I know it's not recommended and could be dangerous if the tank fails, but how many use the 20 lb tanks in doors for their buddy heaters?

I voted no, but i dont have one.



My backup heat is a wood burner and kero.



If I did have a buddy heater, i would try a longer hose and keep the tank outside.

I have one in a 14x16 storage shed.
It works fine , but I really need to drill a hole in the floor so I can put the tank outside.

I have two Buddy heaters and the hoses/filters to do so if needed; but, have not tried them inside our house. Would be last resort for me.

I just got my Big Buddy with 12 foot hose / regulator and filter with the intention of only using the 20# cylinders on the outside patio and passing the hose thru the wall into the family room.

I'm all for safety but would keep the tank inside the house if I didn't have a choice.  I would also keep an eye on it and only run it when I was there.  When I had to leave, I'd take the tank outside.  

We have a buddy heater here too.  I asked about using the giant cans but my BF said we'd have to run a line to them and keep them outside.  So instead of that we just have one pound canisters.  It's warm here so we don't really need to use it yet... seriously I have a fucking fan on right now (why won't it fucking SNOW? GAH!)... but anyway that's enough for us really.  It's just an apartment and we have blankets too.

I did in my last house when I needed to


Now I have a 500g plumbed in and a heater installed


Also can connect the 2 40lb tanks to the house If really needed



Edit the connection is outside for the tanks

this thread is relivent and of interest to me. my folks just got me a mr buddy BIG BUDDY heater for me for christmas.

i'd purchased a dual fuel chargriller propane and charcoal grill and a couple spare propane tanks for myself on blackfriday from lowes...

the wife and i have baseboard electric heat and will be using this set up as our back up heat source until we can afford the jotul woodstove i want(which will come after the central heat and air conditioning that she wants). i also picked up one of the radiant burner "eyes"(i think it's called an infrared heater head) that screw onto a 20lb tank for heating my shop / shed / storage building if i'm working out there.

K.

I have run another brand of radiant heater inside my house before, off a 40-pounder, and did just fine. Other than the fact that the big tank and the heater were in the way all of the time, it was no BFD. I look at it this way: If you are going to use is solely for backup heat, then use it. Keep the tank away from the front of the heater, and as far away as the hose will alow and you'll be fine. Use a decent tank - one that in new or has been tested recently. I wouldn't rig it up outside, because the cold will diminish your amount of gas pressure, and you'll be cold. The unit may not fire up if the tank is low, and due to the low pressure. The inside warmth will keep your tank at a healthy pressure and you'll be able to use all of the gas inside.

I was browsing a shop here in town when some guy came in and spyed the big Mr Buddys they had on display. He immediately went off on the owner about how great they were and how its ALL he heats his place with. He says he has to open a window sometimes it gets so hot inside, and he uses a 40 every week in the winter. I'm thinking his place must be a shack somewhere. He did look like some granola-eatin' weirdo, but still an unsolicited affadavit can be extracted from all this.

The reason I mention it is that I have been filling 1lb canisters with the tanks, but you can only fill a half dozen or so well. Then it just works better to hook up the tank to use up the rest. The exchange tank from Walmart does not fill them well at all. I am only getting about 10 oz fills after 1.5 mins. I put the partial tank it the closet and ran the hose.

I have my shop in the "room" above the garage. The tank is in the garage with a long line up to the heater. Gets it nice and warm fast and the pilot is enough to keep it comfortable. I've never had a 1lbs. bottle hooked up to it.

Although I can see running a genny in the garage with complicated and correct venting, safety, and engineering considerations, using a large propane cylinder of pressurized flammable gas with consumer grade hoses and fittings inside a house gives me pause [and I'm not a politically brainwashed scardy cat afraid of CFLs with a bit of mercury in them].

