Too Much Heat?

[TWN]

Buying a heater for my sons 2-person flip over Otter/Clam portable. My logic is buy the big buddy and keep it turned down but you still have a 18K btu heater to take the chill off your garage if you need one. Reviews say this is way over kill but what does that matter if you can just turn it down? Zero experience with this- thanks

 

[Migrator Man]

Is the house insulated?

 

[TWN]

Nope

 

[Turfman]

You can always turn down or open door to cool if needed. Hard to make more heat! With non insulated house I do not see that being more than needed.

 

[lunkerslayer]

What if you have a couple snowbunnies who only brought the bare essentials with. They could get pissy if you only brought a sunflower heater when the big buddy will heat up those cheeks right damn quick and in a jiffy.


And with the fan on the big buddy I wonder if it would help with condensation on the non insulated material.
Also you can make a feast on you big buddy for the ladies after a long day of drilling lots of holes.
So yes get big buddy I was a sunflower snob till nda posse persuaded me with there knowledge of what could happen with a big buddy heater

 

[dragoneyes]

I would go with the BigBuddy just some advice , like Turfman said you can regulate the settings. Stay away from the the sunflower mr heaters seen some bad burns on ice houses doors if a person is not paying attention.

 

[Retired Educator]

I have the smaller one. My 2-person flip over is insulated and it is plenty warm. Not sure how much the insulated version makes a difference. For me I don't like total extra weight to haul or even size. You do make a valid argument for dual use, I don't sue mine to heat my garage, only fishing. Make your best judgement for what you are going to use the heater. Do like me, get what works for you and you will be satisfied.

 

[all4eyes]

Non thermal get the big buddy, no questions about it. Some days you wish you just had more heat.

 

[JayKay]

I have the smaller one. My 2-person flip over is insulated and it is plenty warm. Not sure how much the insulated version makes a difference. For me I don't like total extra weight to haul or even size. You do make a valid argument for dual use, I don't sue mine to heat my garage, only fishing. Make your best judgement for what you are going to use the heater. Do like me, get what works for you and you will be satisfied.

I agree with Mister Educator, but something he said sparks a thought. Get what works for you, then stop looking. I'm guilty of this.

 

[drayweb]

I bought the big buddy heater for my 3 man insulated Eskimo. Way more than I needed. Could have gotten by with the single propane model.

 

[Lapper]

Big buddy is more than you need for most days....but do you want something for most days or something that will get you out there when it’s -20 and the wife and kids are driving you crazy and you just need the solitude of the ice? (Not that I have any experience with that).

 

[RustyTackleBox]

For a flip over I would avoid the sunflower (buddy has a good hole in his from kicking it going through the door). I personally ran the big buddy last year and even in -20 never had it on high for more than 5 min, wife got cold in the deer blind this year and the 10 min to Stanley tsc ended up with me getting the regular buddy heater which I will be using most of the time, I never turned on the fan last year, I use a jason Mitchell insulated flip over 900 denier I think

- - - Updated - - -

Oh ya... either buddy heater get the case from trophy angler... it'll protect it while bouncing around a bit

 

[Captain Ahab]

When it's below zero and the wind is blowing you will be wishing for more in a non-insulated hut. Get the big buddy.

 

[Bfishn]

I have an otter cabin with insulated top. I have never needed anything more than the portable buddy and i have been out in -40 wind chill before and still wasn't wearing my jacket in the house. If the house is the next size up lodge/voyager then you may want bigger. I picked up a big buddy two years ago at Menards for cheap and have actually never used it.

I like the portable buddy with 11# tank for the size/weight savings.

 

[Tommyboy]

Get the big buddy. I have a Clam Yukon TC. Insulated just on the top portion. I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I have needed it on high. But when I needed it, it was great to have more heat. Also, get yourself a LD Hotrack. I cook all kinds of stuff on the ice. My main go to is brats. I also have a Cabelas soft bag for it and I added some extra foam in the bottom to help protect it when its getting bounced around in the Clam during moves.