01-04-2013, 03:54 PM
I have had several propane heaters that I've used inside and outside ice fishing tents. Sunflower and converter cooker types outside and catalytic inside. Inside the tent, I currently use the Coleman catalytic heater pictured above in Blueboy22's posting. It only produces 3000 BTUs of heat, as opposed to 10,000 to 20,000 BTUs for the higher powered heaters, so it takes longer to heat the tent and doesn't keep it as warm. I bought the catalytic because it produces much less carbon monoxide than the other radiant types, but all require fresh air exchanges in the tent (as much as 1.5 to 5 complete air exchanges per hour in order to keep the oxygen levels up and the unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide down). I open both the door at the bottom and the upper air flaps at the top of my tent. I also use a AA battery powered carbon monoxide detector in the tent to make sure I'm safe (similar in appearance to a smoke detector - about $30 at HD) . Units with an oxygen depletion sensor such as the Mr Buddy types prevent carbon monoxide levels from getting too high by shutting off the unit when the oxygen levels get too low.
The Consumer Product Protection Agency has published 2 recent reports on both types of heaters - a little techy, but contain all the info you need to make a decision to buy and safely use such heaters. The radiant heater report covers the sunflower type, the converter cooker type, and the Mr Buddy type heaters while the catalytic report covers the heater in Blueboy22's posting. Neither the sunflower nor the converter cooker types meet their safety recommendations, even with significant air exchange - I would not use them in a tent. Look for the bottom line recommendations in the Conclusions section at the end of the reports.
The radiant types are at:
www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia05/os/co02.pdf
and the catalytic types are at:
www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia05/os/co03.pdf
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The Consumer Product Protection Agency has published 2 recent reports on both types of heaters - a little techy, but contain all the info you need to make a decision to buy and safely use such heaters. The radiant heater report covers the sunflower type, the converter cooker type, and the Mr Buddy type heaters while the catalytic report covers the heater in Blueboy22's posting. Neither the sunflower nor the converter cooker types meet their safety recommendations, even with significant air exchange - I would not use them in a tent. Look for the bottom line recommendations in the Conclusions section at the end of the reports.
The radiant types are at:
www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia05/os/co02.pdf
and the catalytic types are at:
www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia05/os/co03.pdf
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