Bottle top heater

Post by **Bruin** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:20 am

I was lookin at the Mr. Heater that mounts to the top of a propane bottle. Does anyone have any info on them. The coleman I have isn't making the grade....I did a little reaearch and the BTUs seem to be similar to the buddy's

This is the one I am talking about

http://www.mrheater.com/productdetails_ ... d=42&id=21

Post by **Wader75** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:29 am

My Dad has something similar, but an older model. He doesn't use it icefishing because the heater and tank are too much to pack into the lake on foot. But in the garage it throws off some good heat. Useing the refillable tanks is good if you are concerned about the environment. And, if you have an elaborate icefishing setup, you can put a 'T' on the tank and run the heater and a small BBQ.

Post by **almontefisher** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:39 am

Don't know if this will work for you Bruin because of where you are but Princess Auto has the Mr Heater Little Buddy for $69.97 and also the Mr Heater Portable for $89.97. If you are looking to heat a huge shack there is the Mr Heater 35,000 BTU radiant propane heater for $149.97 well any way there are a bunch for sale if you have the Princess Auto catalogue they are on Pg 26 & 27.

Post by **Bruin** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:55 am

Unforunately Princess auto is quite a way for me to travel.....

i was looking at the portable buddies, but I am trying to get away from the 1lb bottles....They cannot be recycled....I think they are the most popular way to go though.....

I'll have to hunt around town here to see what I can find...I guess I can go across the bridge to see if US prices are much better....

So other then the bottletoppers being cumbersome, they do work well?

I have a small 5lb refillable bottle that would make the whole package quite portable

and I am way to lazy to walk on

Post by **almontefisher** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:00 am

The Mr Heater portable can convert with an optional hose to use a 20lb tank but you would not want to move around much with it. More for permanent locations.

Post by **Rescue78** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:17 pm

Bruin

I use the Portable Buddy attached to a refillable 8 lbs propane tank. It works great.

The 2 strikes I have against the one you are looking at are the fact that the minimum btu output is 8 000 BTU's. That is quite a bit I think. The result will be you firing it on and off all the time as opposed to leave it running in low setting in order to be confortable. The other thing, eventhough somewhat minor, is that depending on the type of hut, you can leave your propane tank outside, providing moore room inside. I have a portable, so I just feed my tube underneath the flap to the tank outside.

I don't know about the model you are looking at, but the Portable Buddy give a nice even heat as opposed to blasting heat directly in front of it.

Sorry I can't help you moore with the model you are looking at, but I just thought I'd give you some of the advantages of the Portable Buddy

Post by **bucketmouth** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:03 pm

I use a sunflower radiant like the one pictured mounted on a 5lb tank and it's way too hot for a portable hut. Not sure of just how many BTUs mine puts out but I run it intermittently so as not to melt my floater suit or get a bad sunburn. If you had a wooden shack that was not overly big and had no bad updrafts then it would heat it just right. On 5lb tanks these are nice and compact and fit in a 5 gallon bucket nice.

Post by **Bobby Shimano** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:33 pm

Cabela's sells an adapter for refilling those 1 lb bottles from a 20 lb bottle for $20.

Bobby Shimano

Post by **MLR** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:13 pm

Bruin,

Go to your local Sault Ste Marie TSC store, the carry a full line of Mr.Heater products.

My recomendation would be the Portable buddy with a 12' hose adapter. That way you can use your refillable tank.

you should get about 4 hours of burn time on the low setting per pound of propane. Cut this almost in half burning it on high, which you won't need to do often. The only time I ever touch my 20lb tank is to take it off the ATV and get it swapped for a fresh one. Just be sure that if you have your kids or anyone else with you that they don't trip on the hose and pull the heater up against your lines or tent wall.

Portable heater $ 90
Hose $ 40

Its not the cheapest setup, but it works great

or in their current flyer you can get a Dessa Convection propane heat that cranks out 40 000 to 80 000 BTU with a 10' hose included for $130

In a small portable hut, 40 000 BTU you would be wearing a t shirt and shorts ice fishing.

Or better yet, they also have the tank top model on sale for $48 with is a 8000 to 1200 BTU model.

Post by **Bruin** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:40 pm

MLR Thanks alot

I went to TSC and the bottle top Mr Heater Is on sale...So I went to Homedepot and they gave it to me for the same price + 10% Got the heater for 50 out the door.

Walmart has 5lb bottles for 45 out the door...and 6 bucks to fill it, so for almost $100 out the door I am set up....I think that 12000BTU's should be more than enough....

Thanks for all the input boys....I can get 10hrs on high off a 5lb bottle

I talked to a guy and he said that Ilb of propane consumes 22000 bTU's so on low i can go 3 hours on 1lb of propane which is 15hrs on a 5lb'r

I hope to be in my undies in there!!!!

Post by **Tip-up** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:05 pm

Bruin wrote:
I hope to be in my undies in there!!!!

You will be

Post by **Rescue78** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:24 pm

And don't forget your SPF 30 sunscren.

Enjoy your compact set up Bruin. It will kick the heck out of your Coleman for sure.

Post by **Doeun_k** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:08 pm

They have a small one like that at lebaron (bad service store!!!!) that puts out 7000 btus for about $50, theres a couple left i was in the store today.

Post by **MLR** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:51 am

Bruin,

Congrats on your new set up.

Clam Portable $80
Heater $50
Propane tank $45 (thanks for the heads up, I am going to go buy one)
Propane $5
Not many can claim to have a heated portable on the ice for $ 180 bucks.

Well done

Post by **Bruin** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:23 pm

MLR, If you are looking at propane tanks, Be sure the tank is at least an 08....The new tanks are coming out with a OPD....Which stands for Overfill protection devise, or something like that..It is stamped right on the valve turn knob!!!!.All the new ones are coming out with it...So long as it is an 08 or newer you should be good.....or else you may be into money converting an old tank to the new system......(MONEY GRAB)

The 5lb costs $6.45 to fill....Which is almost what you pay for a 1lb green one......

Money in the bank....kinda