With the now hundreds of reviews for this item, what can I say that has not already been published about this heater? I have few things. First, I also own the Portable Buddy and while it is a good heater, it has its draw backs. The first thing I like better in comparison is the control knob of the Big Buddy, it's very smooth and ignites readily, it's also responsive and seems like it is better quality than the Portable Buddy unit. The handle is solid and does not fold down. The legs of the unit are soft rubber and non-adjustable. For a heater this size (I actually did gasp when I first got it, compared to the Little buddy) I think it would have been a plus. Having spoke about the legs, they are very soft and should play nice on wood floors. The unit is not very heavy and is easily carried with its sturdy handle. I'll say the fan is more gimmick than functional, but it does help throw out the heat to a degree. Do not expect blower style air out of the fan, it can run off of D cell batteries or an adapter that is sold separately (I wish I had sprung for the adaptor). I did spring for the quick connect propane hose by Mr. Heater for hooking up 20-40lb propane cylinders. If you buy the regulated quick connect hose you DO NOT have to buy the filters for running bulk propane. This is a money saver in the long run and worth it. The regulator inlet for the quick connect is located next to one of the inlets (opposite side of the control knob) for 1lb bottles and is easily accessible. This heater can be hooked up to (2) bulk propane tanks at the same time using connection hoses for bulk propane 20lb cylinders adapted to the 1lb connector or (1) 20lb bulk tank using the quick connect hose (to clarify for absolute clarity it only has (1) quick connect inlet and has an additional (2) propane inlets that are fitted for 1lb bottles. You may also run (1) or (2) 1lb propane bottles at the same time. The heater does well on the LOW settings and MEDIUM settings, the second element does not light until you turn it to HIGH setting. It does not matter what side you hook up propane to or in what manner you hook it up, the heater will run normally and work on all of its temperature settings (yes this was brought up in other reviews and is a source of confusion). The heater puts out a lot of heat on the HIGH settings and other reviews of the 1lb bottles freezing up on HIGH settings are more than likely accurate. This is no fault to the heater, it's just that on HIGH this thing eats up a good bit of propane and over a period of time empties those 1lb bottles more quickly, thus the moving gas freezes up the bottle. In a warm room this phenomenon may not occur and I'm not saying it always will, just don't be surprised if they do freeze under certain conditions. The Heater will NOT freeze a bulk tank 20lb or higher, I know this for a fact, I've tried. Durability wise the heater is a well built unit that has been running every night of the week in my garage for the last 5 weeks, and there's not been a single hiccup. my Portable Buddy has been put through hell and still runs like a champ, this one should be no different. The safety shut off Is very sensitive and at the first sign of tipping it shuts the heater down, I think this is an excellent feature. There is no smell with this heater, it puts off pure heat with no weird odors. The connections seem machined well and I have never had a problem using my Mr. heater hoses. The instruction manual is well layed out and tells it like it is, if you cannot understand this manual then you should not be using the heater, it's that easy. For the price range, features, durability, safety features and portability it is a no brainer purchase. The heater feels well made and puts out a good bit of heat. I use mine consistently for long stretches at a time and it works without issue. In an emergency situation I would trust it. If it were stolen, I would be sad and then buy another one.

I hope this helps in your decision.

Cheers!

This thing is awesome. I actually bought another one, got another for my work shed. Keeps my garage very warm. Does really good on high but burns a 20 lb tank very quick, but with a 20 lb tank on low I am getting at least 14 days maybe more, out of the 20lb tank with around 4 hours run time a day. works great buy it. perfect for a garage or a back up heat source in a black out or other emergency. Get it with the fan and adapter you won't regret it, it's worth the extra money for the adapter. I know I use it every day. I never review products btw but this one os so good, I had to give a five star.

I purchased the Big Buddy heater in October 2011 as an emergency heater (we were in the early part of a snowstorm-induced 5 day power/heat outage). It works with those disposable 1lb propane tanks; I also purchased the quick-connect hose adapter to allow me to connect it to a standard "grill sized" 20lb propane tank (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UC7966)

I used this heater for indoor emergency heat during that October 2011 outage, and again this year during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, when we were without power / heat for two weeks (and again, treated to a snowstorm). Have not used this heater for regularly heating my home, or for any other purpose such as heating a garage, heating any outdoor area, etc. So my review is based on use as a residential heating appliance in emergency situations.

In my experience, this heater performs very well, and I can't think of anything that I think needs to be changed or improved. It's lightweight, portable, and reliable. It puts out a good amount of heat, and functions well as a room heater in our old, drafty house. I did not detect any odor or fumes when using the heater. Nonetheless, as with any non-vented combustible heater, one must be careful because ALL such heaters will output carbon monoxide, and you need to make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector in the room you will be using it.

