I don't know why people are having so much trouble with this heater. This is a great product which has made living in my off-the-grid cabin bearable even in winter.

PERFORMANCE IN COLD WEATHER
For the past 5 years, I've used the Big Buddy heaters to heat two small cabins, 200 sq feet each, with vaulted ceilings. Without the Big Buddy, my primary cabin averages 37 F in the winter, and my studio averages 35 F. With the Big Buddy, I can keep either cabin at a toasty 65 to 70 F. In the past, I used the smaller Mr. Buddy for years to heat a tent in winter for 2 weeks at a time while working in the mountains.

How long to heat a space?
Cabin: From full cold (37 to 45 F indoors), it feels like it takes forever to heat 200 sq feet on low. On high, my cabin is toasty warm in about 10 to 12 minutes. The heater then keeps the space too warm, so I have to turn it down to low, or start cycling it on and off every hour.
Tent: It never heats the tent; too much loss through the tent walls. It just provides a radiant heat source for the side of your body that faces it. I could never decide if that made things better (to have some heat), or worse -- one side warm and the other freezing my hiney off.

BOTTLE VS TANK + FUEL FILTER
I have used both the Mr. Buddy and the Big Buddy with 1-lb bottles and 20-lb tanks, with and without fuel filters. Over the past 10 years, I have had only one failure -- one heater clogged with a 20 lb tank (no fuel filter). All my other heaters have performed flawlessly, and I've had 2 Mr Buddies and now have 5 Big Buddies (I gave away the Mr Buddies and went solely to the Big Buddies). I started using fuel filters only in the last 8 months. It's a preventative measure for my older equipment, since the heaters worked fine for years without the filters.

YIELD:
- 1-lb bottle: 5 hours on high -- maybe. If you're refilling your 1-lb bottles, remember that they're never as full as new ones (sometimes only 75% full), and you're going to eat up the refills very fast.

- 20-lb tank: Seems to last forever. The heater will run 1+ week in snow/ice weather if I'm careful and willing to layer up a bit indoors.

MEDIUM SETTING -- DON'T DO IT
Use either low (single burner) or high (both burners). The medium setting burns on both burners, but does not burn cleanly -- I can smell the propane. This seems to be an overall design flaw, not a defect of any given heater. Also, the medium setting is not much faster in heating the space than the low setting -- and, it doesn't seem to add that much more heat. Feels like the worst of all worlds: wasteful, unclean burning, and not very efficient.

CONTINUOUS USE -- WASTEFUL
The heater will work just fine if you leave it on for an hour or more (I've certainly done that indulgence), but you'll waste a lot of propane. Better to turn it on, heat your space, then turn it off for a while. If you throw down some carpeting, you'll be fine for an hour before you need to fire it up again. Remember, this is essentially a camp heater. You're not trying to achieve a tropical setting; you're trying to keep the space comfortably bearable.

INDOORS AT NIGHT -- DON'T DO IT
Although it is safe to use indoors, and after years of experience with these heaters, I'm confident in that claim, I still do not recommend running it at night or while you're sleeping. I've had the CO alarms go off three times this last year -- once dangerously -- from other things. I just don't think it's a good idea to run any propane appliance indoors in a small space when you're not conscious.

SAFETY FEATURES
Bump it -- even slightly -- and it will shut off. While I appreciate the safety feature, personally, I find this annoying. I live and work in a tiny space, bumping things -- eg, stepping over it in hiking boots -- is almost inevitable.

The wire cage that protects you from the ceramic elements is well designed -- far enough from the elements to protect against accidental touch, without adding too much bulk. This is especially important when you're wearing bulky layers and unknowingly dangling coat sleeves, lanyards, and jacket corners. I have yet to find another propane heater I'd be comfortable having in a tight space.

ACCESSORY: CARRY BAG -- DON'T DO IT
What a waste. A soft-sided bag that doesn't really protect the heater. With 2 huge pockets on either end for the two extra 1-lb bottles. Makes the entire package bulky, susceptible to damage, annoyingly shaped, and hard to store around other objects. Just keep your original box or get a suitable tub for the heater + a couple 1-lb bottles. You'll be able to pack it more efficiently, travel without worrying about moisture, and move it wherever you want without risking so much damage.

PRICE
I've gotten much better prices locally than I've ever seen on amazon. I suggest you shop around.

BOTTOM LINE
This is a great product, well designed, portable, lightweight, compact, and safe. Without the Big Buddy, I would not endure the cold very well in my cabins. This product has allowed me to work anywhere, in any weather, for the minimal price of a tank of propane. Really, that's pretty darn useful.

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!

I bought this for us to take on a camping trip in the mountains where it is very cold at night. We have a six person tent and this heater nearly blew us out of it with the heat it generated on the "low" setting. It would be better for a huge tent - 12+ people but for smaller tents you should get a smaller Mr. Heater. Some camping mates had a tiny Mr. Heater and it was just perfect for their 4 person tent. We're keeping this heater in case the power goes off this winter and we need to heat up a room or two in the house so it is still very useful to us but is too powerful for camping trips no matter how cold it gets unless you just want to sit in front of it while outside your tent. It would be great for a cold cabin but for tents it's just too powerful.

It's super easy to use and we used a single 1lb propane canister and 4 D-sized batteries (to run the fan and start the ignition lighter) and it was easy as pie to start and use. It turned off quickly when we tilted it back to see what would happen so it has a good safety feature. The grill around the front of the ceramic panels kept our two small dogs from burning their noses when they went to check it out. Overall, I think this is a wonderful heater and am glad I have it to use when and if necessary. We will be buying a much smaller Mr. Heater to take on cold weather camping trips and leave this one for use at home.