Mr. Heater Portable Big Buddy Propane Heater – Item of the Day
Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.
Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Mr. Heater Portable Big Buddy Propane Heater. This guy saved our butts big time during the great ice storm of 2011 in Arkansas. It is amazing the amount of heat this guy provides.
To get best use of it you absolutely want to get the large tank adapter for it. Running on a lower setting a standard grill tank gives you heat for a LONG time. Of course it can also use the little 1 pound cans which is convenient for some things like sitting in a deer blind for instance.
To make that economical I suggest you get an adapter that allows you to use large tanks to refill the one pound cans. These can be had for 10-15 bucks here is the one I recommend. If you have never used one here is a video on how to do so.
I decided to feature this item because winter is swiftly on the way. As I said in 2011 we had a major ice storm in Arkansas and were without power for 7 days, temps were mostly in the sub 30s during the day and low teens over night. Between this heater and our fire place and generator we never even cared.
There are other uses though! You know that relative you have, we all have one that is ALWAYS COLD, the one that stays at your place for the holidays and wants to turn up your thermostat to just this side of hell because they are cold at night. Well put this in their room and let them heat just that room.
But is it safe? VERY VERY safe indeed. First it is quite safe to burn propane indoors, people have been doing it forever, but there are two safety features built in. One it has a built in O2 detector, if levels drop it shuts itself off. Also if it is tipped over it again shuts itself off. The only risk would be if you run it with the large tank attached with the tank indoors. There is a slight chance that you could then have a leak from say the hose or a fitting. That would be a lot of propane and it could be a risk. The odds are low but that said it is best to run it with the heater inside and the large tank outside. If you want to run it indoors without doing that you are better off with the small bottles.
The key to getting most efficient use of this heater is to pick a room or two to heat, set it pretty high for say 10 minutes to take off the chill and then run it pretty low. It is amazing how well it works when you do it that way. Again folks winter is coming, it always does, the time to beef up your winter preps is before not after the first snow flies. So check out the Mr. Heater Portable Big Buddy Propane Heater soon.
I have also reviewed my favorite kerosene heater but not everyone has good local access to kerosene, so you can read both reviews and choose the right back up heat system for your pending winter needs.
Remember you can always find all of our reviews at TspAz.com
P.S. – If you live in the socialist hell holes of Massachusetts or Canada your owners (elected officials) say you have to buy this version and pay 80 dollars more more for it. There is nothing different about this version, it just has some different words on the package, seriously. Additionally if you live in the nanny state of California your owners say you must read this bunch of bullshit they wrote before you endanger yourself with a perfectly safe heater.
When you use the large tank adapter, where do you put the big tank? Do you bring it indoors? Seems like it should be kept outside in case of a leak. Maybe you can run the hose through a slightly-open window and then put some towels in the gap for insulation?
In most places, it is against fire code to bring a 20# (barbecue) propane tank indoors due to it supposedly being a fire risk. In reality, the risk is minimal. If you’ve secured the hose onto the heater and the tank properly, it isn’t going to leak. But to be really sure that it isn’t leaking, take a spray bottle with water and soap mixed and spray it on all the connections. If bubbles form, you have a leak; otherwise, you’re good to go.
First if propane leaks you will know it, it smells like ass. Second “fire code”, uh, government, whatever. I would also think this would only apply in commercial properties (rentals) and high density properties. As bad as government is I don’t think they have the power to tell me what size propane tank I can bring into my private detached residence.
Frankly where I live I know they don’t we have no codes here and somehow no one dies daily from it.
That’s why I said “supposedly.” I agree that it’s not something worth worrying over. The only reason I would even both double-checking for leaks is because propane is heavier than air, so if you did have a leak in an otherwise ‘still air’ room, especially if you weren’t in it, it might be a problem. But I don’t care either what the government says about it. Heck, I’m storing four of the big tanks in my attic right now.
William, how hot does your attic get? I read that in excessive heat may require overpressure venting. This would be meaningless if you are in AK.
As I said to William it is not possible for propane to leak and you not to know it.
I was going to pose a similar question but in a vehicle. I just bought a Sprinter van to convert into a camper/mobile office and these heaters are very popular for that purpose. My original idea was to use a diesel heater, but am worried about my wife complaining about the smell. The common worry with propane is with leaked gas pooling in the vehicle and low oxygen or excessive CO2, as the vehicle may be tighter than a standard home. Also I’ve heard propane tanks may need an over-pressure venting system if they see high temperatures. I don’t expect to see high temperatures, but some people may if they store their propane in an outside shed.
Would you use one of these in a large vehicle? And if so what precautions would you take?
For any vehicle or trailer I would mount propane on the outside on a rack a similar. That is my view.
Is it safe to leave this heater attached all the time to a #20 tank via the required hose?
If i was to run this heater with a 20 pound tank on low for 5 or 7 hours a day how long will the tank last?
THANK YOU James
On low, it runs for about 4 hours on one pound of propane, so a 20 lb. tank would last about 80 hours, just over three days.
I totally agree with Jack on the propane issue. Almost 20 yrs as a firefighter and I wouldn’t hesitate so long as I checked all the connections with soapy water from a spray bottle. A little common sense and all is good. No different than having a pipe from a tank running to stove, drier or water heater. I have one of these and wow it does great for projects in my garage with an uninsulated door. It will definitely be in my house should the need arise.
Another great piece of gear that deserves a spot in item of the day.
http://amzn.to/2etvjAl
Wow! That thing has over 1500 reviews all 5 star! Nice call Dave.
