Heaters – same old

I’ve come to wonder why there aren’t any other big players in the heater market besides Mr Heater. Or why you don’t see anything new come from any propane heater manufacturers like you see with other ice fishing equipment. The sun flower and Buddy line of heaters by Mr Heater have been unchanged for as long as I can remember. IMO They don’t really have any other competitors that are challenging them to stay innovative or drive price down from competition. Both work great but have areas for improvement. I own a sunflower, Big Buddy and Mr Buddy. For 99% of my ice fishing, I go with the big buddy. With the Big Buddy, I wish there was more adjustability to the settings. Often times medium is not enough heat and high is always way too much. With the sunflowers, there needs to be a lower setting, so again more adjustability.

So why hasn’t any other ice fishing company dipped their toes into the heater arena? I’d love to see something in the market like a big buddy with the heat it can kick off but in a much smaller footprint. I feel the big buddy has a lot of wasted space that could be eliminated to make a smaller version, especially the 1 tank slots and all the extra plastic.

I do believe Mr heater makes 3 sizes, one tends to think they would like you to purchase all 3.

The sunflower can be adjusted. Carefully pry off the plastic on-low-med-high valve and underneath it there is a spot for a small allen wrench. Plaay with that and you can bring all the settings down.

I don’t think other manufactures get into it with how regional the market is. I like my big buddy heater but I hate how long it takes to get it to light the first time each trip.

I bought the DeWalt branded Mr. Heater. It has a lot going for it but it has only 2 settings 6K btu or 12K btu which I don’t have any complaints about. The 6K setting heats my portable just fine and it will heat my 8X16 wheel house just fine if I don’t want to run the forced air heater in it.

In addition it has a very bright led light built into the handle which gives me plenty light in my portable. It has a built in fan and 3 usb chargers on it. All run off DeWalt 20 volt batteries. I love things like this that do multiple things especially for ice fishing. It has a little bigger footprint than the Big Buddy I think but that not much that it makes a big difference. The multiple functions more than makes up for the little bit of extra space it takes up. Picked mine up at L&M Fleet Supply 2 years ago on sale at $149.99 They may have come down in price some. You have to pay for that DeWalt name and yellow color ya know!

Before I try to light these types of heaters I open the valve on the propane tank wait a couple minutes and then turn the setting on the heater to the lowest setting until I just get a whiff of propane. Then light.

Here’s a good review on it.

slipbob_nick wrote:

I don’t think other manufactures get into it with how regional the market is. I like my big buddy heater but I hate how long it takes to get it to light the first time each trip.

If you’re using a hose off a big tank, purge the hose first.

Poke the inside of the quick coupler with your Leatherman or a screw driver or knife. Purge it for 2-3 seconds and the heater will light up almost immediately.

It should go without saying, but only do it outside.

I’m waiting for Milwaukee to come out with an electric one as I have 4 batteries with my drill.

Ice Cap wrote:

Before I try to light these types of heaters I open the valve on the propane tank wait a couple minutes and then turn the setting on the heater to the lowest setting until I just get a whiff of propane. Then light.

How does the thermocouple allow fuel to flow, without the pilot being light? That is the whole reason for the thermocouple, to shut off fuel flow in the absence of a flame. You should not be getting any fuel flow except when manually bypassing the thermocouple, when lighting the pilot light.

ClownColor wrote:

I’m waiting for Milwaukee to come out with an electric one as I have 4 batteries with my drill.

It would last about 4 minutes if the batteries are making the heat……

disco bobber wrote:

The sunflower can be adjusted. Carefully pry off the plastic on-low-med-high valve and underneath it there is a spot for a small allen wrench. Plaay with that and you can bring all the settings down.

I did this. It’s still too damn hot.

I really really like my Coleman catalyst heater. It only runs somewhere around 2k btu and is just enough for a small shack.

chamberschamps wrote:

I did this. It’s still too damn hot.

I really really like my Coleman catalyst heater. It only runs somewhere around 2k btu and is just enough for a small shack.

The Coleman catalytic heaters were money. Not sure why they stopped making them, but I have a good stockpile of them from Craigslist or garage sale finds.

The Colemans don’t get blown out from breathing in their direction or shut off if you look at them wrong like some other heaters do.. cough cough buddy heaters

I found an off brand sunflower type heater that has an infinite adjustment not just three settings and bought 4 of them. I will try to look at the brand and post it.

Our group has all made our own out of propane burners from outdoor stoves inside a steel housing with plywood base. With a 1/4 turn valve, there is infinite adjustment which is crucial for maintaining comfortable heat on a calm, sunny day in a quilted house. I can throttle it right down to where it’s perfect – 100% of the time. Testing with a CO monitor has showed “0” readings at all burn levels….. I would never go back to a factory heater (plus you can easily cook on it – no more hauling a separate cooking stove)

tswoboda wrote:

The Coleman catalytic heaters were money. Not sure why they stopped making them, but I have a good stockpile of them from Craigslist or garage sale finds.

Good question. I suspect product liability is the reason, probably the same reason there’s only on main company making all the portable heaters.

