Best Tent Heater (Industrial-Detector Tested)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
- I tested 7 heaters to find the answer to the question: Which gas tent heater is best for a tent?
Many of the best of blogs you find on the internet have bad information--I did the work of testing and analyzing all these heaters and have found that only 3 of these heaters are safe enough to use inside a tent.
If you want to see more detail about the safety tests, I made a video with more detail here: • Are Tent Heaters Safe?
If you want to see the test results in detail, you can check out my website: decideoutside.com/tent-heater...
As part of my research I contacted Mr. Heater directly and they actually lied to me about the safety of these heaters. If you want to see more about that check out my video, here: • Mr. Heater Lied To Me
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The little catalytic heater in this round-up is magical. I too check it against a CO detector that measures down to 8 ppm and I get no reading. The ability to dial it back to 2000 BTUs is a wonderful ability that some of the others lack. I have purpose-built refillable propane bottles that I'm able to REALLY fill up and on those I get a little over 9 hours. There's around 21,500 BTUs in a pound of propane so that sound about right.
I was homeless last winter in -20 living in a old abandoned shed I bought a little buddy heater that saved my life countless times now it sits on the shelf awaiting its next mission, honestly I don't think I'd be alive without it. It's definitely not for sale put it that way😊
Sorry to hear that you are homeless but thanks for your review.
I find this story very inspirational and heartwarming despite the bleak nature of it all. Thanks for sharing
This is excellent information for camping during colder seasons, I’ll definitely be looking into getting one of these for the fall / winter!
Why does such a great video only have 53 thumbs up. Don't quite understand.
Now 1200
1.5K
Ya sure are hung
Thank you for taking the time to produce a thorough video on this subject matter 👍
The Portable Buddy is Great! We use it for Outdoor stuff, like watching the Christmas Parade, or New Year's Day Fireworks. We also became popular when the Fire Alarm rang in our building in the middle of Winter, and the Portable Buddy kept us all Warm in the back of a U-Haul truck.
My friend uses the little Mr Heater in his tent during hunting season. The bottle sits in half of a cinder block. This really minimizes the tipping factor. He puts a thin blanket over his tent that has a hole in the center. Dome tent. Does a pretty good job.
This was a great video. I actually have a little buddy, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I bought it as a backup to my camping stove for when the temps drop below -25C. This video addressed all the important questions I had about my heater as well as others. Great job!
If its an Australian model they have no low setting
Just ordered the Portable Buddy, from your site. Thanks for the review and rec!
Thanks for doing this important research. We'll soon be using our newly assembled camping gear for the first time. We may not need heat in the tent, but want to be smart about it if we do. Appreciation
Glad it was helpful!
Nice video! We have been using The Buddy heater for two camping trips. So far it has done well
I have both the flame king and portable buddy. The flame king has a thermostat, which I thought would be a great feature, but does tend to make the flame flutter like that when it's trying to keep the output low. I end up mostly using the buddy, but not all night. In the end, it's better to just get a good sleeping bag and then only use the heater to keep you warm while getting dressed in the morning.
Great video. Thanks for being thorough.
turn the heater off at night and use a 12-volt electric blanket. it will keep you warm and toasty all night.
Electric blankets shouldn’t be used at night either
If you have hydro , why use a propane heater ? Go electric.
That doesn't keep your nose cheeks😮warm!
does mine. even sweat if I turn it high enough
Electric blanket in the tent where imma plug it in if I don't have a generator
Thank you. Absolutely fantastic video.
I use a portable buddy with a 10lb propane tank. Ditching the green tanks is a HUGE upgrade.
Ahhhh a lot of people use the Kovia Cupid butane heater.
I like your testing.
Please test!!
Great video brother! Could you do one on tire air compressors for airing up after off-roading?
I have the buddy heater and used it in my tent at near single digits. The propane canister does end up frosting up but still works. the tipping shut off is pretty good. A blower would be nice so it’s not just rising up.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
If you order Big buddy off tractor supply ( green version ) it has a built in fan
good test. easy to refill the green 1 lb bottles too
Doing the lords work thank you 🤙🏼
thank you for this very helpful video. I have a product test suggestion - those "wire saws" that roll up are overhyped and vary so much in price. Which one is the best? TIA
Thank you for spending the money and making this video lol no need for continuous searching
Wish you had a Kovea cupid heater in that test
Great quality test and video
Great review. Could you do a review of portable carbon monoxide detectors ? Thanks larry n
I heat my tent up a bit which takes very little time, turn the heater off and then go to sleep. In the morning I light the heater off while still in my sleeping bag and when the tent is warm, I get up. No need to have the heater on all night if you are dressed properly and have a decent bag.
great job pal great information
Great video. I appreciate the quick but clear pace. Subbing now. Thank you.
