20 Best Portable Heater For Deer Stand (2023 Updated)

These heaters work great, right up until they stop working. I’ve owned two now, and they both stopped working within a few months. To whoever makes these products, there must be some defect in the sensor that tells this thing its level or with its oxygen sensor causing it to turn off.

When they stopped working, I tried using different hoses, different tanks full of gas, put them on a level surface using a level, and they both stopped working within a few seconds. I went so far as to check carbon monoxide and oxygen levels just to make sure the air was good and that was a lot of work just to make sure a heater should work.

So yes, 5 star until right up until they decide to no longer work after a few months. I’m so frustrated to have a nice heater that just stops working after a few months.

I’ve had a Mr. Heater Big Buddy for five years, and it occasionally glitches but has been generally dependable. In Sept 2020 I bought and picked up from Walmart in Taos, NM, a Little Buddy portable, so that I could keep a heater on, set to low, on both ends of thee long room AND so that I’d have a backup, as I live in the wilderness and it’s not easy to get into town, especially in winter, when the unpaved roads get muddy and impassable.

// I didn’t start using the portable until end of November. I bought the correct hose, at the suggestion of a Mr. Heater employee I spoke with before buying the heater, but I still had trouble firing up the Little Buddy.

Long story slightly shorter, It worked only intermittently and then not at all–no with a 20-lb tank or, thinking it was the hose, with a 1-lb canister. I brought the unit to my local propane supplier and experts, and after close examination, the boss there concluded that the REGULATOR IS DEFECTIVE.

I want to be able to exchange this DEFECTIVE heater for a new one that WORKS ALL THE TIME! I’m thoroughly disgusted and want the company to weigh in and advise on how to get an exchange.

There are many heaters on the market which are designed to supplement heat in the home but they can’t get the heat up past 3 degrees. This heater however will do the job that you need. This heater produces a soft radiant heat that heats up quickly (in a few minutes) and maintains quietly through the night to keep the bedroom at a comfortable temperature.

It has an “eco” setting which will range from 1000-1500 watts to keep the temperature steady. The cabinet, made from wood, is cool to the touch. The fan will kick in to disperse any excess heat and cool it down.

Temperature range can be set manually or by remote. IMO, it’s the finest heater available on the market built with true intelligence and integrity. It’s well worth the price.

I love this infrared heater. I should have bought two. (I am) it’s heats up the space in the room very quickly. It’s very quiet and light weight. I love the fact it has wheels. I can move it from room to room (I have turned my heat down in the house it’s just me) I love the remote as well.

While laying in Bed and it starts to get to warm I can just aim to turn it down or off. The only thing I do wish is that the base comes in more appealing color finishes like black or white but it’s okay I can overlook the wood cherry look.

It’s a great buy and it was at a great price.

Like all the Mr Heater products the heat is great, but the build value with plastic parts is of poor quality. If you camp a lot you will like the heat provided by this heater. The problem is the unit is wrapped in thin plastic parts around the unit.

They don’t take much to cause cracking. The unit will still work but on a camping trip you usually are less than gentle with outdoor goods. The unit still works well but expect a few broken or chipped parts before the season is over.

The best part is the electric start. No loud clicking to start the unit. The other nice factor is the unit does hold an additional second bottle of propane for your use after emptying the first bottle of fuel.

Bought this heater for hunting trip this October. It rained, hailed, snowed and froze gallon water jugs outside overnight. This little heater kept us warm and toasty. We did use it in the back of a Jeep (where we slept) Just make sure to crack a window so that it can get fresh oxygen, if not it will shut off as a safety feature.

Kept us warm and toasty. We did not run it at night while we were sleeping. Started right up without issues. The high setting was enough to roast us out of the back of the jeep. We only has to run it for a short while to take the chill off.

For a 9 day trip, we used just over 3 portable tanks. We did buy the Mr. Heater adapter hose to hook it up to a bigger tank, but we did not need it. We used that hose for out portable propane stove instead.

Went back and forth between the Hunting Buddy and Buddy heater. Decided on the Hunting Buddy since it had the extra storage compartment for a spare tank. Great buy!.

It’s not a good value because it does not have the fan on it. I expected a fan to be present on the heater. Without the fan it will NOT sufficiently heat a space of 120 square feet. With enough time it will heat it.

However it has to be on high to do so and is a waste of propane. If it had the fan. It would sufficiently heat the space on low in a short amount of time. It is my opinion this heater is a waste of money without the fan.

As far as quality. I believe the heater itself is of good quality. It starts straight away.

Chose M18B no fan. Heater gives out immediate heat, warms body AND air! Fast! Opted to NOT pay for another RV furnace repair. BIG BUDDY fuel efficient, love it!

