Mr. Heater Portable Buddy F232000 Review

The Buddy is the heater you grab when there's no outlet, no time, or no power: a propane radiant burner that lights with a click and throws 9,000 BTU of heat at whatever's in front of it. In a garage with the door cracked a foot, it makes a bench area comfortable in a few minutes. In a tent, a fish house, or a living room during a winter outage, it can be the difference between miserable and fine. Millions have been sold, the design has been refined for years, and the 1-lb cylinder format means it's ready in a closet when you need it.

The safety story needs to be said plainly. This is a combustion appliance that burns propane in the room you're standing in. It consumes oxygen and produces carbon monoxide — a small amount when burning correctly, more if the burner is dirty or starved for air. Mr. Heater rates it for indoor use because of the oxygen depletion sensor and tip-over switch, and that rating assumes ventilation: an open window or door providing at least the square inches of fresh-air opening the manual specifies. Run a battery-powered CO alarm in the same room every time, never sleep with it running, and never use it in an RV, van, or tent without following the ventilation requirements exactly.

Used as intended — intermittent, ventilated, supervised — it's a tremendously useful tool and the cheapest way to put heat in a garage you only visit a couple of hours a week. For a space you heat every day, a 240V electric unit or a vented gas heater is safer, quieter, and cheaper to run. Buy the 20-lb tank hose and fuel filter if you'll use it often; the 1-lb cylinders add up fast.