I prefer to use this heater with the 1lb disposable propane bottles (the heater uses two of them at a time). It makes the heater much more portable. But more importantly, I have come to understand that it is very dangerous to bring a 20lb propane tank indoors, because of the risk of leakage (propane is a gas that is heavier than air, and it will invisibly pool on the floor and could ignite if it encounters a source of ignition, such as a gas stove pilot light, or a furnace pilot light, etc.) I had never realized the lingering danger that propane presents to indoor use. Outside, or in certain indoor locations that have lots of venhilation, such as barns, sheds, etc., you can count on the fact that the propane will dissipate before it becomes a danger; the same is not true in most residential houses.

In truth, even a 1lb bottle of propane can be a risk indoors, it's just a lesser risk due to the lesser amount of potential leakage. It's no fault of the heater, it's just a fact with propane as a fuel source, and one must really understand this when making decisions about these types of heaters.

By contrast, with something like a kerosene heater, you sometimes hear comments about how it might smell (I think mostly this is due to either a faulty or old heater, or improper operation/maintenance). But at least with kerosene, it will not give off vapors that can spontaneously ignite and explode, and you can be pretty sure that, so long as you are following proper procedure and refueling outdoors when the heater is cool etc., it's not going to explode on you. Propane is, in my opinion, a more dangerous indoor fuel, because you are at possible risk of mechanical failures (e.g. leaking valves on even the 1lb propane bottles, or some internal leak in the heater).

I would not run either a propane or a kerosene heater at night while I'm sleeping.

Anyway, taking into consideration the above points about propane, the Big Buddy heater does what it's supposed to do, and does it very well. With two 1lb bottles of propane attached, we could use it to heat up the kitchen in the AM to take the chill off, have breakfast, and get the kids dressed. Then I would turn off the heater, store it outside (just in case it started leaking), and bring it back inside in the evenings to use for a few hours when the house started getting cold after the sun went down, to eat dinner and get the kids ready for bed. I would run it mostly on high or medium, and that's enough to heat a large room in our drafty old house. Using the heater in this manner, I would burn two 1 lb bottles per day.

As a short term fuel, the 1lb bottles are great. But as a longer-term fuel source, it would be expensive. I do have the connector hose to connect it to the 20lb tank, which works great and I have done that a few times (leaving the 20 lb tank outside on the porch and leaving the door open a crack to allow the hose into the house to connect to the heater). But the more I learned about propane, the more hesitant I became about using it like this, even with the tank outside. My concern is a leak somewhere along the rubber hose, or again, maybe somewhere within the heater, and connected to a 20lb tank that could dump a lot of propane inside the house that could ignite if it lingers and finds a source of ignition. I wouldn't hesitate to use this heater outdoors or in any of those garage/barn type of situations, where it would be great and you wouldn't have the same concerns about leaking propane.

I'm giving this 5 stars because I do think this heater performs great for its intended purpose. It's far superior to a kerosene heater in terms of its portability and transport for things like outdoor sporting activities, etc. It's clean (as clean as it can be anyway), reliable heat. But I wrote all of the concerns I had about the fuel source generally, so that one could make an informed purchase decision.

For an emergency home heater, I also picked up a kerosene heater. It's good to have two options, as fuel can be difficult to find (as I found out during our 2 week outage!) and those of us without a lot of outdoor storage space would have difficulty safely storing enough propane (I don't have a garage or shed, where I would preferably store the propane, so I keep it in one of those weatherproof plastic outdoor boxes you can buy for gardens supplies etc.).

Had a lot of unusually cold weather this year and this heater saved the day keeping me warm. Expensive to operate but keeping warm makes the cost worth while.

Excellent heater and not a gas hog. Pours out the heat on low. I do recommend buying the electric cord for the fan as it's the same price as 8 C batteries of which it needs 4 for the fan. One set of batteries will run the fan a little over 12 hours.

Good as it gets but for the cost they should come with the fan backs.

Arrived on a timely basis, well packaged. Set up immediately. 1 lb. Propane. It was fairly easy. Once I realized The input would turn to make this an easy process. I did experience an issue with the electronic start. I had inserted the battery and all seemed well but would not function. I called customer service and was very pleased with quick response. The problem with the electronic ignition was a user error. I had installed the battery with the negative toward the spring on the cap. Come to find out it goes in the other way. Once the change was made I immediately had electronic ignition.

I set this up in my shop and it is pretty cold here. Set on high and it began to heat quickly. As with many others, The built-in fan is pretty weak in distributing. I will be setting up another fan behind to direct the air flow better. The manual leaved a bit to be desired. It certainly covers all potential hazards and I'm sure is very helpful to first-time propane users. The manual should have explained about installing electronic battery. Second, there was no indication as to whether it required a c or d battery for the fan. Just looking at it. I figured it was D. That worked. The other issue is to describe plug needed for the fan if someone does not want to use the batteries.

I am in the process of preparing to hook up a 20 lb bottle and only used the 1 lb to test out the efficacy of The heater. At this time, I can say I am pleased with it

Update. One of The regulators for the 1 lb propane bottles was bad. A machining issue. I contacted Mr. Buddy heater and they indicated to return the item or go through Amazon. I chose to go through Amazon and return the item without any problem and 3 days later had the new one. The new one does not have this issue. I can only say that between Mr. Buddy heater and Amazon. I am now satisfied. The new one has no issue with either one of the regulators. I can say that it has heated up my shop very quickly to a comfortable temperature.