Purchased 6 of these for restaurant outdoor dining. Works well. However, 1 put off an incredibly strong burning smell and there was another 1 where the wire to hold the item from folding while rolling will not stay put so we have to carry that one when moving it.

Overall, would recommend. Convenient and heats up fast. Boss says it uses less propane compared to your typical patio heater.

Overall, seems to be a good product with the amount of heat it puts out. The handle that goes across the back that allows you to tilt the heater to roll it is flimsy. Other than that, we like this heater.

Product heats up very quickly, easy to light and throws off a tremendous amount of heat. We actually used it to keep warm during parade under our pop up tent. Works fantastic for this and everyone was crowding around to share the heat! It is very portable and was perfect for what we wanted.

It’s a great product and I’m glad I made the purchase.

COLD WEATHER OPERATION: • Cold weather is generally defined as ambient temperatures below 32 degrees F. • 1 lb. propane cylinders have difficulty producing sufficient gas at lower temperatures and can “freeze-up”, reducing the time of operation by as much as 50-70%.

For this reason, it is recommended to use only 20 lb. propane tanks under these conditions. • If a 1 lb. tank is used in cold weather, such as in an ice fishing hut, following are some operating suggestions; 1.

Expect operating times to be significantly reduced. 2. Never use only a single 1 lb. tank. 3. Never set the heater directly on the ice. Set the heater on a rigid piece of flame retardant insulation and make sure the ventilation slots on the heater are not obstructed.

4. Elevate the heater slightly above the ground level. Insure the unit is level and secure and cannot be knocked over.

This heater is great with small children around. I recently purchased this second heater for a second room. My grandchildren were playing in the living room where one of the heaters was on. I popped into the kitchen for a second and when I returned my two year old granddaughter was playing ring a round the heater.

She was putting her arm all the way through the “hole” in the middle and was not getting burned. No, I don’t let them play with it, the point being “if” they do touch it they don’t get burned. I believe these heaters are some of the safest on the market for that reason alone.

They also perform very well! There is only one negative thing I have to say, when new, these heaters have a burning plastic smell that will make you think it is burning up and will cause you to want to return it.

Before you do, put it in the garage, turn it up as hot and as high as it will go and let it run for a day or so. This will “burn” off the unpleasant burning plastic smell “before” you use it in your house or office.

ZERO STARS! Garbage. Got for my 82-year-old mother. It comes on for a few minutes and shuts off. Then my mother has to get up, unplug. Wait ten minutes, get up, plug it back in, runs for 5 minutes – Repeat.

Plus, the first time she used it the plug was soooo hot she couldn’t touch it to unplug it! OMG! Thank god my 82-Y—O mother had the SENSE to unplug the piece of garbage!! I’d be at her funeral! GARBAGE! Stay away! I’m throwing it in the bin.

Shame on Lasko.

Main concern is oscillation region of the fan – it is hardly a 70 degree sector, so i t basically blows hot air in one direction. I have tried both this one and Lasko Full Circle Warmth Ceramic Heater ct24362.

ANd that thing does the trick by 360 oscillation had – spreads the heat much more evenly.

I bought this heater a couple months ago and it hasn’t broken down since. It’s perfect and has kept me warm when there was no heat in my office building. Now all my co-workers want the same one. It does have a little bit of noise, but I can’t complain much about that.

It is without a doubt incredible and not a let down at all from Office Depot. Super stoked, may have to get myself a personal one someday; I’m actually honestly impressed. I also love the rotating feature.

Not gonna lie, I was skeptical at first, but legit, this isn’t a disspointment. Great price too!.

Love these ceramic type heaters though. This unit turns off automatically if knocked over for safety, and it runs like a champ, even though I’ve knocked them both over a few times. I turn them off to be on the safe side when I leave the house, but sometimes I leave it on overnight, and I don’t feel I have to worry about it.

I just put it on the lower setting.

Absolutely love this heater. Works so good. Love that it has a timer and that it also rotates. It keeps our living room warm during the winter when the heat doesn’t keep the living room the same temperature as the rest of the house.

Our living room is surrounded by windows so it’s hard to keep warm.

This heater is amazing! From camping in a teepee at 7,500 feet in the foothills of Colorado, elk hunting at 10,400 feet on Grand Mesa with lows of 14’ in a 4 season tent, 12 inch snows along the Blue River to heating the living room when the heat pump is struggling in super low temps, this is one dynamite heater!! It will burn nearly all night on low, keeping the chill out of my guide tent.

Great for warmer nights (30’) and cool mornings, just reaching over and switching it on; 2 minutes on high and your teepee is a sweat tent!! For longer runs, a 15 lb tank and hose relives the burden of changing 1 pounders out in the early morning.