Having at least an operable propane detector near the tank and heater would make me a bit more comfortable while sleeping and they are readily available at RV stores and the net. My nose would suffice for a detector when awake. I use one in the container near the furnace and the copper line feeding it propane. [I'll admit I went for 2 years before connecting it to power]

OTOH, a lot of folks do use 20# and larger bottles with heaters inside, and it's rare to hear of kabooms, it still makes me a little concerned and I probably wouldn't do it on a routine basis.

I'd very reluctantly do it if I had to and I'd keep a look out for a leak and inspect everything frequently. My fear though is probably about as irrational as hippys fearing trace contaminations of lots of stuff.

I am not so much worried about slow leaks as I am about venting. I have seen it happen twice and it is not fun!

Just a heads up on those of " us " that would use a 20lb tank inside....

Be sure to open the valve ( on the tank ) to full open...  If the valve is open about half way, there is a chance it will leak through the valve ( under the knob ).

Be safe... use your O2 detectors anyway...

I've done it on occasion.

Always turned the tank valve off when the heater wasn't in use, and always checked for leaks immediately after opening the valve.

Another option is to leave the tank outside and open a window just enough to route the hose inside to the heater..

It's no BFD until the tanks starts to leak and the propane builds up at he lowest level and finds a source of ignition and then the whole house goes into orbit.  Keep the tank outside and run the hose thru a window.

One thing we have is an all electric house. No pilot lights.

If the tank vents it would most likely be when it's very full.
We will not leave them in the house unattended.
Everyone knows to take it out of the house if propane smell is detected. We would smell it far before the fuel/air mixture was reached for an explosion.

I am not entirely sure it is more unsafe than using propane for my stove or hot water. The point of the smell in propane is to warn people of leaks before the fuel/air mix is reached. It works. Only difference is the tank can release much more in a short time. Leaks are of very little concern. Venting is.

How many have seen a 20lb tank vent? They are normally only filled 15 to 18 lbs.

The buddy heaters I have all came with a built in regulator.  All I use is a hose to the 20lb tank and hook it right up to the heater.  If your heaters have a low pressure hookup then the regulator you mention should be fine.



But if hooking up where the 1lb canisters go the heater has a built in regulator.



Reading the little warning labels on my new little buddy heater says to only use a 20lb propane tank setup with both the tank and heater outside.  The lawyers are worried about leaks at the propane tank and also where the hose attaches to the heater.



I have used the rubber hoses and run them through the window or whatever to keep the tank outside and the heater inside.  I have generally used the shut off valve on the propane tank to shut off the flow of gas and then I let the buddy heater run out of fuel and flame out.



Even though I rent I am reading up on code for hooking stuff up to propane tanks.  The heater hooked to the 500 gallon propane tank outside is done soso in my opinion, but I am going to read up and educate myself and figure out if it is really ok or not ok.



Due to the age of the house and previous holes in the walls around being there I figure I will hard plumb the buddy heater perhaps and set things up to where it is code acceptable if such a thing is possable.



Research what propane can do and learn how to detect leaks.  Just trying to smell a leak may not work if the tank is outside on a front porch where it is windy when you check for leaks.  But if it leaks a bit and the porch is covered there may be issues if the wind lays during the night and the propane leak continues.



I have the rubber hoses, 2 of em right now, and they are in fine shape.  I inspect them now and then for wear and tear as well.



Overall I want to learn what the best methods might be and see how far I am from that.



In an old apartment I had no good way to leave the tank outside and I treated it much like a kerosene tower heater.



I brought it in to use it and I put it outside when not in use.  I did not carry it around lit like a kerosene heater, but the thing was only inside being used when I was inside and awake.

I have seen one tank vent in the summertime about 25 years ago.  It was in the sun, afternoon, tanks was just filled.  It would vent very loud and blow propane fog intermittently.  My guess is it was overfilled.  This was before the OPD.  

My son and I piddle in his workshop most of the winter with one or two propane heaters going with the tanks inside.  We always open the tanks all the way and leak check the joints with homemade leak detector, after a tank change.  

