Mr. heater "Little Buddy" experience?

[Downs]

Love my little buddy heater. We don't run it all night either. Run it when we get into our bags and when we wake up. Works great in the back of my Jeep XJ. It'll get it uncomfortably hot in there.

 

[Alertchief]

Same as me.... don’t trust the shut off so use it to warm tent at night and in the am to take the chill off.

 

[Sickf]

Love my little buddy heater. We don't run it all night either. Run it when we get into our bags and when we wake up. Works great in the back of my Jeep XJ. It'll get it uncomfortably hot in there.

I’ve used the big buddy in tents for years all night. I keep a vent open but that’s it, still kick’n

 

[photosubieoverland]

I bought a Mr Buddy last year and its been great. The auto shut off works when I tilt it over, and we bought an external CO alarm just in case. I run it to a 20lb tank outside the tent, turn it on high to heat up the tent then on low at night. To help with the CO we unzip part of the window its near or put it infront of a vent (depending on which tent were using).

 

[Shokgoblr]

Those of you running heaters in your roof top tents- Don't you have horrible condensation issues? I can't even boil coffee water in my tent without major moisture in the winter.

 

[Tundracamper]

Those of you running heaters in your roof top tents- Don't you have horrible condensation issues? I can't even boil coffee water in my tent without major moisture in the winter.

Nobody seems to have feedback on this. I don’t see how condensation could not be an issue on a cool morning. I come from the RV world and those are dry gas heaters, but the RV walls and windows still had condensation on really cold mornings.

 

[JAM420]

They work okay but I will tell you that when I lived in Missouri me and some buds went deer hunting for the last few days of the season. So mid January. We decided to tent camp.

Long story ahort....buddy heater worked well until the temps dropped and the tank froze.

 

[Jaytperry89]

They work okay but I will tell you that when I lived in Missouri me and some buds went deer hunting for the last few days of the season. So mid January. We decided to tent camp.

Long story ahort....buddy heater worked well until the temps dropped and the tank froze.

I've had that issue as well, thats why my tank gets wrapped in a old wool horse blanket and it will keep your tank from freezing over. Also depending on your size of tank you could bring it inside where you are warming up.
Otherwise I use my buddy heater to take off the chill too, and not all night. But I do leave a window cracked open so there is some fresh air and this also helps with condensation. I set the heater on a collapsible metal table under my tents ladder and it heats both the annex and the upper tent almost uncomfortably hot. We used to use the little propane bottles, but we found it more economical to use the 5 lb tank for both heating and cooking. So we purchased the Mr buddy heater hose.

 

[South_Puget_Sound_OL]

They work okay but I will tell you that when I lived in Missouri me and some buds went deer hunting for the last few days of the season. So mid January. We decided to tent camp.

Long story ahort....buddy heater worked well until the temps dropped and the tank froze.

I've had that issue as well, thats why my tank gets wrapped in a old wool horse blanket and it will keep your tank from freezing over. Also depending on your size of tank you could bring it inside where you are warming up.
Otherwise I use my buddy heater to take off the chill too, and not all night. But I do leave a window cracked open so there is some fresh air and this also helps with condensation. I set the heater on a collapsible metal table under my tents ladder and it heats both the annex and the upper tent almost uncomfortably hot. We used to use the little propane bottles, but we found it more economical to use the 5 lb tank for both heating and cooking. So we purchased the Mr buddy heater hose.

5lb tanks are the way to go. They don't freeze as fast and with the adapter hose you can place the tank outside your tent.

 

[JAM420]

They work okay but I will tell you that when I lived in Missouri me and some buds went deer hunting for the last few days of the season. So mid January. We decided to tent camp.

Long story ahort....buddy heater worked well until the temps dropped and the tank froze.