My buddy. My buddy. My buddy and me! I love my Big Buddy. We're like, best buds and junk. I have a 350 sq foot cabin and this thing does the job with no probs.

I purchased the 12 ft regulator hose with quick connect and have it hooked up to a 20 lb propane tank. I keep mine on LOW, pretty much all the time. Just running it on LOW will generally give you an increase of 30 degrees, compared to the outside temperature. For example, it's 35 degrees outside right now and it's a comfortable 64 degrees inside my cabin. If I wanted to jack it up to 75 inside, I'd put it on HIGH for about 10-15 minutes and it'd be 75 in here. But since the girlfriend is up in the loft asleep (under the electric blanket), I'd just rather chill in my hoodie and keep it a reasonable 64 in here. When she wakes up and starts whining about "being cold," I'll crank it up to HIGH until the inside temp reaches 72. Then I'll cut it back down to LOW and it'll hold that temp pretty well. My cabin is insulated, BTW. Nothing too fancy, just R-13 all the way around and up top.

When we leave for work around 6pm, we cut the heater off. If it was 70 when we left, after 8 hours, the inside temp may have dropped to around 55 degrees, but that's with outside temps in the 20's or 30's. 55 degrees is still very comfy for my huge Rottweiler that stays inside the cabin.

When I get home, I cut it on HIGH and the inside temp will be back to 70 in about 20-30 minutes. Then I'll cut it down to LOW to maintain the temperature, and we generally cut it off when we sleep. We also use an electric blanket, which keeps us plenty toasty while we sleep. I have left it on while sleeping, but only when it got into the teens outside. Otherwise, we'd be sweating at night.

The low-oxygen sensor is a great touch, but I have a carbon monoxide detector in the cabin as a back-up system. Another great feature is the "tip-over" sensor. If you (or your dog) bumps into it, it'll shut right off, which can prevent serious accidents.

I never have any problems lighting it. Keeping it on LOW, I run through a 20 pound tank about every 7-12 days. It says it'll run for 220 hours on LOW, which is essentially 9 days. I refill my tanks at the hardware store for $3.29 per gallon, which comes to about $13 per tank to fill it up. Getting it filled will save you about $7 to $9 per tank, as opposed to just exchanging the tank for $20-$22 at Walmart or Walgreens. So I'm able to keep my cabin toasty for about $52 per month. (4 tanks x $13 each) Again, my dimensions are about 350 sq foot with a 10 ft high apex (ceiling). I've been using this for November and December, but I'm probably only going through 2.5 tanks per month, because there hasn't been a need to run it constantly.

Finally, I invested the $17 in the AC adapter for the fan, which I highly recommend. Using batteries in the fan is about as inefficient as using the small 1 lb. propane tanks. You shouldn't do either (unless you're just using the heater for tailgating or something similar). But if you're using this as a primary or secondary heating unit, you need to get the regulator for the 20 lb. tank and invest in the AC adapter for the fan. If you follow these instructions, I'm confident you'll be a FAN of the Big Buddy. Pun intended.

Calienta super rápido super recomendable

And so you're looking for a Mr Heater Big Buddy. If you shop around, you'll encounter conflicting reports to the effect that Mr Heater Big Buddy heaters sold in Canada come without the fan because of import fees??? You'll even read this stern word of caution on Mr Heater's own website.

Fear not, Amazon sells the Big Buddy with fan and it works just fine. Just don't go pay 340$ for it. I insist on the fan given all the contraptions I had to assemble in the past to push my old Buddy heater heat forward. This time, it's built-in and no need for bungie cord or standing fans with powerpacks.

The portable heater uses 1 lb cans that you can refill, that's a big plus. Construction is sturdy but I'm a tad disapointed at all the plastic in the back. I guess it is to be expected these days. Just don't expose it to extended sunshine and careful not to yank the propane chamber doors.

About the fan: my advice would be to purchase multiple sets of Panasonic eneloop AA rechargeables (with compatible charger) and use battery converters to inflate them up to D-size. You'll be good for 4-5 hours of forward heat movement from one charge.

Great product that I will keep around for years.

I am very glad about this purchase. Big Buddy Mr Hearter is great. Absolutely worth of the money.

Also I like internal fan which flows the heat out and easy connection to a 20 lbs propane container.

I use it in my ice fishing shelter in the forest. Minus 15 Celcium is not a problem even to sleep there all night.

Thank you for fast delivery and high quality!

Me gustó mucho el producto, es muy fácil de operar. Funciona mejor cuando enciendes el ventilador. No hay olores desagradables.

I can't stand how cold my garage gets in the winter, makes it too hard to work inside, that is, until now. With a plethora of 1lb propane tanks I can get in there shortly after turning this thing up high, and have those wonderful 18,000 BTU's warm up the place to something more reasonable. Make sure your space is vented for the exhaust fumes.