Two winters ago, we had a power outage at our house in the winter. I waited about an hour before getting the propane heaters set up in the house; a Big Buddy and a 30k to 80k convection.  Just about the time I got the heaters set up in the kitchen and living room, the electricity came back on.  

Homemade leak checker
6 oz spray bottle
1 oz dish soap
5 oz -20 window washer fluid

I keep it in a ziplock, inside the heater kit bag with teflon tape, a grill lighter, and an adjustable wrench.

Something Biere was getting at are the pressures required by various heaters.

The BigBuddy input connection uses HIGH PRESSURE [propane directly from the little cylinder or the 20# tank, that can run ~ a couple hundred psi at the heater's input -depending on temperature]

Most approved indoors propane heaters I'm aware of [actually I'm not aware of any that aren't] use propane that's at 11" water column pressure. That's only a couple psi. You can almost blow that hard. There isn't much chance of a feed line blowing open. You can put your finger over the open end of a gas line and stop the flow with no effort to illustrate how low the pressure is.

The reason for the low pressure is SAFETY and there is a regulator at the propane tank outside that reduces it to a couple of pounds. [Some installations use a regulator outside and another regulator inside but still the pressure in the service line is only abt 5 psi.

Same situation for RV's and homes.

So if you compare the B-B's input pressure and approved room heaters, there's a HUGE difference.

The pressure in the hose between the 20# cylinder and the BigBuddy and clones at 65F is 100 psi.  Trying to stop the flow from the end of an open hose hooked to your air compressor would be abt the same for the hose to your B-B..

The new safety valves on the 20# tanks [larger tanks than 30# don't have them] have a device that will [hopefully] stop the flow once the flow rate reaches a certain point, so that if a zoombie came in and cut your hose with a machete or a lopper, the safety should actuate.

Note, I could be wrong abt this check for yourself.

So you see why even if you put the propane tank outside, you still have high pressure propane in the hose going to it inside your house and multiple failure points.

That's why I would suggest as Skibane did, getting one of the Olympic TYPE heaters if you are going to use propane emergency heat very much.

Keep your tank outside and run a simple low pressure hose inside. [If allowed by code]

The Olympic, as do some others, use a platinum impregnated burner "pad" that's COMPLETELY  different than the CERAMIC element in a lot of the heaters.

The operating temps are very different and it's easy to tell them apart.

I use one of the catalytic heaters in our trailer 100's of hours and they are great.

When I used a B-B type a couple times in the confined space to add more heat than the regular heater could provide, each time I got a bad respiratory infection that took a couple weeks to get over, so I'm gun shy about them. Now for a backup I carry a small Coleman catalytic and I'm gunshy abt it too.

Be careful abt the propane convection heaters.

Not approved for indoor use and they emit CO.

I've used the propane torpedo heaters in a small building with not bad effects but don't recommend it.

We had one year where I put a second floor on the house, but didn't get it insulated / sheetrocked till the summer.

Even with the stairwell sealed off with plastic sheething. It was COOOLLLD.

Some of the time I had the kero heater goin, when that ran out, I had the buddy heater going, on high, with the 20lb tanks.

When I brought the propane indoors, I also brought in the propane detector out of the camper. (Just had to hook it up to the motorcycle battery)

Similar model

We literally have dozens of WORKING smoke, and CO detectors, as well as fire extinguishers on each floor of Paddy's castle.

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

That's why I bought this 12' hose and regulator for my BigBuddy that I plan to run from 20# out door tanks.

Mr. Heater Hose with Regulator and Quick Disconnect for Big Buddy Heater #F271803

I voted no as you asked specifically in the house. I should qualify that. It would be my third and last heat source and would use it without question following normal safety checks. My "winter" car shop is 1 stall of a 3 car garage that is tightly insulated and drywalled. I use Mr heater in there frequently.  I feed that fresh air via a piece of 2" pvc pipe through the wall directly behind it. CO meter has never come off 0ppm after several full weekends of use.
FWIW

That will work fine since in your model the company makes provision for the reg to be at the tank. It appears Northern Tool has extension hoses.

