Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

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keith
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by keith »

Direct vent is the safest way to go, but more expensive. But then, what is your life and your families lives worth? This about the cheapest one I could find but the secont link is for the needed vent cap. There are others shown on this page as well if the direct vent unit doesn't come with one. The heater is also available at Lowes but is a little higher in price.

https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvemen ... c1013.html

https://www.amazon.com/Horizontal-Squar ... 55&sr=8-46
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dlb
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by dlb »

That looks awesome, Keith. It's the same design as the propane furnace we transplanted from the camper but way more BTU's. Once we catch up on a bunch of other cabin jobs (loft railing and ladder, sink plumbing, interior door and window trim, installing gutter and rainwater collection system, getting rid of gutted camper, burning slash piles, outdoor shower stall, to name a few...) I might look at swapping the camper furnace with one of these. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Petros
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by Petros »

if you had a diesel powered vehicle, than adding a diesel heater would be an excellent way to do for winter camping comfort.

I have a notion to build a propane powered tercel some day, adding an auxiliary heater using propane would be nice too.
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by xirdneh »

was recently camping in a cargo trailer. it was about 15 degrees outside. the 2 burner propane camp stove would not lite up. it was a long night. bought a "Little Buddy" the next day. it lit up that evening but in the cold morning it would not lite. in the afternoon it lit up. i am hearing that this is common in cold weather. is there a way to beat the system?
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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splatterdog
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by splatterdog »

xirdneh wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:38 pm was recently camping in a cargo trailer. it was about 15 degrees outside. the 2 burner propane camp stove would not lite up. it was a long night. bought a "Little Buddy" the next day. it lit up that evening but in the cold morning it would not lite. in the afternoon it lit up. i am hearing that this is common in cold weather. is there a way to beat the system?
For 2 devices to not work I have to wonder about oxygen levels in the trailer. Was there adequate ventilation? Pretty sure the buddy's are designed to shut down from oxygen depletion before you do. The stove also needs a proper air/fuel mixture. I don't have a little buddy but my buddy and big buddy have lit up well below zero. Full cylinders do better then.

If it was just the heater I would say check the thermocouple.
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Petros
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by Petros »

propane has a problem in extreme cold weather in that it will not vaporize properly. sometimes if you can warm the propane tank up to room temperatures you can get it to work. smaller tanks you can warm inside a heavy parka with body heat. the larger ones will require outside heat. some people will start a small wood fire under the tank to get it to work, this seems extremely dangerous, but so it trying to stay warm when it is 15 deg out.

I have never had that problem with the larger tanks used on travel trailers or barbecues, we have had several different ones and never had issues. OTOH I never used it camping when it was much below freezing either.
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by xirdneh »

i tried warming up the regulator (did not work)
did not even think about warming up the tank (bottle)
next trip i will be keeping the bottles warm

supposedly the "Little Buddy" is not supposed to create carbon monoxide
it would deplete the oxygen
i still would not trust it
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by Mattel »

Could try it with a carbon monoxide alarm and having a window cranked down an inch? quite a few vanlifers do this
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by dlb »

I suppose this is overdue for an update. So we've found that between the propane furnace and cooking dinner, that keeps our tiny cabin warm enough on all but the coldest evenings. On those rare really cold evenings, we have a small inverter generator that we run to power an electric heater and charge phones/laptop/LED lights/etc. We have an extension cord that we keep coiled up in the fridge's exterior access panel so we can plug it in easily when it's needed.

We've really been loving having the cabin since we finally finished it. Now we just do fun little jobs on it and around the property, and spend more time relaxing, exploring the area, getting to know the community better, etc. Building the cabin totally sucked and I wouldn't go it again but now that it's done, I'm thrilled that we have it.
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Re: Mr Heater propane heater in enclosed space?

Post by NWMO »

Thanks for the update David,

I'm thrilled you and yours are enjoying the cabin!
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