(One bit of advice, use a hose with a regulator and put the tank outside. ) My unit does work at at least 10,400 feet, despite the literature, but it is a little finicky (don’t move it around or bump it once it’s lit; keep it level and it may take a few times to light).

Despite all of the built in safety features, I do keep a CO sensor at head height when at extreme altitude, for safety’s sake. To Big Buddies engineers, the CO sensor has never gone off, even when using in my 10 x 10 four season guide tent with snow shoveled around the overhanging fly.

I do ensure there is some small amount of ventilation through door and stove jack vent. Inside the house, it works like a normal propane heater. It’s great! Mine has a blower that works a long time on 4 D-Cells.

It’s great eat for the house or barn, and comes in handy in a teepee without a floor. It’s not necessary in my 10 x 10. This is an extremely versatile and easy to use heater! All the best!.

I bought this from TSC and they delivered the next day! (Thank you!). I have the Buddy Flex, and bought this as my second Big Buddy for the following reasons. The Big Buddy use 2-1lb tanks or quick coupler and is more flexible for outdoor and winter power off situations.

In low, they should operate around 10 hours on 2 – 1lb tanks). With the high setting you can expect < 3 hours, and it puts out a lot of heat. I prefer the more directional nature of the of the Big Buddy and longer fuel burn time over the Buddy Flex.

The fan (yes, this has one), while always could be bigger, better, and more quiet, does really make a difference indoors. Ended up putting a thermo-electric fan on mine just to see how it would work.

Very quiet, and “could be bigger, better,” but does a fine job and silent. To condense this, both the Heater Buddy and the Big Heater Buddy are great products. If you use the low and medium settings this is the output of the smaller Heater Buddy (with double the time).

If you use the high setting, the Big Buddy puts out the same heat as 2 heater buddies. For me, I tend to like to have some margin for really cold weather. The only negative is my wife wanted the Red One.

Mr. Heater stopped installing fans in these. So while she did not like the green color so much, the heat output and function of the unit have won her over.

I have only 20 amps in my live work space. After running lights, television and other stuff, I did not have enough current left to run a space heater. This little buddy heater solved my heating problem.

It works indoors! I have a 5 lb. Propane tank feeding it. I get about two to three 1/2 days ( at night) running time per tank, about 36 hours. I have 6 tanks for backup.

Throws great heat. Keeps the ice tent cozy at -25°C. Critical design flaw in that they don’t take the 1lb bottles very well. The first half of the bottle burns fine, then you lose pressure and the tank will frost over.

Almost forces you to buy a hose and link up a larger tank.

First time I used it I couldn’t get it to run longer than a half hour before the bottle would freeze up and it would kick out. It would run a little longer on low and then kick out as well. Outside temp was only -10C (14F).

Called the manufacturer and they told me that the tanks get cold and flow is restricted. They suggested I find a way to keep the tanks warm (a heater to heat the heater???) or buy the attachment to run big tanks.

They basically said it doesn’t work well in the cold. not a great feature for a heater. I would understand at -35C, but -10C is a pretty nice ice fishing day. Fortunately I called cabelas and I will be able to return it and get a buddy heater which my buddy has and works fine.

Don’t buy the hunting buddy. It’s not a good product.

A close friend of mine has one of these and brought it this past weekend when we went camping. I have a roof top tent and he usually has his RV, but the RV was being serviced, so he brought his SUV. He didn’t end up needing it, but I did.

I didn’t put the rain fly on the top of my roof top tent the first night of camping, and a surprise rain storm sent a bit of water into a few places inside the tent. The mattress, pillows, and sheets were a bit soaked.

The temps outside didn’t break 50° for 4 days, and it kept raining on and off, maybe 4 hours of sunlight a day. The dampness never went away outside. I let the Buddy run for a couple of hours after the first night, and it dried nearly all of the bedding.

The next morning I let it run for another 2 hours and it made it feel like I was in the Mojave desert, it was GREAT. I live in Western New York State, it’s always very damp here, and once fall hits, the rainy/mucky weather roll in.

I let it sit on my memory foam mattress and it didn’t budge. Very easy to use, very convenient. My tent is 84” long, 45” wide, and 42” tall, this is the perfect size for it. I’m going to buy one this weekend for the last camping trip of the year in a few weeks.

I’m sure it’ll be great for just keeping the tent cozy, and taking the evening and morning chills off. It gets to be -15° and snows over 100” where I live, I’m interested to see how it would handle that weather.

For people that haven’t ever used these, condensation will result inside of the tent. Simply wiping it away with a paper towel will get it gone. Anything evaporating may have a slight odor as well. It’s normal.