.

that does not seem to be an option for the older tough buddy. I wonder if the portable buddy has the quick disconnect? I never saw it on my big buddy. can you guys take a picture of it?

Not on mine either, IIRC, it only uses one bottle, so it's smaller. You can see the old style hose on ebay.

The new style is a great improvement done for obvious reasons.

It shouldn't be a problem. As others here said, just be sure of your clearances and use a good tank / hose. I use a Mr.Buddy as my back-up in power failures. It's never been a problem. I've also used other catalytic burners inside enclosures too. I do always leave a vent open here so I don't consume the oxygen in my small place here at 10,000' high. I also don't run it 24 / 7 when I need it. It's for immediate warming and to keep the place from freezing only. I did add the inline filter to te hose to cut out the eggy smell near the bottom of the tank.

-JC

This is great advice!  I have an extra CO detector, but need to get it with the convection heater.  Plus, good tip here V



I will pick up a propane detector next payday.

These pics are of the Big Buddy I just received a couple of days ago from an Amazon gift card purchase.
The right side (Aft looking forward) is the only side with the QD fitting.

i want one for my loading shop, but i don't know if 8 pounders and that baby go together.

Seeing how they did the quick connect, it might very well be possible to modify ANY Buddy type heater to use a regulated 11" source of propane.
Simply by removing the regulator and attaching a low pressure hose at that point.

Then it would be like connecting any common gas heater.

YMMV.

Or by putting a "T' in the line after the reg like in the pix, but I'd have to look at one more carefully.

So I got my BB a few days ago. It has the 6 ft hose. Anyone know what type of hose can be spliced in the middle to make it longer?

Snow = salt (unless you're up north) that messes up cars.  I don't like snow.  Oh, outside unless 1 lb.

I'm just posting as a FYI. From Mr Heater web site.

http://www.mrheater.com/faq.aspx?id=22

Question:
Why can't I take my 20-lb propane cylinder indoors?

Answer:
NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) regulations make it unlawful to take any tank larger than a 1-lb tank inside a residence. The regulations were written to protect you from potential problems such as a leaking propane tank, fire, and possible explosions. If there was a fire in your house and your propane tank was inside your residence, the fire department may NOT enter your house to fight the fire.

Can you tell where the QD fitting is connected to in the system and what/where the control knob controls in the path of the propane?

Yep, that's the big bugaboo abt bringing a tank into the house.

I wouldn't want to enter if there was a fire, so, if you can, get the tank outside fast.

That's prolly why they started putting a quick detach fitting on the tank hose, so you can take the tank out with you as you flee to safety, and hide it.

It looks like the QD makes a short loop back in to the downstream side of the 1# bottle regulator (just bypassing it) and then across the top to the "Ref #20 - Valve, Control, Assembly".  The manual has an exploded diagram on page E7, but the QD is not included on it.  Big Buddy Heater MH18B Manual.

I had a tank filled today and I asked questions as he did it. He opened a small vent on the side of the valve while he filled it. When liquid propane started squirting out the side vent he turned off the filler nozzel and closed the little valve. He closed the tank valve and then disconnected.

I doubt it's possible to fill a tank any further. He told me that you cannot overfill the 20 lb tanks, but you can with the larger ones.

Any thoughts?

Blue Rino does not fully fill their tanks.

15 lbs Max in a 20 lb tank. My fill today was as close to 20 lbs as it gets.

This is the same conclusion I've come to. Been living in an RV for a year, using the built-in heater for most of that time, but I wanted something that would work without electricity and hopefully cut how much propane I use.

After much research I decided on an Olympic heater. I just don't think Big Buddy heaters are safe for confined spaces like an RV. Too much risk of carbon monoxide and fire.

