Hello everyone.
I am looking into buying one of the older Coleman catalytic heaters for my van to use this winter, but I don't have any experience with them. What I know about them is that Coleman no longer makes them and according to the comments that I read online, owners of them really talk them up. I will also say that I have done as much research as I could on the net and everything that I could find says that these heaters, though they don't have all the bells and whistles found on the newer ones are pretty solid heaters.
I used to have a Mr. Heater Buddy heater, but sold it about a year ago. I never really cared for it anyway, but don't have the resources to get into an Olympian Wave heater or a diesel heater set up. I also discovered that the Mr. Heaters have issues when used at elevations above 7,000 feet which would explain why the one that I owned had a problem shutting down alot when I used it in the Flagstaff area.
All that being said, what is being sold online is a bit confusing because there are so many variations of them even within specific models such as the Sportcat model. However, I have discovered that the model numbers often mean that they BTU is different.
I have been impressed that there are models of these for sale on ebay that are even still in the original boxes and some of them have never been used. Still, that makes me wonder about getting parts for them and also wondering if age, like in an automobile can affect things.
I found a serious research article online that states that catalytic heaters are safer and more efficient than heaters requiring an open flame to operate them such as those using a pilot light which makes sense.
Overall, it seems that these heaters would be a good fit for my needs, but with so many models of them it is difficult to pin down which one would be the best. Obviously I want to get one with the most BTU's, but I also don't spend my winters now in cold climates, but rather in places like the areas in Arizona near the Colorado River.
With all that said, what do you all think and suggest?
I am looking into buying one of the older Coleman catalytic heaters for my van to use this winter, but I don't have any experience with them. What I know about them is that Coleman no longer makes them and according to the comments that I read online, owners of them really talk them up. I will also say that I have done as much research as I could on the net and everything that I could find says that these heaters, though they don't have all the bells and whistles found on the newer ones are pretty solid heaters.
I used to have a Mr. Heater Buddy heater, but sold it about a year ago. I never really cared for it anyway, but don't have the resources to get into an Olympian Wave heater or a diesel heater set up. I also discovered that the Mr. Heaters have issues when used at elevations above 7,000 feet which would explain why the one that I owned had a problem shutting down alot when I used it in the Flagstaff area.
All that being said, what is being sold online is a bit confusing because there are so many variations of them even within specific models such as the Sportcat model. However, I have discovered that the model numbers often mean that they BTU is different.
I have been impressed that there are models of these for sale on ebay that are even still in the original boxes and some of them have never been used. Still, that makes me wonder about getting parts for them and also wondering if age, like in an automobile can affect things.
I found a serious research article online that states that catalytic heaters are safer and more efficient than heaters requiring an open flame to operate them such as those using a pilot light which makes sense.
Overall, it seems that these heaters would be a good fit for my needs, but with so many models of them it is difficult to pin down which one would be the best. Obviously I want to get one with the most BTU's, but I also don't spend my winters now in cold climates, but rather in places like the areas in Arizona near the Colorado River.
With all that said, what do you all think and suggest?