This is so uncanny..you wrote about an item the same day we needed it. THANK YOU FROM ALASKA…..In the middle of the night our power went off and continued. So my husband drove 35 miles to town to pick this very heater up. As soon as we had it running we couldn’t believe the heat coming from such a small device. The power didn’t come on till later that night into the second day but we were toasty in the front room. Living in the middle of nowhere we still had not finished installing our fireplace in the cabin so believe me we were extremely pleased with how this little machine worked.
Could it be adapted to run on “farm gas”?
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
I have very curious indoor cats. Would the cats be safe around this?
I just bought two of these units a month or so back with two 20# regulated adapter hoses, and four propane tanks for the upcoming winter in case the power goes out. Two is one, one is… well, warm until something breaks.
One thing to watch is the 20# large tank hose accessory model number, and know if you need a filter.
Apparently there are two different hose material types and three different options to connect the 20# tank to the heater unit (that I know of):
1.) They sell a few models of hose material that will release a plasticizer into the hose under the high pressure of a 20# tank and, if not used with a filter, will supposedly clog up the heater. Mr Heater recommends using the additional filter accessory in this high pressure configuration from tank to heater to remove the plasticizer before entering the integrated regulator in the heater unit.
2.) They sell a shorter and less flexible plasticizer free hose that doesn’t require a filter or regulator. This has high pressure from the tank to the integrated regulator in the heater unit, but doesn’t require the filter since the hose has no plasticizer to release.
3.) They sell a hose with the plasticizer to make it more flexible that has a regulator on the tank side of the hose (similar to what you see on a BBQ pit). This drops the high pressure of the tank to a low pressure across the hose to the internal regulator in the unit – and therefore won’t squeeze the plasticizer from the hose… so no need for the filter.
See this following Amazon review for the request for information from the manufacturer and the response from a Mr. Heater employee:
http://amzn.to/2fuUFNv
My preference was to go with the regulator style hoses rather than dealing with a shorter hose that doesn’t flex very well, or screwing around with filters.
Jack – I would have bought through your affiliate link had the timing been better! Sorry man!
When these are burning, do they smell?
Background: I have a 30,000 btu propane bullet heater I use for heating my garage when it is below 30F and I’m working in there. I find I need to crack the doors and windows so much to combat the fumes that I’d be better off without the heater. I’m very sensitive to the exhaust of the bullet heater and the kerosene heater I have. I always run the bullet heater with a CO monitor as well. Before I invest in another propane heater I’d like to figure out if this one emits the same amount of exhaust fumes. Getting a headache for the remainder of the day in the name of being warm is not worth it to me.
We got one of these last year. We prefer to use the one pound tanks but have an adapter and large tank on standby in case we need it. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring the propane tank inside but that is not the intended use.
My advice would be to get some 1 lb tanks and just use the large ones if necessary (i.e. your power goes out).
I bought this and it worked well to heat my old Airstream. I use it to keep the space warm when i’m not around, think this is safe to do? I am still trying to figure out my off grid heating here. Any suggestions?
Yes it is indoor safe, think about it, is your gas stove indoor safe? If you really are concerned crack a window.
But it has a CO2 detector that shuts it off if there is an issue. The bigger concern would be a large propane tank indoors. If that leaked you could have a problem.
Oh and I found out what the Canada/Mass version is, same exact product but labeled for outdoor use only. [sarcasm] So it will kill you in Mass or Canada but is safe everywhere else I guess. [/sarcasm]
Another awesome use….it warms up a deer blind like a dream..Ran it on low 1/2 hour on, 1 hour off and 2 of the 1lb tanks kept me going all day. Allowed me to stay in the woods far longer than usual when I would have been jonesing for my woodstove after a couple hours. Wouldn’t want to carry it too terribly far…but I’m blessed to have a pretty decent hunting area not terriby far from the parking area.
I used some of these heaters 20 years ago. I don’t know why they stopped working after a couple of years. I believe they gummed up somehow but it discouraged me from using them. I don’t know if that’s still a problem or my case was unique in any way but it happened on two different heaters
I bet if you light them with a match or lighter and run them a bit they will work fine. Also remember you have to push in the dial when lighting them and hold it in until they start to run right. I find when people don’t use them in a long time they forget about that. It is a good point I will add to today’s show.
Mine gummed after I used some refilled green bottles. Store-bought bottles are filtered so no problem with clogging. Using my 20 lb tank with hose and filter no problem.
From the 20 lb to refill the bottles there is no filter so I am concluding that I got some “dirty” propane in my 20 pounder maybe.
Most gas stations don’t use a filter on their tanks and they are dirty. Propane companies have good clean gas or use a filter they are about 15$ also turn the tank off and let is burn out the gas in the line before you turn off the heater.
I can’t remember if I tried that, it’s been so long. I may have to dig around in my shed to see if I still have these old heaters
These are great. Thanks Jack. I just picked up a smaller version of this on sale at Costco last night. $60 and comes with a filter and the hose needed to hook it up to a 5 gallon propane tank.
Just ordered one (from Lowes, sorry Jack, less expensive, and I have a military discount.)Got the smaller one a couple of years ago, but it doesn’t heat a big enough area for daytime use for me.
But did buy the hoses and filler adapter from Amazon.
If you find a better deal get the better deal no need to apologize. You don’t owe me the 1.50 I’d of made on it. lol
At this time the Massachusetts version is a few dollars less than the regular if you want the red. The grey regular version is actually $30ish more.
I have one of these and love it until it wont light any longer. Its been used maybe 10 times. Ive tried the spit on Qtip trick and didnt work. Ever have this issue ?
I have only ever had a hard time lighting it when it was cold and had not run for a LONG TIME. I have two and one is over 10 years old.
Have you tried using like a lighter to light it to at least determine if it is an igniter issue or an issue with the gas feed? Also you know to push the knob in when igniting at first right?
I have no idea what the qtip thing is.