Can you use a Big Buddy Heater For Sleeping?

[crappie55409]

I have a 7x14 camper with a heating problem.  I currently use a wood stove to heat this camper which is not very well insulated.  It works great but the problem is its very small so when you go to sleep you wake up freezing.  I have a sunflower heater but i dont want to sleep with that on.  Can i use a big buddy heater for sleeping?  I mean is it safe?  I have a CO2 detector in the shack and plenty of windows i could crack and i know those units have an auto shutoff feature on them.  I just dont want to have to buy a vented heater as they start out at 400$ minimum

[Duncan77]

Yes you can use the Big Buddy to heat you overnight. I have done it, it is more safe than the sunflower.

[fishonone]

I have a 7x14 camper with a heating problem.  I currently use a wood stove to heat this camper which is not very well insulated.  It works great but the problem is its very small so when you go to sleep you wake up freezing.  I have a sunflower heater but i dont want to sleep with that on.  Can i use a big buddy heater for sleeping?  I mean is it safe?  I have a CO2 detector in the shack and plenty of windows i could crack and i know those units have an auto shutoff feature on them.  I just dont want to have to buy a vented heater as they start out at 400$ minimum

yes you can i use mine in my tent went i sleep on the ice you should be fine

[frozengator]

It has a low O2 sensor too, but like you said you have a sensor also  I have been happy with my big buddy heater no fumes and heats nice

[MILLERMANKT]

heat away, you will be fine.

[IceHutt]

I would be very careful.  The heater needs oxygen to burn also.  Be sure you have enough oxygen for both you and your heater.  I know it sounds dumb, but you might want to crack open a small window to let some fresh air in. Be careful.  We need good ice fishermen like you and don't have time to go to services for people that didn't wake up.

[muskyon46]

You should have no problems, but as stated i would get some fresh air to it or it will go out due to insuffient oxygen. We have 2-3ft sections of 2in pvc that we stick under the walls in our pop-ups and place it right in front of the heater. Burns all nite long

[eriksat1]

Should be no different than fishing in a shack with it for 8 hours during the day..

[DFresh75]

I definitely lean more toward safety and conservative, so if you are going to do it since you have no clue if your low o2 sensor works is bring a couple portable Carbon Monoxide Detectors with you.  Cheap insurance.

[Special]

Heck ya it works great I have a couple and when needed I'll turn on on in my camper to warm it up.

[mricefish]

We have used ours for many many over nights But I would run a Carbon Monoxide Detector and crack a window/vent  just a bit too just to be safe. 

[Hard Ice]

How long do you plan on using the buddy heater ?

[Whopper Stopper]

I wouldn't. I had a friend whose buddy caught fire and burned up. The sensor melted and the heater didn't turn off.

 I am sure if this post was " Do Buddy Heaters ever catch fire? " Everyone would say no. I personally have no desire to sleep with one. YMMV

               WS

           

[Rebelss]

As stated by others, not without a  good CO detector, I wouldn't. Buddy heater's have a low-oxygen shut-off, which is NOT the same thing!!! They will NOT detect high CO levels. CO levels can still build up to dangerous levels, and if you're asleep, you may never wake up. In addition, you need to provide some ventilation for fresh air circulation. Be safe and use a CO detector!!!

[hollis]

I think the important word is a "GOOD" CO detector. There is a thread here about how bad some of them are AND the fact that you have to becareful  if they are more than a FEW years old!  I belong to a landlords group and find this fact is being realized by different state agencies and I wouldn't be surprised if we will be mandated to change CO detectors every few years soon.

When you think how much is at stake, I would use a relatively new one or perhaps two,..one near floor level. Do crack a window/door a bit to make sure you have some O2 coming in.
BTW I have a workshed that is insulated and very tight. I sometime heat it with the Buddy,..if I run it and don't get back for a while,..it DOES shut off,..BUT man,..you feel like you are suffocating in you go in rt away because of the lack of O2.   I guess you might wake up before that with heavy breathing but I have known people that are  incredibly sound sleepers. had a roomate in college that you cold pour cold water over his head and shake him and he often wouldn't wake or he would just turn over, and then get argry because he missed classes and "No one woke him up" ,..I think a guy like him would be in tough shape in a O2 starved room. But then again,,I had a brother in law that couldn't have a wood or similar stove  because he knew any smoke detector would never wake him,..I guess you have to know yourself,..
Personally I'm a very light sleeper,..

As said before,..the low O2 feature is good , perhaps the best feature around  on small fuel heaters ,..but I wouldn't my life or yours on it,...anything can fail,..I would take extra precautions,.(I would sleep better having 2-4 fail safes, 2 GOOD CO detectors and a cracked window)

[beerduck]

do it all the time in my eskimo 9416 window crack just a little ventilation will help been doing it for about 7 years im still here

[fish413]

Yes!  You can use your Buddy heater to heat you up over night. It has a built in low oxegen sensor that will turn off the heater if it detects any gas.  It will also turn off if it gets tipped over.  Just make shure that you have a window cracked!

[gearheart]

Another option is to get a better sleeping bag.  Having an insulated pad under you is very important.  Change into dry bed clothing b4 going to sleep.  Wool socks on the feet, a track suit and wool gloves is a good combination. Wear a balaclava to keep the face warm and don't put you head inside the sleeping bag.  The moisture from your breath makes the bag wet and then there is no insulation.  You can keep warm without having a heater going.

[IceRaider]

I heard a while back a couple of college girls used a kerosene heater inside their dorm room and died.

[jethro]

Another option is to get a better sleeping bag.  Having an insulated pad under you is very important.  Change into dry bed clothing b4 going to sleep.  Wool socks on the feet, a track suit and wool gloves is a good combination. Wear a balaclava to keep the face warm and don't put you head inside the sleeping bag.  The moisture from your breath makes the bag wet and then there is no insulation.  You can keep warm without having a heater going.

X2 to everything this fisherman has said! You must be an experienced winter camper, as am I. A mummy bag and a very good air matress like a Therm-o-rest (check the good outdoor stores like EMS or REI for them). I camp on the ice, but the heater goes off when I get into the bag and hunker down for the night.

[shsalchemist]

I would never never sleep with one since all combustion reactions produces carbon monoxide.  That said, I have kept warm winter camping with a candle in a glass jar away from us in our quiz here.  Hope this helps.  It's also romantic when you bring your significant other ice fishing and winter camping

[Riffle]

I wouldn't do this.

While others have had no problems and it is probably safe, you don't want to be the exception, as bad things can and will happen.

If you are going to sleep on the ice, whether it be in a shack or in a pop up with a foam floor, you don't need a heater, you need a sleep system:

In order on the ground/floor

1. Space blanket (optional)
2. Inflatable Winter Mat (Exped 7 or 9)
3. Closed cell foam mat like a Thermarest Z-lite 3/4 pad
4. Winter bag, like a Western Mountaineering Puma

You could buy all the above for the price of one of the new LCD flashers.

[TrekJeff]

Get your camper heater fixed.  Sure the BH has built in this and that...assuming it doesn't fail you'll be ok, but if it does, well I guess we'll never know.

[wyocenterpin]

something to look at is what elevation you will be using it at.  I read some where in the warnings on a buddy heater that the safety features will not work above 6000 ft.    they might have fixed this problem but its worth looking into