GENERAL PRODUCT INFO

Every country and state have their own laws concerning the use of the different fuel types available, whether it is usable indoor or outdoor only, etc. We maintain our records at the country and state level. However, various counties within the states have their own specific laws governing the use of various fuels such as natural gas and propane. Please be sure to review all local legislation before your purchase. If the product you are considering is marked as restricted in an area where you live, you will not be able to add it to the cart.

Convection - The device heats the air around it, which rises to the ceiling. As the warm air gathers at the ceiling, and increases in volume, it moves lower towards the floor. An example of this is an open flame that heats the air above it.

Forced Air - The device has an internal heat source, which has a fan located behind it. The fan Blows air through the heat source, warming it, and into the area where the heater is located. An example of this is a blow dryer, or a heat gun.

Radiant - The device heats a burner face, made of ceramic tiles or metal screen, which sends out infrared waves. These waves heat objects in front of them, which will then warm the air around them. An example of this is when you are outside on a cold day, and feel yourself being warmed up by the sun.

Mr. Heater has their product certified to help guarantee we're always providing the highest quaility product. Those certifications allow us to mark some of our product as indoor safe, however different standards are held for those used indoor in a residence versus those used at a construction site or in a factory, etc.

Residential means that the product is safe to use in your home (if your county/city/state allows). Please review and follow the manual to make sure there is no additional ventilation needed, etc. to use the produt in the safest way possible. For Mr. Heater, that includes the Buddy family and Vent Free heaters.

Commercial means that the product may be used indoors in area that is heavily ventilated like a garage, construction site, or possibly a factory. These locations tend to be more open and have people going in and outside on a more regular basis or they have very limited number of residents, etc. The standard ventilation required is 1 square inch of ventilation for every 1000 BTUs. Some of our product lines included in this category are our Unit, Garage/Shop, and Forced Air Propane heaters.

Please always check your local, city, and state codes to confirm the allowable use of gas heater products. For example, Massachusetts and Canada do not allow the use of propane heaters indoors. While California allows the Buddy series indoors (i.e. your garage or tent) except in dwellings and completely prohibits the use of Vent Free heaters. Most cities do not allow the use of gas heaters in high rise buildings or apartments.

A limited warranty covers replacement parts but not the labor to install them. Our Technical Service Department is very willing to help you work through the process to replace the parts yourself. Or if you are not comfortable making the changes, there are multiple Service Centers available across the US who may be able to assist you. Click here or on Service Center in the very top bar or Find a Service Center under the Support menu to enter your zip code and see what is avaialble in your area.

A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is a scentific measurement of heat. Generally speaking, as the BTU rating increases, the heating capability of a device increases.

A safety tip over switch is a small device inside the heater, that, when the heater is tipped more than a specific number of degrees from upright, will turn the heater off.

An ODS is an Oxygen Depletion Sensor. This device senses the amount of oxygen in the air surrounding the device. When the oxygen level drops below a specific level, the device will shut off automatically.

Your heater may not include a hose and/or regulator because it is not required for the product to function. Or there may be multiple options available in regards to the length of the hose, what length you need, etc.

Square footage is the length of an area times the width of an area. Knowing the square footage of an area allows you to estimate the amount of BTUs necessary to heat the area most effectively. A generally accepted formula is: Square Footage x 40 = required BTUs. This is just a starting point. Ceiling height, building layout, and level of insulation will also factor into your BTU needs.

The Propane Gas Gauge will fit propane tanks from 5lbs to 40lbs because of the Acme Thread. Anything larger will have the old P.O.L. style and not be compatible. The 1lb tank also is not compatible.

Our fuel filter (part number F273699) is essentially an oil trap. Oily particulates are squeezed from the rubber of some hoses by the high pressure coming out of the propane bottle, and can get pulled along with the flow of propane, and be deposited in the lines in the Buddy heater, blocking any fuel flow. The filter, by being hollow, causes these particulates to stick inside it, thereby filtering the fuel.

In most propane appliance situations, there is a regulator located at the tank, followed by a supply line. In that situation, what passes through the hose after the regulator is low pressure gas. Low pressure gas is harmless to rubber. The buddy system has the regulator located at the heater. In this setup you cannot have a regulator at the propane tank due to over-regulating the gas supply. This makes the gas that passes through the hose to get to the buddy system high pressure. High pressure gas squeezes rubber as it passes through it, and can occasionally pull some of the oils and plasticizers from the hose during these periods of high pressure. Those contaminates will travel with the flow of propane and land somewhere inside the heater, slowly building up over time and causing gas flow problems once the buildup becomes large enough. The 10' buddy hose does not contain any plasticizers or oily contaminates that will leach out of the hose during high pressure propane flow. That is why that hose does not need a filter. All of the other hoses for the buddy system will need a filter because they will contain oils and plasticizers.

We recommend starting the heating season with a new filter, and disposing of it at the end of the season. Using one longer can cause the filter to fill up with the particulates. Once the filter is filled, the particulates will pass through and begin building up in the heater.

Currently, we make three hose models that do not require a filter: the F273704 which is made from a different chemical compound of rubber that does not have the oily substance that can get into the fuel flow, the F271802 that attaches to a low-pressure line, and the F271803 which is a regulated hose. Since the F271802 & F271803 only see low pressure, the oily substances are not squeezed from the hose material.

All gases are measured in W.C. because it is used to measure small differences in low pressure across an orifice or pipeline. Low pressure is any pressure below 1 Pound per Square Inch (PSI). When dealing with pressures below 1 PSI, you will see the term inches or inches of water column. This refers to the amount of pressure it takes to raise a column of water 1 inch. There are 27.7 inches of water column (W.C.) pressure in 1 PSI of pressure. W.C. is measured with a manometer (pressure gauge), which measures the pressure of gases and vapors. If you need to measure your W.C., we highly recommend you contact your local gas company to send out a professional or have someone who is HVAC certified to test it.

We have product made in special packaging for some of our retailers but we do not sell those versions ourselves. But if you locate and enter your serial number into search field and select Order Parts from the dropdown, you should be able to find the schematic available for the year your product was produced. For help finding your serial number, please click here for instructions or navigate to the product page for a like heater for an image.

A High Limit Safety is a switch located inside the device which will turn it off if the internal temperatures of the device rise above a specific level.