Heating your tent/canopy/camper/truck/car

[9ine]

Recently my grandfather sold his sailboat and gave me his unused Origo 5100 HeatPal alcohol heater/cooker. It's normally meant for on a boat but I'm thinking about using this as a cheap/easy way to maintain a decent temperature in my tent/canopy.

What are your thoughts about using something like this? I assume you can't just shut the doors and turn it on as you would need some sort of fresh air coming in?

Anyone else have some experience using this kind or other kind of heaters?

 

[nwoods]

Beans.

 

[Haf-E]

Should work well as a heater but will produce fumes and moisture - the amount depends on the fuel used. Best fuel is a "green" denatured alcohol. See this link: http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/11/biodiesel.html

The real issue is cost - denatured alcohol is expensive in the USA. Outside the US, there is a particular variety of denatured alcohol sometimes available, methylated spirits. Methylated spirits is ethanol with methanol used as a denaturing agent. Methylated spirits is often called "meths" or "metho". Methylated spirits makes an excellent stove fuel. It is cheaper but still expensive compared to propane - about $15 per gallon compared to $2 per gallon or less. Not sure if you can get Metho in Canada... let us know if you can.

So I would give it a try - use the best fuel you can (green denatured alcohol) and see what you think. I use alcohol stoves and like them a lot - clean, quite, no stinky fuel, no electricity, safe, and easy to move around.

 

[Vegas_Nick]

I run a "Mr. Heater" in our teardrop and use one of their smaller ones to heat our portable outhouse in the colder months. Great products and very safe. And yes, when we use it in the teardop, we heat the camper then turn it off. No odor or other issues and they run off of the small Coleman propane bottles.

http://www.mrheater.com/product/heaters.html

 

[moodywizard]

I too have used the Mr. Heater when camping below freezing temps, I have always left mine on all night and still here to talk about it.

 

[expomazda]

I'm another Mr Heater user. I run a bbq propane jug and split it to both my heater and cook stove. It last forever that way.

 

[brentbba]

Little Buddy Mr. Heater. in my trailer top tent/annex. I generally only run it for just a little while before turning in and first thing in the morning to take the chill off. Otherwise a good warm sleeping bag! Used to use it in my Springbar ground tent too.

 

[SSSSTFIRE]

Been very happy with the Mr. Heater series of products. Used them extensively in tents and hunting blinds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ed B]

For you that have experience using these. From a heat output vs efficiency perspective, recommendation of the little or big for a 10X14 tent?

 

[moodywizard]

I use the medium one, MH9BX model with my cheap coleman instant tent 10x10 and on high it gets hot inside really fast. The bigger one is good to heat a 400sq ft room kind of over kill for 10x14.

 

[huskyrunnr]

To the OP: I have used the Origo alcohol stove that goes inside the Origo heater for many years to melt snow inside my shelter for my dog team. It is a failsafe stove that uses a fuel that is very forgiving of spills in an unforgiving environment. The stove itself may be transported when full without spilling because of the fiberglass matrix. It is truly the most reliable stove there is. However, the fuel does not have much heat output. You can run ethanol inside a closed space but I got alcohol fumes that made me want to vent the tipi more than I did with a wood stove. Many folks use methanol as fuel because of the higher vapor pressure, easier lighting in bitter cold conditions. But you cannot use methanol in a closed space. The fumes are poisonous.

Your Origo stove will work OK for heating your space a bit, and if I remember correctly, you can cook a bit off the top of it, sit close to it! But you would be much happier about the heat output of the Buddy catalytic heater that folks have been pointing you toward, or even a small wood stove.

 

[brentbba]

Little Buddy was fine for me in a 10x10. Not sure it'd be enough for a 10x14 condo. Even with just the Little Buddy on low, it will not last the night on the small propane bottles. If that's what you are after, you'll need the hose to a larger propane source.

 

[Ed B]

Thanks guys. Tent is a Springbar. I have the big propane tank but trying to figure out what would be more efficient , the small one dialed up or the bigger one dialed back. The website shows consumption rate for the smaller one but not the big Buddy. thanks again.

 

[fredgoodsell]

Little Buddy was fine for me in a 10x10. Not sure it'd be enough for a 10x14 condo. Even with just the Little Buddy on low, it will not last the night on the small propane bottles. If that's what you are after, you'll need the hose to a larger propane source.

Anyone have any photos of how they set up their little buddy with a bulk tank? Build s stand? Hang the heater from the ceiling? Not quite sure what will work best...

 

[chet6.7]

Anyone have any photos of how they set up their little buddy with a bulk tank? Build s stand? Hang the heater from the ceiling? Not quite sure what will work best...

If you use a hose,I think you may need to use a filter to protect the Little Buddy.
[h=1]MR HEATER CORP F273699 Heater Fuel Filter
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