This is my setup for heat and CO detection. I've been out in the pop-up testing my heater out that the kids bought me for Christmas and some detectors I picked up on Glamizon and at the local hardware store and I'm not quite sure how to feel about it. It's about 25°F out and I've got the heater on what is supposed to be the low setting, but I think it's malfunctioning and on high on all settings. It's not putting out a much heat as I thought it would, and I'm not getting any readings on either detector that there is a hint of CO in the tent. Should I go with a different heating setup and just use this one for cooking? And if so, what are your recommendations? And should there be some sort of detection on either detector, or does it take awhile for there to be any buildup of problem gasses? Thanks for the help.
Posted by locoken69
4 Comments
Btw. The heater is pointing right at the detector. Don’t be fooled by the temp. It’s not as warm in here as the detector is showing. I don’t think it would be comfortable staying overnight in this thing with this heater.
Get a buddy heater. You don’t really need a CO detector unless you’re sleeping in it.
Look into the Buddy heaters for winter tents. I use a BigBuddy for my ice shanty, gets smoking hot on medium setting (it’s a 5 person pop up shanty) and I get very low CO readings with the upper vent open and a couple window vents cracked. I keep two CO detectors in the tent just to be sure, never had one go off yet though we do walk in and out with some frequency while fishing.
CO is important, but so is O2. You should consider a 4 gas detector that measures explosive gases, CO, O2, and they usually have sewer gas too, although you want need that in this use case. With that, you can make sure you have proper ventilation. That Mr Heater should have a low O2 shutoff that would or should prevent incomplete combustion and CO, but I wouldn’t trust my life to it. I have seen it work as intended, but again, I don’twant to rely on that. Also, I have that same heater. In very cold temps, it struggles to keep my deer blind tent warm enough to be comfortable on the low setting. On high, I get a couple of hours of heat, but it is too much in one area. It nice because I can cook on it and get some warmth. But I wouldn’t sleep with that thing being on.