Mr Heater MH18B Portable "Big Buddy" Heater
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Mr Heater MH18B Portable "Big Buddy" Heater
Customer Review: A Great Heater.....CONDITIONALLY
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had my Big Buddy for over a week now, having bought it on sale as a supplementary heat source for my recently purchased new doublewide. Said doublewide has an electric furnace (read:convenient, but very expensive and inefficient heat source). It does not have a heat pump which would be somewhat more efficient, and does have a fireplace, which is all but worthless. Said fireplace cannot safely be left unattended with a fire still burning, doesn't put out much heat for the amout of wood used, and I also question the long term fire safety of something of that nature completely enclosed with trim work. Fortunately, Tennessee winters are not that severe, but next summer, a masonry chimney and either a wood stove or vented LP gas stove will be installed. My goal in buying my Big Buddy was finding an inexpensive, efficient heat source to help get me through the winter without an outrageously expensive electric bill, and frequent use of high wattage electric heaters would not save much on electrical usage. I can't use kerosene heaters because my wife is allergic to them and they do stink. I can't make the needed changes regarding primary heat source in the middle of winter, without complications, so........
The reasons above are why I got a Big Buddy. First, this heater rocks and heat output for it's size is amazing, trouncing any similarly sized, and even bigger, portable electric heater. But as I alluded to, there are conditions. First, on high setting, this heater sucks down two one pound bottles of propane in about three hours. Run time is considerably more on low or medium settings. The run times listed in the owner's manual, and available in pdf format at [...], are pretty accurate. So, using this heater with new one pound bottles for anything more than occasional use is neither cheap or earth friendly. As a aside, I am not a "tree hugger", and detest the hypocrisy of environmentalists and man-made global warming alarmists, but I believe we should use our limited natural resources as wisely and as efficiently as possible. I dislike waste and tree-huggers about equally, which is a lot.
Now for one of my conditions. For best portability and efficiency, a potential owner of this heater should be capable of and willing to refill the one pound containers. There is a controversy regarding refilling these. Follow the money! Who is stirring up the controversy and what are their financial motives for doing so? Since these bottles refilled are a fraction of the cost of new ones, it's not hard to see who is keeping this controversy going and their motives for doing so. But be advised that it IS ILLEGAL to transport refilled disposable propane bottles. Yes, there is a small element of risk to refilling them. I accept this risk and I do refill them. My local propane supplier refills twenty pound grill gas bottles for $10 and the mac coupler costs $20, plus the cost of the tanks themselves, so these are upfront costs which will be recouped with much use, but must be considered. About $2.20/gal for bulk propane or $2.73 for a one pound disposable bottle, do the math.
More refilling info is available at these websites, among others:
[...]
If refilling instructions are followed exactly and a little common sense is used, there should be no problems. Anyway, back to the heater. It is American made, and well made at that, so that is a plus as well.
Reviews here and at other websites indicate problems with contamination of the burners and regulators, but those reviewers problems seem to be due more to improper use and not following instructions. If you will fuel your heater with a 20# or 40# tank, you MUST use a fuel line filter, which is designed to prevent said contamination by removing dirt and oily residue. Furthermore, use with one of these tanks would hamper portability, since the heater must be plumbed to the tank in a location outdoors. For safety sake, one of those tanks should NEVER be stored or used indoors indoors for any reason, as a leak would likely have disastrous and tragic consequences.
I have noticed one minor glitch with my Big Buddy. When on high heat setting with only one propane bottle attached, it often shuts down. When two bottles are connected, even if only one has fuel, it doesn't seem to do this. Not sure what causes it, but it is not a big problem so I don't care. As for icing of the fuel containers, this is normal for high fuel flow, and is nothing to be concerned about. After all, we are talking about a fuel gas that could be used as a refrigerant if not for safety concerns.
I do have one gripe: use of this heater with disposable batteries adds to the expense and potential eco-unfriendliness. Batteries aren't cheap, and with high current, high drain applications such as this, they don't last long. So, if I use batteries, they will be rechargeable. I generally try to avoid excessive use of disposable batteries, but that is just my personal preference. I will get a power supply for it though when I come across the right deal, since there is a jack to connect an external power source. I haven't used the fan on mine, so I can't rate the heater on this aspect. I have not, and likely won't use my heater outdoors, so I can't rate it on this point either.
On balance, this is a very well made, well engineered heater with all the necessary safety equipment. It can be a very efficient, earth-friendly, economical heat source, or not, depending on whether batteries are used and how it is fueled. Hopefully I have presented info in this review that potential buyers of this heater need to make an informed buying decision. I generally do my homework before a purchase of this sort and I am sure I am not alone in this tendency.