Great video. I wanted to get a Mister Buddy to heat my van, also during night, but now I hesitate...
You should look at the Olympian Wave 3 for your Van, it’s what I would have bought if I didn’t spend the extra money on the Propex Propane Heater, I do have the Flame King that I bought before the Propex and keep it for a backup heater just in case and like it because it has a thermostat built in so it turns on and off at your desired temperature.
This review could use some charts showing rated output.and also efficiency versus rated output.
The flame king is thermostatic that's why it cuts off and on. The cutting on and off may cause the CO
Fun fact. Although being the same units, Mr Header products sold in Canada and Massachusetts have a different part numbers. The difference, on the box and documentation, they are labeled for outdoor use only
Yep. I always figured there must be a story there
That's what brought me here. Just got one today. Says in all caps on the box indoor safe portable radiant heater. Says some other stuff too in Greek lol. Manual gives a list of what indoors they're talking about but clearly notes the heater is to be used outdoors. I'm aware of how this works & am always trying to learn but there's people out there that have no clue & what they don't know, could easily kill them. Still got my Coleman 5445. They don't make them like they used to.
I enjoy comments before the vid. Let's me know if it's worth watching. Haven't made it to the 1st ad yet lol. Looking forward to it. 😇✌️
@@YTubeScandalScrambledMyHandle it's the same heater, just by law you can't sell and advertise combusting propane products as indoor safe so they have to label it differently
at least, that's what I am completely assuming
@@escapetherace1943 would be my best guess. I'm skeptical too. Mass production & all. Always room for failure. Been a pleasure having it so far though. 😇✌️
@@YTubeScandalScrambledMyHandle I know I bought one and it's amazing. Kind of expensive if you buy a filter, hose + tank but refills are cheap if you're using 20 pound tanks
Great video! What is the name and model of your meter?
Can you test the camping water heaters ? Do tests like how hot they can make 5 gals of water by running it though it one time. How long it takes to fill the bucket.
Just the ones that have batteries to pume and heat with propane. Please like Colman,
Comprehensive testing - thank you
And to answer your question - yes I wish someone would test the quickest tents to set up for all sizes of tents (up to say, 10 man)
Also worth noting is that you can connect these to larger gas bottles to run for a lot longer
Add an inexpensive Thermal Fan to the Portable Buddyand the circulation is instantly better. I have 3 of them, one of them being the bigger version and I have found them to be great. The one thing I am sure all of these suffer from is trying to light them when it is really cold outside.
great video and tests, very informative, right before cold weather setting in, thanks!
I tested CO output in a chamber for several models. The Martin M3S and Little Buddy have the lowest CO-to-propane-consumption ratio but ONLY on the highest heat setting. For example, the Buddy produces 3x the CO per hour, or 6x the CO per gram of propane on "Low" compared to "High". The Buddy on "High" is quite a lot of heat for a small tent, so the slower-burning Martin may be better. On "Medium", the Martin burns 8 hr on 1 lb propane (or 6 hr on "High", which is the lowest CO output).
Wow, that's fantastic info!
Use them only when going to bed and getting up. A hot water bottle will help keep your sleeping bag warm during the night. Thanks for sharing.
How about this test with a Coleman dual fuel catalytic heater
The safety problem of all these heaters is that if the space is insufficiently ventilated, O2 levels will drop. Even a small drop in O2 will lead to incomplete propane combustion which produces CO. In that situation each one of the heater can generate dangerous levels of CO.
The non-safety related issues with all these heaters is that they produce a lot of water during combustion. Even in a semi-enclosed space with sufficient ventilation, everything will be dripping with water after a couple of hours of use.
I have a proble with the buddy heaters and others like them. Tgey produce too much condensation and make my rtt sweat. Any other suggestions?
Can you use a large propane bottle instead of the small
Cannister on the m Heater buddy ?
