Catalytic or Buddy portable indoor propane heater for Scamp 13

[tomterrific01]

A lot of van dwellers use a diesel heater. It draws combustion air and exhausts both to the outside. Also, the heat is dryer. I saw many examples on YouTube. Just another option.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by tomterrific01

A lot of van dwellers use a diesel heater. It draws combustion air and exhausts both to the outside. Also, the heat is dryer. I saw many examples on YouTube. Just another option.

I don't understand how the heat can be dryer than other forms of fuel. Would you explain please?

[tomterrific01]

When using LP inside an enclosed space, a lot of moisture is produced. The diesel heater draws outside air for combustion and exhausts to the outside.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by tomterrific01

When using LP inside an enclosed space, a lot of moisture is produced. The diesel heater draws outside air for combustion and exhausts to the outside.

So does the propane heater in trailers equipped with a furnace.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by tomterrific01

When using LP inside an enclosed space, a lot of moisture is produced. The diesel heater draws outside air for combustion and exhausts to the outside.

The highlighted portion of the above quote makes the difference and is generally considered safer.

[Danmc44]

There are several YouTube discussions / comparisons if you google Lil Buddy vs Wave heaters. I was looking at these heaters recently and my major take away was that the Lil Buddy might be more heater than you need in a 13ft Scamp.



Take a look online. I also look at UCO Candlelier Lantern. It might be something you can run all night to boost the warmth a little.

[Thomas A Cronquist]

Originally Posted by zack sc

I am thinking about getting some sort of heater for a Scamp 13 that has no furnace built in. One possible option is a Mr Heater Little Buddy (or Big Buddy). Another I have seen discussed is a Catalytic heater like the Camco Olympian Wave 3. Is one of those options better than the other? How are they different? Can they used safely in a Scamp 13?

The main application would be cool nights and mornings, in California, where the low is like 40 or 50 degrees.

I would go to YouTube and check out the Chinese Diesel heater.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...heater+review+

Tom C

[floyd]

Originally Posted by zack sc

Which Buddy heater do you carry with your retrieval kit?

.Sorry for the confusion but...

I just went out to the shop to check and discovered that my heater is a different make which is like the buddy heater but made by DYNA-Glow...

It is the same design (only cosmetically different) and great quality as I have had it for more than a decade and it is still like new.


It is the smaller of the two sizes shown below...

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Thomas A Cronquist

I would go to YouTube and check out the Chinese Diesel heater.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...heater+review+

Tom C

Which will require you to carry a can of diesel around. Don't spill it. Stinks forever.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

I don't understand how the heat can be dryer than other forms of fuel. Would you explain please?

Probably because it vents the exhaust outside the camper, not because of the fuel type.

[Radar1]

I have a portable Buddy (that I used to call a Little Buddy until I realize the Little Buddy is a different style heater). It's smaller than the Big Buddy, and works great when boondocking as a backup to our built in propane heater when boondocking and battery gets low in winter.
If I didn't already have the portable Buddy or a built-in propane heater then I would probably install a Wave III since it needs no battery power and we always open the vent when we're in the camper anyway.
The low setting of the portable Buddy usually works for us, and we even carry it into the Gazelle screen house when it's chilly.

[charlsara]

We use a Buddy heater in our Lil Snoozy when camping without a power hookup. It works great. We open a window a little and turn it to pilot when we sleep. It gets to hot if left on. The Buddy requires no electrical power.

[cookie_c]

Another option is an Origo Heatmate alcohol heater that was designed for use on boats. I have camped at 35 degrees with the flame barely lit in a Scamp 16. Remember to crack a window and crack the roof vent for air and humidity. I believe that Dometic bought Origo but I could not find it on the domestic site. I bought mine for about $55 used red model on Ebay. https://www.practical-sailor.com/iss...ve_5894-1.html

[Perryb67]

Originally Posted by gordon2

1. If used in a closed in space it can use too much of the oxygen in the room (or camper) which you need to remain alive (ventilation requirements are described in the manual).

2. For reason #1, I would not recommend using one when sleeping.

3. It is a radiant type of heat (vs forced hot air). It heats things around it which then give off heat. It is like the warmth you feel when you step out of shade into the sunlight. And similarly, if you are not in front of the heater you will not feel much warmth until the entire camper heats up.

4. The radiant heating takes much longer to warm the entire camper than a forced air furnace does.

We have both a Buddy and a Martin catalytic heater.

We talked to actual owners before purchasing our Buddy, and now also own a Martin catalytic heater too. When arriving home after a long day the camper is quite cold when it is 40 degrees or less outside. It takes a good hour or more to get our camper warm when using the camper's forced air heater. With the Buddy it takes perhaps 15 minutes to get the camper as warm, but we run it 30 minutes or until Terry says, "it's too hot, turn the Buddy off."

When standing in front of the heater while it's on you're correct it is warmer, but we find the heated air circulates as fast or faster than it does coming out of the forced air furnace. We also can aim the Buddy toward the bed, something we cannot do with the camper's furnace.