The following comments were added 12/22/09:
This heater definitely earned its keep this past weekend due to a power outage lasting over two days because of an unusually strong winter snowstorm and temps ranging from mid 20's to mid 30's. We got the western edge of the winter storm that hammered the east coast and mid-Atlantic area over the weekend. The heater was our main heat source in the master bath and bedroom. The fireplace referred to in my previous review proved itself to be about as worthless as ever, not managing to get the temperature in my living room and kitchen out of the upper fifties. My Big Buddy kept 300+ square feet of living space toasty warm overnight on low or medium settings on 2 full (refilled) 16.4 ounce bottles of propane. My only annoyance, which isn't a major problem, is that it shuts down sometimes when running on high settings, with some propane remaining in one or both bottles. So basically, the gist of my review hasn't changed. This is a well engineered little heater with all the needful safety gadgets and awesome heat output for its size, though it's not necessarily economical, depending on frequency of use and fueling method, as referred to in my previous review. My fuel cost rings in at around $1.00 to $1.50 per two full bottles. I cannot really accurately quantify the electric power savings versus cost of propane, other than to say that electricity in my area is around nine cents per kilowatt hour. I was mildly criticized in a comment on my review, and perhaps the criticism has some merit, but I just don't want anyone to purchase this heater with the assumption that it will be cheap to operate if that is not necessarily the case.
Customer Review: A champion provider of cheap, reliable, and portable heat
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my first Big Buddy after my central heater failed just before a snowfall and hard freeze. I rushed out to Northern Tool and grabbed the last one I could find on their shelves, a package of D batteries, and 8- 1 pound propane tanks. Those tanks and the first set of batteries lasted the weekend, but I went back and bought a pair of 20lb tanks for $39 each, 2 filters for $10 each, a power adapter for $7, and a 12' bulk tank hose kit for $25. (I got mine from Northern Tool, but I could have easily ordered everything but the tanks with 2-day shipping using Amazon Prime.) And that's all we've needed ever since. When we awaken or arrive home in the evening, I put it on high and within 20 minutes at the most, the house will be back to 70 F. Then I drop it to medium and in another 20-30 minutes it'll be up to 73-74. And when it reaches that temp, I just set it to the low setting and it will maintain that temperature except during the coldest weather, during which it takes the medium setting to maintain a pleasant temperature.
The internal fan's bearings are noisy, but after a year, mine have quietened quite a bit. And for those who have complained that on the High setting the floor beneath the heater gets too warm, I will simply point out that there are two conveniently-placed nail/ screw wall-mounting holes on the back of the heater to make make hanging it on the wall (as I've done) as easy as placing two nails or screws to hang the heater upon. This heater saves me at least $200/ month during the coldest months compared to electric heat costs where I live. Getting one of my 20lb tanks refilled runs $12-$15 here and one tank last me generally 4-7 days, even in my drafty, uninsulated 'project' home.
We have enjoyed it so much that I bought another for our RV and camp. They're very efficient heaters, and having used the filters since the first time I used a bulk tank, I've had not a lick
of trouble, even though I've almost never remembered to turn off the gas flow at the tank 1st to
burn off the fuel in the pressure line. I intend to change that practice, but... I'm just saying the fuel filters are a good investment and mine have apparently helped me avoid having to pay for my repeated sins.
These, undoubtedly, were never designed to provide main heating for a home over even a single season. But my first unit is halfway through season 2 and runs like a champ. Honestly, I think it's the best purchase I've made in years. It pays for itself again every month in electrical bill savings. It gives me another opportunity to tell my wife "I told ya so" every time we sit to pay the bills. And that's almost as warm a feeling as the heater puts out itself, even if it sometimes leads to getting the 'cold shoulder'! Buy one, read the manual, and enjoy. You'll be glad you did!
Customer Review: A wonderful little heater
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this heater for my Mom and Dad after their power was off for over 10 hours after the big snow storm the day after Christmas in Virginia. We already have one and have used it often over the 4 years we have had it. They received it less than a week later and were surprised at the small size, how easy it was to operate, and how much heat it actually produced. They are really happy with it and know the next time the power is off they have a way to keep warm.Customer Review: AWSOME!
Summary: 5 Stars
We got one of these to heat our camper at our beach property and I gotta tell you,it was a great purchase. Even on low,it will about cooks us out of our 24 ft trailer on the coldest nights. I also like that it has a carbon monoxide shutoff and a tip over switch in case my dogs bump it.Also with a simple adapter hose,it can be hooked up to a larger propane tank for longer use. It is a propane heater so common sense is a must(such as keep away from flammables & walls),but after 2 years of use, I still highly recommend this heater.Customer Review: Awesome Heater
Summary: 5 Stars
This heater is what I would consider the best "bang for the buck". I have used the Buddy Heater to both heat my camper and my fish house and it works just as well as the box says it will. I bought the plug in for the fan because I don't like always buying batteries and the fan works great. I rarely use the high setting because it is just too hot. I live in Alaska and have used it even when it is -25 out and it still heats my Eskimo portable fish house. Anyway if you buy this product you will be satisfied.