So what is the best detector and where do you buy it I cannot find the usual referrals at the bottom of the page
Would you be able to test the heat retaining ability of different tents? For example, if I want to heat my tent from 32F to 45F, how many average watts would it take to maintain? How would that number change with a Walmart 3 season tent vs a 10 ft canvas bell tent? a 20 ft canvas bell tent? What tent will retain temperature best?
I would guess that canvas would tend to retain heat better than nylon and that double skinned would be better than single shin.
Also the smaller the space the better.
I use the buddy heater with a 20lb tank, stainless hose and the 'filter' in my garage. It runs 96 hours on the low setting, and I get the tank refills for $10.99 at my local true value store. Better than kerosene heaters for sure
Thanks
I would like to get tested Wave 3 Olympian catalytic heaters to see how they perform
Same, I'm curious.
Thanks!
Dont people use them in teardrop campers? Along with med camers? And cargo vans made to a camper No vent in there?
Test humidity and you will choose the catalytic heater over everything, they are way better and safer, Surprised on what you ended up at
I agree the Martin CH3 was a really strong choice. I think I'm getting wrapped up in that it's not rated for indoor spaces. When in real world performance it seemed to be very safe and have a lot of advantages.
I wonder why they didn't go through the extra paperwork to get certified. Perhaps it's prohibitively expensive and perhaps most people don't pay attention to the certifications, anyway.
Catalytic heaters produce MORE humidity. The point of them is to turn CO into CO2 + H20 which is safer.
How about testing butane heaters?
Guy whether it's catalytic or non catalytic it's still burning propane if not the propane tank will never go empty think about that
I really hope someone can help me please? but I have the portable heater top from 2:04, im just looking for an adapter to fit it to a regular coleman 1lb propane tank
I'm concerned about other VOCs these put out, like benzene.
Handy video!
m a hunter I use a ground blind it's super noisy to start by clicking the button so it fails for me
I never run a heater when sleeping in tent or vehicle. I sure like them to warm quickly in the mornings though. Great tests, thanks.
I never run a heater in a tent ⛺ or vehicle 🚗 when I'm asleep or awake, even though I live all winter ❄️ outdoors.
Question: what about a large canvas tent?
They are all good , put a filter on and go. Flame king throws embers in air
If your wanting something to keep you warm In your sleeping bag I recommend electric hand warmers and get a solar power bank that's small to charge them.
Works well I'd get 2 Zippo electric hand warmers so Ur warm all. Night and can charge them during the day.
Great review. I think Mr Heater has a low oxygen shut off mechanism as well.
It does! I never could trigger it, though.
@@DecideOutside once I accidentally fell asleep with my Portable Buddy Heater running. Living out of a van in Wisconsin last winter. Woke up and found it had shut itself off. On other occasions when it was below zero fahrenheit requiring extended use of the high setting, I found that even though I do technically have enough fresh air entering the van, the unit would shut itself off and refuse to relight for more than a few minutes. That low oxygen feature works quite well although I would never depend on it. Shuts off long before you notice any issue with breathing normally. I believe that a fan running in the space would eliminate what I believe is oxygen depletion in the area immediately surrounding the unit. My unit works very well but these units have obvious risks. I do consider them safe to use but primarily in an emergency or temporary situation. I don't know everything but I am a certified appliance service technician. I would much rather use electric heat in a small space but supplying enough wattage in an off grid or emergency situation is a big problem. For most the answer is a Chinese diesel heater that's properly installed. Not something I would ever want because I absolutely hate the smell of the fuel and the exhaust. My choice would be propane to quickly raise the temperature and then electric to maintain a temperature above freezing while sleeping and that also helps a propane appliance operate properly. The gas itself is less cooperative in very very cold temperature. Furthermore 1lb cylinders tend to leak the miniscule amount of propane left in them when you think they are "empty". That's possibly the biggest threat involved. Have had a few Coleman cylinders refuse to shut off when removed from the appliance with enough gas still in them that it was still in a liquid state. Now that is Dangerous!
@@jeffnorbert1871 the "low oxygen" level is to prevent it from making carbon monoxide, as carbon monoxide will be produced if the oxygen level falls below a certain threshold. That threshold is a lot higher than one where it would be dangerous to breathe in. Regardless sleeping with it on in a van could pose risks, unless you had an entire window or two open, but then you'd just lose your heat. Lol.
