Mr. buddy heater, first use

[Matty Van Halen]

Mr. buddy heater, first use.  Friday night was the first time it actually got cold enough to need the heater. So I finally got to try it out. I mounted it to the barn door on the side. I’ve got it set so its quickly removable For driving.

Wow this thing will warm you up fast. I can’t imagine ever having to run it for a long time.  I’m not going to leave it going while I’m sleeping. I’m just going to turn it on get it warm in there and then cut it off and go to bed. 

 I mounted my carbon monoxide detector just above the head of the bed since thats closest to the air that I am actually breathing. 

I cracked the driver and passenger windows 2 inches. I have rain guards mounted on them. The good thing about the barn doors on my van is you can leave them ajar and still Lock them. It leaves a good size gap where Air can flow through.

 

[jonyjoe303]

on the mr.heater the intake where you connect the propane is very easy to cross thread, I found that out real quick when I started using my mr.heater. 

Even though the directions say to remove propane bottle when not in use, I leave propane bottle connected all the time, I didn't want risking stripping out the threads by removing the bottle every day. Never had any problems in years.

If your area is going to be cold, you need more insulation, massive amounts of insulation. The mr.heater will only keep you warm when its running. Last year I added so much insulation, I no longer need the mr.heater. The exposed metal skin and windows let all the cold in.

This is interior of my van, its got foam insulation on every inch. Since this picture I added even more insulation, you can never have too much. Some areas of the roof I have 3 inches of insulation. I don't even need to sleep inside a sleeping bag anymore. Before the insulation I sometime had to sleep inside 2 sleeping bags and I was still cold.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

Thanks, Matty. And JohnnyJoe, just curious how cold it gets near you.

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[RoamerRV428]

very cool set up
interesting you can leave those doors ajar a bit and still lock~ definitely useful.

jonyjoe, that much insulation sure makes a world of difference!


great pics all~

 

[QinReno]

Actually the crack in the door business is a PITN. With the Savana, it's difficult to fully seat the door from the inside, without making a huge racket heard all over the CG. Have to slam hard. Hardly steathy quiet.

 

[Matty Van Halen]

Thanks, Matty. And JohnnyJoe, just curious how cold it gets near you.

Sent from my RS500 using Tapatalk

I live in Nashville Tennessee it is mild here. If I went north I would definitely use heavy foamboard. But I’ve just got reflectix on the walls and roof. I left an air gap behind it for repelling the heat in the summer. It works great for that. But what I also found out is once I heat up the van, it holds it in very well to. I can tell a big difference from before when I had no insulation. It was brutal in the summer without insulation

 

[LoupGarou]

I’m replacing my Mr Buddy Heater with a Wave 6. The Mr Buddy Heater puts out too much heat too fast.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

LoupGaro,

I'm keeping mine but don't use it much at 40-50 degrees. If I'm scorching hot at those temps, I bet the thing will be what I need when it's below zero. At least when I'm awake. I'm warm under the blankets when it's in high 20s and 30s even, so more blankets for sleeping and Mr. Heater during the day should do it for me.

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[jonyjoe303]

the lowest it gets in southern california is 40 degrees, in the morning inside my van with no heater its over 50 degrees. Below 50 degrees is when I feel the cold and need a sleeping bag. I recently bought another layer of rtech foam (8 dollars at home depot), as soon as winter hits, I'll be hotgluing another layer in any coldspots I find. You can never have too much insulation.


This is my thermometer it measures inside/outside temps. These are from last year, I added more insulation since then. So far it hasn't got below 58 degrees outside. The summer temperature, measures the front uninsulated section of the van with the back insulated section. Without insulation it would 148 degrees in both sides.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

That would be nice...no lower than 40 degrees…I would almost never need the heater…just a bunch of clothes and blankets but I don't have to deal with much severe weather except maybe blizzards. Haven't even had a tornado touch down here in I think more than 80 years. Electrical storms (really scary version of a thunder/lightening storm) but don't remember many since I was a kid.

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[Jedi Clampette]

i used a mr buddy for years when I lived in my short bus full time. I am in the puget sound and we get down to freezing, I never ran the heater at night no matter how cold. I did have a woman and a couple of dogs to help stay warm. I didn't run the heater at night for safety reasons, if you need to, I suggest an extra quilt and if still cold another quilt or an extra dog.
also save on propane and if using mr buddy with canisters, get the filter or soon you will be getting another mr buddy

 

[LoupGarou]

I replaced my Mr Buddy Heater with a Wave 6. The Buddy Heater put out too much heat too fast overwhelming the living space.

 

[Cammalu]

Depending no on how cold it gets is however many dogs you throw in the bed with you. I think a three dog night would be rare unless they are tiny


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[frater secessus]

The Mr Buddy Heater puts out too much heat too fast.

The Buddy can be run below the LOW setting.  My uncalibrated skinny butt measures the BTU decrease as ~25% (4000btu --> 3000btu).

 

[hugemoth]

I’m replacing my Mr Buddy Heater with a Wave 6. The Mr Buddy Heater puts out too much heat too fast.

Used a Buddy heater in my camper for a couple years but had to leave the windows open even on low. It put out too much heat so I ended up heating the outside air with wasted propane. Now I use a similar heater but with an element about 1/3 the size which is perfect and efficient. It comes with a fitting to attach to a low pressure hose and 20 lb bottle. 

 EBay item #
173697677631