Since we have yet to sleep all night with either heater running we don't open a vent if only using the heater for 30 minutes. We have a worse problem with humidity when boiling water for 15 minutes in the morning for our pour-over coffee. We then make breakfast and have the burner running for another 10-15 minutes without venting. Then again, how many people use their oven in the morning without cracking a vent: many.

I know about the homeless guy who died in his sealed van using a sunflower heater last November. He also was cooking on the heater and had diabled the auto-shutoff. Not the sharpest pin in the cushion.

Even on low (4,000 btu's) the Buddy would be too hot if you tried using it all night. The Martin will run at 1,500 btu's, so if we ever do run it while sleeping it should be tolerable. And yes, I know you HAVE to vent in that situation! We also have two CO detectors in our camper just in case. We've run into a number of campers who use Buddy heaters all night, and have talked to a few that use Wave heaters. They all have a large enough brain to know to vent properly.

We purchased a Flame King Refillable Kit and three additional Flame King Cylinders, and also use them on our outside stove. They've easily paid for themselves and keep those throwaways out of the landfill.

As I've posted before, I take the Buddy to the cold campground showers, turn it on in my stall, and then take my shower. Upon finishing I get out into a nice warm stall.

Enjoy,

Perry

[lisantica]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

I take the Buddy to the cold campground showers, turn it on in my stall, and then take my shower. Upon finishing I get out into a nice warm stall.

Thank you for posting that tip.

[slowpat]

I use a portable fan that is powered by D cell batteries to distribute the heat from whatever Buddy I have. If set up right, it blows heat into the bathroom in my Casita.

[k corbin]

Setting a portable propane heater on the floor in a tiny travel trailer could lead to getting a nasty burn on your legs in the middle of the night when you get up to go to the toilet.

You can't put it facing into the area between the cabinets because your body will end up much to close to the heater creating another situation where you could get a burn and/or your clothes could catch on fire.


So basically if you have a very small sized travel trailer a Wave 3 or a Buddy heater are going to create safety issues for you that have nothing to do with creating moisture or using up oxygen. But when you add those last two to the risk of getting burned I would say that is 3 strikes and its out. I would only use a portable Mr. Buddy if it was an emergency situation where I might be in a bad storm with truly cold weather. Or if I was only going to use it for an hour or so and then cool it off and put it away for the night.


You can of course use a small electric cube heater and have it sitting on the countertop. They also need less of a clearance to combustible surfaces. But of course you need to be on shore power for that.

If you want a propane fueled heater you should be thinking built in for safety.

My cabin heater is a special unit from Sweden that was designed to be used in boats. It runs on diesel fuel. It is not just my heater it is also a ceramic cooktop. There is no open flame on it. It was expensive but it solved a lot of issues for me and I don't need to have a propane tank, just a small container of diesel that is inside the cabinet under the stove. It is economical to run in terms of fuel cost and it is easy to get the fuel from the diesel pump at a gas station. It does use some electricity for the small computer sized fan in it and to light the glow plug for a couple of minutes when the unit is first turned on. I have a 160ah battery and a solar panel to charge the battery.


There are other types of diesel cabin heaters around that cost alot less than my stove top unit. Keywords "diesel bunk heater"

[zack sc]

Originally Posted by k corbin

Setting a portable propane heater on the floor in a tiny travel trailer could lead to getting a nasty burn on your legs in the middle of the night when you get up to go to the toilet.

You can't put it facing into the area between the cabinets because your body will end up much to close to the heater creating another situation where you could get a burn and/or your clothes could catch on fire.


So basically if you have a very small sized travel trailer a Wave 3 or a Buddy heater are going to create safety issues for you that have nothing to do with creating moisture or using up oxygen. But when you add those last two to the risk of getting burned I would say that is 3 strikes and its out. I would only use a portable Mr. Buddy if it was an emergency situation where I might be in a bad storm with truly cold weather. Or if I was only going to use it for an hour or so and then cool it off and put it away for the night.


You can of course use a small electric cube heater and have it sitting on the countertop. They also need less of a clearance to combustible surfaces. But of course you need to be on shore power for that.

If you want a propane fueled heater you should be thinking built in for safety.

My cabin heater is a special unit from Sweden that was designed to be used in boats. It runs on diesel fuel. It is not just my heater it is also a ceramic cooktop. There is no open flame on it. It was expensive but it solved a lot of issues for me and I don't need to have a propane tank, just a small container of diesel that is inside the cabinet under the stove. It is economical to run in terms of fuel cost and it is easy to get the fuel from the diesel pump at a gas station. It does use some electricity for the small computer sized fan in it and to light the glow plug for a couple of minutes when the unit is first turned on. I have a 160ah battery and a solar panel to charge the battery.


There are other types of diesel cabin heaters around that cost alot less than my stove top unit. Keywords "diesel bunk heater"

Thanks for the excellent info!

[steve dunham]

Just a question / observation ; If it’s so COLD in the shower room that you need to drag along a portable propane heater wouldn’t the water in the shower freeze ?

[Gasaholic]

Nope. I’m 73. My blood coagulates at a much higher temp than water will freeze at!!!