Great vid. When you cracked the windows of your car how many windows did u crack? 2? 4? 1? Thanks
Wow, I can't remember! That's unfortunate. I'd definitely open more than one--the air needs to pass through the vehicle not just into.
very informative and useful info on these heaters...i've always been curious about the safety of my portable buddy....thank you
I fully agree... nice testing !
Condensation in a tent is a bad thing. The lil'buddy is a death trap! It works, but isn't stable on anything but a flat floor. The other problem was condensation. Ultimately purchased a titanium wood stove.
I agree-- it's SO tippy. I wouldn't use it unless it was locked down somehow.
I use a fdit 100watt car heater fan attached to a metal lunch box 18 bux on Amazon for the heater fan and 8 bux for the lunch box a 100watt swarey solar panel 119 bux Amazon, heats up my gazelle t3x hub tent to a constant 78° degrees and at night I wire it to a 12 volt plug and stick it into my jackery . Hot tent i just use a titanium wood stove ,its a win with wood lol
I always use wood. I'm sleeping in the outdoors because I get back to basics. But I do like the idea, but my fires are normally night burners. For algorithm.
Good luck doing that during fire bans.
What about diseal heater
Doesn't ventilating the tent well defeat the purpose of trying to heat it? what about comparing propane to butane?
Yeah I thought the same thing
Yeah, it's a really good question. Anything that's burning anything causes some kind of emissions, and in order to survive you need ventilation. I think you could still get benefit with even an open air tent if you are sitting right in front of the heater, otherwise, you're burning gas to heat the great outdoors.
@@DecideOutside well, I don’t think anyone can predict Mother Nature, you can be in great weather for a couple of days then bam! Nights of 32 or less, under a fire ban your only option is a propane heater whether you’re outside or inside a tent, so yeah you’re heating the outdoors but at least keeping warm.
Question: We bought these small camping gas stoves and we wanted to use them indoors in the winter in case of an emergency to heat our home or atleast a portion of our home. You're saying that its basicly safe to keep them running overnight? We've got CO detectors and i bought a portable CO detector from China. Is there anything else you think we could do to prevent CO poisoning? Hope to hear your answer, god bless
While I think they're safe to use, I still don't think they're safe to use overnight--I am of the opinion that you should only use them if you're awake and alert. There are so many things that can happen and a tent is a very flame-sensitive location. Use the heater to get ready for bed and when you wake up and invest in a good sleeping bag so you can be warm while you sleep with the safest heat source of all (your own body heat).
NO!
“Including electric”? I’m confused why would ventilation be necessary on something that’s electric that doesn’t burn any kind of fuel? Can you explain? Thanks! Great vid!
I think emissions risk is orders of magnitude less with an electric heater, but you still are passing air over a heating element. If you are using a heater outdoors then dust is going to get in there and anything that burns is going to give off an emission. Is it a huge deal with an electric heater? Well, for some it could be. I remember we had a massive space heater growing up that almost started so many fires in our house because it was extremely powerful and there was just a grate protecting us from the red hot heating elements. So, the potential for particulates to get in there and burn off would be much higher.
Also, ventilation also helps with condensation. You are creating a bunch of moisture just being in the tent and moisture in the cold could be worse than a dryer but colder tent. Anyway, that's my line of thinking, anyway, I'm sure there's very little emissions risk with electric heaters, but I'd love to know more about it, for sure.
Have you reviewed the use of diesel heaters?
I haven't! sounds like a great project
Looking to get a heater for ice fishing.
Using these things in a tent makes me wonder what melted polyester feels like on human skin.
right? I'm kind of paranoid of using them, especially after all the testing.
It sucks
*buys the Little Buddy* this is safe for a van with a dog. It's perfect!
*Has multiple problems getting it to light correctly and doesn't work most of the time*
Have had 2 of those. Wouldn't buy another one for any important use. Portable Buddy is much better but still far from perfect.
The little buddy was Canadian trucker freedom convoy tested for 23 days in my hummer. You need a usb powered fan and I suggest building a stand. There is videos of different builds for your situation. I used mine exactly as you had your in the passenger. 1.5 inch crack in the windows keeps the air clean and still holds the heat. 🚛🇨🇦🚛🇨🇦🚛🇨🇦🚛🇨🇦🚛🇨🇦🫡
Portable heater buddy is awsome and is a lifesaver. I decided long ago that will never be without one. I have 2 right now just in case.
The flame king is also rated as indoor safe
This might be new--if so, good for them! But, I do remember at the time when I purchased it that online it said it was indoor safe but on the box and in the manual it said it was NOT rated for indoor use--so, you might be running into that.