Totally agree, the Coleman heaters were terrific. They weren’t 3 bazillion BTUs, but for a small shack or portable, they’re plenty. Some people complained that they smelled, but I never noticed that when running, have you? I scored a mint condition one at a garage sale, that’s going to be the first heater I try when I build a tower deer stand this summer.

Grouse

I got a Coleman Focus 10 for $8 at a garage sale. That puppy cooks! Yes, I know it kicks out CO, but I don’t use it in an envelope space.

I guess I never thought about it. Started with a Little Buddy, moves to a Buddy, and now a Big Buddy. Still use the Little and Big Buddys depending on which shack I have out. I’d rather have more heat than I need then the other way around.

slipbob_nick wrote:

I don’t think other manufactures get into it with how regional the market is.

You could say every ice fishing product is “regional” yet there are numerous manufacturers for every different piece of ice fishing gear, besides heaters.

And I actually think heaters, of all the ice fishing gear out there, would be more lucrative to manufacturers because there are applications besides ice fishing. Someone who buys a vexilar is going to use it 99% of the time for ice fishing. Whereas heaters are multi purpose and can be used in significantly more applications than just ice fishing.

I have my sunflower, big buddy, and buddy heater and I would gladly pay a premium for a new heater that moved the needle a bit. I’d love something that could kick out the heat of a big buddy, but with infinite adjustability and built to be as small footprint as possible. Also, make dual functionality with a cooking grate or way to flip the wire cage into a grill and have it be sturdy. Also make it with legs that fold up from the bottom of the heater to get it 4-6” up off the ice to minimize having a pool of water at your feet. I would gladly pay a premium for this.

Timmy wrote:

Our group has all made our own out of propane burners from outdoor stoves inside a steel housing with plywood base. With a 1/4 turn valve, there is infinite adjustment which is crucial for maintaining comfortable heat on a calm, sunny day in a quilted house. I can throttle it right down to where it’s perfect – 100% of the time. Testing with a CO monitor has showed “0” readings at all burn levels….. I would never go back to a factory heater (plus you can easily cook on it – no more hauling a separate cooking stove)

Could we see a pic of your homemade heater setup?

Simple. This one is between 20-25 yrs old. Beat up – and still working fine.

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TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Totally agree, the Coleman heaters were terrific. They weren’t 3 bazillion BTUs, but for a small shack or portable, they’re plenty. Some people complained that they smelled, but I never noticed that when running, have you? I scored a mint condition one at a garage sale, that’s going to be the first heater I try when I build a tower deer stand this summer.

Grouse

They make more noise and smell than buddy heaters, but waaayy less than sunflowers.

Timmy wrote:

Simple. This one is between 20-25 yrs old. Beat up – and still working fine.

I like it! The only drawback I see is similar to the sunflower heaters. Your portable canvas or the leg of your bibs or your jacket gets up against the metal it’s instant melt. The Mr. Heater units heating elements are contained in the case and protected up front by the element cage to keep from burning things it shouldn’t to a minimum.

Your set up would be great for heating up a can of soup or something.

I set it out of my way and clear of the house fabric – and have never had an issue. The potential for burning something is definitely there, but has not been any trouble to me.

I like the fact that I can throttle it from barely a visible flame to a raging heater that turns the top cherry red – and anywhere in between. Simply setting a skillet on top has allowed me to cook meals fit for a king. There is something about a one pan breakfast of bacon, eggs and hashbrowns that takes the chill out of your bones on a -30 degree Ontario morning…. Another tip: I like to boil a small pan of water, pour into your coffee cup and add a single serve(or 2) coffee bag – just like a tea bag, but with coffee in it. Fresh hot coffee never tasted better.

There are golf cart heaters available, they look like the focus five. They have low, Med and high setting. Run off 1# screw on propane bottles, even come with a base for inserting the bottle so they stand up. I use one in my SXS and it works good. I just put it in my cup holder. I just bought one last fall thru Amazon for about $50.

Like this? Good deal!

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Propane-Heater-Ignited-Adapter/dp/B07ZQKXWSF/ref=asc_df_B07ZQKXWSF/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385558136559&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6928176606029860114&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019558&hvtargid=pla-834423974336&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=78921461256&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=385558136559&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6928176606029860114&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019558&hvtargid=pla-834423974336

I started out with a Coleman focus 5 years ago. I have tried the Buddy heaters but much prefer the Focus 5 and still use it. IMO it’s the best one or two man portable heater I ever used. I picked another one up at a flea market for 12 bucks a few years back and I would have gladly paid twice that.

I’m not sure why Coleman stopped making those heaters. Probably because too many dopes couldn’t be bothered to use them the way they were intended to be used = too close to combustibles, not enough ventilation and what not.

I’m not sure if it was a Coleman product or not but there was a similar but smaller Focus 3 ? heater that sat on top of a 1 pound propane bottle that you could get in Canada a few years after the Focus 5 went away. That too was a good little heater. Dunno if those are still available or not.

that’s the one!