I've had that issue as well, thats why my tank gets wrapped in a old wool horse blanket and it will keep your tank from freezing over. Also depending on your size of tank you could bring it inside where you are warming up.
Otherwise I use my buddy heater to take off the chill too, and not all night. But I do leave a window cracked open so there is some fresh air and this also helps with condensation. I set the heater on a collapsible metal table under my tents ladder and it heats both the annex and the upper tent almost uncomfortably hot. We used to use the little propane bottles, but we found it more economical to use the 5 lb tank for both heating and cooking. So we purchased the Mr buddy heater hose.

5lb tanks are the way to go. They don't freeze as fast and with the adapter hose you can place the tank outside your tent.

I like the idea about putting im the annex.

 

[ptgarcia]

I used a portable buddy on low setting in a 10x10 Kodiak Canvas tent and it kept us warm easily with AZ winter temps in the upper 30s. In a small roof top tent I’d think the Little Buddy would be great.

 

[Tundracamper]

I used a portable buddy on low setting in a 10x10 Kodiak Canvas tent and it kept us warm easily with AZ winter temps in the upper 30s. In a small roof top tent I’d think the Little Buddy would be great.

What about condensation? Nobody seems to talk about that. Any issues?

 

[ptgarcia]

What about condensation? Nobody seems to talk about that. Any issues?

Nope, not a drop. It was me and my (2) sons in the tent, and the heater ran pretty much all night. I had the bottom zipper of one door unzipped for ventilation but that's it.

 

[TheWrexTerra]

What about condensation? Nobody seems to talk about that. Any issues?

Nope, not a drop. It was me and my (2) sons in the tent, and the heater ran pretty much all night. I had the bottom zipper of one door unzipped for ventilation but that's it.

We run ours thru the night as well. We have a RTT and we leave it on the floor in the annex to warm that area for the dogs on the kennel and the hot air rises to warm the tent also. No condensation issues so far. We leave the little vent flaps at the top open. We were at about 25 at Bryce Canyon a few weeks back and it was balmy inside the tent. My wife finally loves camping!

 

[ClayAkers]

The Little Buddy saved my camping trip (and maybe my life). I bought one for a trip a couple months ago and when I got up to Cloudcroft, NM it was MUCH colder than I expected it to be and dropped into the low teens overnight. I fired up the Buddy and kept it on all night. At one point, I even had to turn it down because I started to sweat. My set up is a small popup (Fleetwood Neon) and instead of having the heater in the big bed with me (super unsafe), I slept on the foldout sofa with the Buddy on a hard container next to me. It is now part of my essential cold weather camping gear.

 

[lhoffm4]

Before my rtt and diesel heater, I used the Little Buddy in my topper shell. Like others I didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in there with it on, and since my shell was aluminum and un-insulated, it would always get condensation that would form and drip from the ceiling. The Wife hated it. Her tune changed tho, when I got the CDH.

 

[Sonarman]

I used one in my RTT only had condensation when weather conditions were right. Now use CDH.

 

[GBGCR4x4]

I own a Mr. Buddy Heater, love it.

 

[Mike_304]

I have used one for a few years now and really like it. Do yourself a favor and use a line filter if hooking up to a large propane tank. I did not at first and ended up disassembling it 3 times before I got the oil out of the lines.
I have not run it overnight in the tent so can’t comment on condensation.
I added a wood stove fan on top to push the air in our direction. Works great. Here’s the description of the one I bought on Amazon: CRSURE Wood Stove Fan, 8 Blades Double Motors Fireplace Fan.

 

[lhoffm4]

I have used one for a few years now and really like it. Do yourself a favor and use a line filter if hooking up to a large propane tank. I did not at first and ended up disassembling it 3 times before I got the oil out of the lines.
I have not run it overnight in the tent so can’t comment on condensation.
I added a wood stove fan on top to push the air in our direction. Works great. Here’s the description of the one I bought on Amazon: CRSURE Wood Stove Fan, 8 Blades Double Motors Fireplace Fan.

I have the same Buddy Heater and was planning to get one of those TEG Fans. How has/does the fan move air for you? Does the fan help with condensation? When using my heater in my truck shell, I also used a 12v oscillating fan to move the heat and to help with condensation.