@@DecideOutside I've talked to the company and they confirmed it is indoor safe
How about testing kerosene heaters in a tent they work great in a house
It appears an electric blanket under your sleeping bag (or better, inside) with solar setup ia the best solution than a propane heat option. Not without its potential issues of burning up but thats if the coils get smooshed to create a short. I plan to test a 150W electric heater in my rooftop tent as i think slow and steady is better than fast, high btu output without a thermostat in the such a small space. Thank you.
You can't carry around solar panels that are big enough for this when camping. Where will you get the electricity from?
@@stefansoder6903 rooftop tent running 200W with a 206AH lithium
Did you test these heaters in super cold temperatures? That might make a difference.
It wasn't super cold, I'd say. Most of these tests were run in around 40 degree F weather, although I think some were in the 30s.
I guarantee that it makes a big difference in how they perform. Especially below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Have owned 2 little buddy heaters and neither one worked well even in the single digit temps. Portable Buddy works better but below zero it starts to act up especially on low and more so with a cylinder that is much less than full. I would say that with any of them in temps below 20° Fahrenheit it's very important to be paying close attention to what the unit is doing. Of course we should ALWAYS have an eye on them!
I think running any of these heaters inside of a tent (excluding the straight wall canvas style) is a bad idea. It would be way too easy for bedding to get pushed up against them or for the wall of the tent to sag etc. Also it is possible for them to break in ways that cause then to shoot flames. It's not common and you'll probably get away with it but if you keep rolling the dice it could easily be a real disaster. Just use better sleeping bags or make the decision that winter tent camping isn't for you
I leave the stove on in my tent while sleeping on low and i leave a window cracked and a co alarm next to me and i sleep nice and tosty :)
@@truckcampertraveler7369 Make sure the CO detector has good battery and not more than 5 year old.
alcohol heaters/cookers are best. they put out large amounts of heat with no carbon monoxide being put out.
Electric Blanket plugged into a battery backup.
Not understanding the efficiency test results. You stated for example that on high the heater lasted 2 hours and on low 30 minutes. How is it the low setting only lasts 30 minutes? I am not getting your meaning.
Great question---I didn't want to waste that much propane for each heater during the tests. So the heater lasted for 2 hours on high, and then 30 minutes on low on one bottle. Definitely not the best efficiency test, but it was really just an opportunistic test--my main objective was safety and just tried to collect as much data as I could.
@@DecideOutside I get it. Thank you for clarifying it.
What brand and model is the industrial tester?
USA NIST Calibrated 4 Gas Monitor by Forensics
@@DecideOutside Thank you! But $599 is a little too steep.
Why would you not use an electric heater in a tent ?
You showed the Lasko my heat but never even mentioned it...
Yeah... it was in such a different category because it was electric. I tried it out.... and it doesn't have any emissions or anything--but it also doesn't have any safety features. It also doesn't get that hot... I dunno, I suppose in a very small tent it might work. I think another video on electric heaters would probably be better.
can you please test Butane heaters?
the one that works with the "spray paint" type cans.
The best tent heater is going to be with bio ethanol In that it gives off no toxic fumes
The best heater you didn't even do a review on it's called a cupid and it runs on butane
Must they all take BATTERIES to light and/or operate?
none of the units I tested use batteries.
@@DecideOutside Look here please:
th-cam.com/video/38oHkiG8LD4/w-d-xo.html
Merely pressing the button to light it and it not having a quarts ignition means there must be a power supply to ignite the propane.
At least for the buddy heater anyway.
all the heaters I tested used a quartz piezo lighter. I do know some models use a battery to ignite.
Perhaps a video showing what happens when a polyester or nylon tent ignites would be useful.
I think we all know what happens.
The best tent heater is the one you didn't test.... A diesel air heater. Zero risk of combustion by-products including no moisture. Easy 8 hours on 1L of fuel.
Cool to know! I have no experience with those heaters. would love to learn more.
my new diesel heater uses alot of my rv 12v batteries, not able to run all night till i can afford lithium battery setuo
Can a catalytic heater work with 75% butane and 25% propane ? Any idea on that?
Theres one that was made to work with that by coleman but it has been discontinued
Your original investment definitely deserves a 👍👍
Great video
Thank you so much 😊
❤
Hint, it’s a diesel heater