Bs I reckon...

We camp off-road alot with no hookups and haven't froze up yet...

Roy Ken

[fitznj]

I use the small Buddy Heater in my 24ft camper; It's great at get the chill out of the camper first thing in the morning.

I use the furnace for general heating but the Buddy will heat up really quickly. 1lb bottle is good for ~3 hours.

No complaints - works as expected.