This item is great. I noticed some comments mentioning loose parts inside, that is simply the mechanism used for detecting when the heater falls over. Also, I noticed comments stating that the heater falls over too often, this is due to leaving the plastic support on the propane tank, make sure to remove it before inserting tank into heater stand.

I would have gave five stars, except I think its only big enough for one person while outside. Great for small tents though.

As much as I wanted it to work unfortunately it did not. Heater would be great if it would just ignite. Tried two different propane tanks to verify that wasn’t the issue. The units fan was working properly and it was getting fuel just no spark! Sending it back today :(.

Used for Football Sideline warming stations. Much easy to work with/transport than large kerosene heaters. The self contained battery is also great as we don’t need to bring generators. Used about a half tank of a full 20lb propane tank for the game.

Bought this for a winter tent camping trip to keep the chill off the air in the tent. It was about -10c at night. Unfortunately i only purchased 2 x 1 pound tanks of gas so I had to use it on low setting so my 2 tanks would last all night.

Next time I go camping i will purchase the hose to attach the heater to a 20 pound tank so I can run it on high if it gets that cold. Still managed to keep the dogs water bowl from freezing solid in the night.

All in all its a great little heater and this particular model has a low setting of only 4000 btu so you an use it in a vehicle or a small trailer without making it too hot. The 3 larger Buddy heaters have a minimum of 6000btu which may be too much.

With this Buddy heater you need 9 sq. in. of ventilation when using it on high (9000btu) when used in a vehicle or trailer. No ventilation is necessary in a tent as there is sufficient ventilation.

I had the original Mr Heater until if finally died. So I decided why not get the larger one this time. More heat, maybe more time. This one takes a lot of propane, it is warm, it works less than expected.

What I mean is that you have to prime a long time and sometimes it still goes out when you go to set the temp. Everything the original did. It has to have a very level surface, or forget getting it lit.

Again the same as the original. I take these to dog shows and wanted portable vs the ones you put on the heavy BBQ tanks. It was very cold this weekend and as I worked the show, I thought my dogs were warm, however it went out and thank goodness they were insulated and had fleece blankets to nest up in.

I will figure out the quirks and hopefully be happy with it. The seller was excellent. No reflection on him/her.

This is a great product. I tested its performance on indoors a tent and found no Carbon smell; I tipped it over and it shut off. Besides, the heat will melt you on high, so be share the area you want to warm up is good size (400sf) or so, if smaller the other buddy heaters are just as good.

This companies service was great; shipped timely and arrive on time.

I have always wanted one of these heaters and I finally decided to order this one. I have only used it twice, but it’s easy to work and it throws out lots of heat. I bought it for my shop which is 32 x 24 and not insulated.

It does a good job of heating it up.

Here in Monterey County the weather can be colder in the evenings. At my home we cut of the central heating back in 88 so we all dress up like eskimos to keep warm. Dont get me wrong. We do use electric heaters in certain areas but after purchasing this Portable Propane heater, it was Heaven sent.

I recommend this product with all my heart. It is compact. It is durable. It is easy to refuel. It is warm to hot. And now, as we speak, the 5 ft extension hose just arrived. When connected from my Gas Buddy to a 20 lb propane tank, I should get at least 24 hrs of constant heat.

Thank you for your time.

These are good little heaters. I bought them during a time when they were very high priced. Buy them in the summertime I guess. Yesterday when I was taking a shower with one, it went off and there was still gas in the tank.

It mustve been that there wasnt enough oxygen in the room is all I can figure. Im not sure about that though. I had the door partially open. But it did start right back up.

Excellent portable heater. Saw many reviews before I decided to buy it including videos both in the negative and the positive. I am so happy with mt decision to finally buy this portable heater. It is fantastic.

I highly recommend it.

I’ve used this product for hunting in my deer blind and it worked exceptionally well. Last year we had a storm that knocked out power for several days during very cold weather and it was our source of heat.

We were very fortunate to have this little heater. Because of that we bought another one this year and stocked up on the propane canisters. We also bought a long hose with an adapter for the heater to the 20 pound tanks but the small tanks do last several hours.

As a safety precaution we always keep a carbon monoxide detector in our home and this is especially important when using this heater in your home. It does have an open flame so care must be taken to ensure there is no fire hazard.

Works as designed. It’s very much a small space heater. Easy to use (read the instructions). I use it outdoors under an awning and it’s enough to keep me a bit warmer, but not enough to allow me to completely shed my layers (ie take off my jacket etc.

). A 1lb tank is probably good for about a couple hours depending on how high you set it, maybe more. It’s easy to move around while in its standard setup like that. It’s designed well that It doesn’t get too hot to the touch (grabbing by the handle).

However, I decided to hook it up to a 15lb tank using an adapter hose and it works the same way.