Mr Heater F274800 Portable "Big Buddy" Heater

I don't agree with some of the reviews. I don't see that it's a fire hazard at all. My Big Buddy was delivered last week. Here's what I found:

My elevation in Virginia, About 800 feet
Ambient temperature, 72.8 (in my house). Outside temp 29.0

1. Running on high on ONE Disposable Cylinder caused unit shutdown after 50 minutes. (Pilot started to flicker, cut out and then gas shut down). Single bottle was covered with ice (I assume that's bad...)

2. Running on TWO Disposable Cylinders got me the balance of three hours smoothly and well.

3. No fumes observed at all. Some moisture, but cracking the window an inch kept it under control.

4. A lot of heat. Too much for my wood floor. I had to put it on my brick mantle. This might scorch tile.

5. It kept my upstairs (1000 square feet) at 72.5. Only a loss of 0.3 degrees over three hours. Better than expected.

Suggestion: If you are trying to run on high with disposables, use two of them. This is not in the manual.

I don't know how it works with tanks, or whether you need to feed one or both inputs.

My unit did not come with the AC adapter. The batteries work.

If you bump it gently, it shuts off.

Conclusion:
For 139 bucks, it fits the bill well enough. It appears to be very well made, but the safety features make it tempermental. For my use as an emergency heat source, it's adequate.

I purchased a Big Buddy heater for our vacation cabin based on my positive experience with the little buddy. Big mistake! The Big Buddy is unreliable using disposable cartridges and a FIRE HAZARD using a remote 20lb tank. Mr. Heater should recall this product forthwith!

The Big Buddy worked fine on full speed using disposable cartridges - for about an hour and a half. Then it started shutting itself down with increasing frequency. It ran longer on half speed, but still exhibited the same problem. Save yourself some money - buy a little buddy and a battery powered fan.

Of course, the problem with disposable cartridges is that Big Buddy sucks them down so fast they're economically and environmentally unfeasible. I connected the unit to a remote tank using the same Mr. Heater hose that worked successfully with it's little brother. The primary problem seems to be the internal regulator freezes up. This causes propane to become trapped in the unit. It then explodes when you attempt to relight. I also had the unit "flame up" before the regulator froze completely. My experience is certainly not consistent with a unit advertised as "safe for indoor use".

For the record, I returned my first unit thinking I'd just gotten a lemon. Unfortunately, I've had the same problems with the replacement.

In summary, I'd strongly recommend the Big Buddy - if you need the financial proceeds from your fire insurance policy!

After having bought and used the Little Buddy heater, I purchased the Big Buddy to get the higher heat output for my shed and back porch. The unit is well made and very sound. There are two major problems that I have found: 1)when the heater is on the highest setting, the propane cylinders get so cold from the high flow of gas that the heater shuts down. This is only a problem if the temperature that you are using it in is below 40 degrees F. If you are using it as an auxillary heater in the house, it does not frost up. 2) hooking the heater to a larger tank is not even discussed in the instruction manual, other than stating that an inline fuel filter should be used. It doesn't state if the line should be hooked to one side of the heater or the other, or if you need 2 hoses.

The frosting up issue is the biggest disappointment for me. I can't use it in my shed in the winter because of this. Make sure you know how you are going to use this unit before you purchase it.

I have this for one month and only used it for 3 hours in the garage and basement. Now, the heater keeps going off. The phone number for tech/customer service does not work at Mr. Heater....The no. is off of the instructions and the same no. at MrHeater.com.

Don,t waste your money. Mr Heater sucks. 0 stars Best to buy an electric or another brand.

I bought two Big Buddy Heaters from Amazon and neither one will run off a 20lb. propane tank with the hoses provided. The hose valve seat is to deep for the regulator to open, thus no gas flow. Mr. Heater seems to be giving me the run around. The heater works great with the 1lb. disposable propane bottles. If I can get a hose from Mr. Heater that will work I would love this little heater, but until that happens I am not to happy with it.