I've been using my Olympic Wave 3 (1600 and 3000 BTU settings) for a couple weeks now. I really like it. I got a Red Dragon 10' hose + low pressure regulator kit from Amazon (made in the USA).

I run it out a cracked window attached to a 20# tank, plus keep another window cracked. This heater keeps the RV warm enough, a bit chillier than I liked when it got down to the 20s, but more than warm enough when lows are around 40 like they were last night.

As for the original question, hell no I wouldn't keep a 20# tank of propane inside my house, though I do have a 30# tank in a compartment that is technically inside the RV. But it's lined with sheet metal and doesn't share an air supply with the RV's inside.

The big deal is that you have your tank filled and the nimrod doing it overfills it a little bit.  You take the tank inside and fire up your heater, tank warms up and pressure inside builds.  Tank relief valve does its' job and vents.  You have a huge torch burning on back of tank.ETA if liquid appears from the bleeder valve [Also known as a spew or 85% valve], the tank is over filled.

I don't think so...  

The spew valve and the automatic internal valve are both indicators that the tank is full.

The spew valve is nothing more than a dip tube connected to the small knob/valve on the side of the main valve.

When the propane liquid fills up and reaches the bottom of the spew dip tube, the liquid starts causing the active 'spewing' you see.

That's when you stop filling and is confirmation the tank is filled to lawful capacity, in the event the auto-cutoff has failed.

Finally got around to testing the new Big Buddy and 12' QD hose today.  Hooked up to the 20# cylinder on the patio with the heater on a table outside.  Fired right up after initial purging even though it's pretty windy outside today.
With the QD hose/regulator in place, there's no place to use the inline filter I bought.  Found a few references on another forum to it not being needed (the filter) when used with a hose that has a regulator to reduce the tank pressure down to 11" H2O column.

I voted yes but it is just for emergency uses inside the house. Two years ago on Christmas night my natgas heater went out and I couldn't get anyone until the 27th to fix it. We have a pathetic Natgas fireplace with no blower. Used it but wasn't enough even with shades and drapes shut and unused rooms shut. So I went out to my shop, grabbed my electric dish heater and my Mr. Big Buddy with a 20lb tank and used them. Kept a very watchful eye on both and placed them very specifically in my home. Had no issues and kept my pipes from freezing and my family warm.

Like most of the others, I picked up the long hose and leave the tank outside when I bring the heater in.  Would I risk bringing the tank inside?  Probably.  I'd make damn sure there weren't any leaks, either in the tank or the hose first.
 

tractor supply and other places are starting to discount and move some of this stuff out.



I picked up a hose with a regulator by the tank and a screw on valve on the other end, the quick disconect could be taken off my big buddy but I don't want to do that since it would eliminate using the 1lb bottles if I opened up that hole and then did not use the hose on it.



For my car camping propane stove this looks like a nice replacement for the old hose, going to have to see if the regulator size is ok or not for running all 3 burners at once though.



My big buddy is 2 or more years old and has the quick disconect though I will admit to treating it like a kerosene heater where the 20lb tank and heater came inside while running and went outside when shut down and not in use.



I learned something out of all of this and it is that I should have read up on propane in houses long ago.



My various buddy heaters are going to stick around.  But my toy hauler/camper thingy I am going to start on next month is going to have something like the olympic or whatever mentioned above for a permanent install.



For campouts and loaning stuff out the buddy heaters will be around.  For their portability they are hard to beat.



But for permanent install and lots of long term use there are some other options out there.





And pay attention to prices.  Lots of stores have moved their kerosene tower heaters to the discount area but want a lot of money for them still.



Tractor supply keeps their 5 gallon cans of kerosene by the heaters but won't discount the kerosene yet.  They don't mark the prices on everything so I keep asking and have them check prices but so far they are still dang expensive 5 gallon cans of kerosene.