Mr. Buddy vs Espar/Webasto Safety Considerations

The most practical , clear and concise transfer of information ever.

Things to say other than "OMG!!1 YOU'RE '2' IS IN THE WRONG SPOT?!?!": -Thanks for the video, Nate! -Great points. I learned something new. -I have a {variable} heater and this video gives me confidence in it's operation. -{nothing}

Great explanation of the different types of heaters.. We lived in an RV with our family of six while our house was being built for over a year and we noticed that the built-in propane heater created a lot of moisture on the inside of the walls and windows and would have been a serious mold issue. But I picked up one of those $100 Chinese diesel heaters and carefully mounted it under a island cabinet in the main quarters which seem to really cut down on the use of the propane heater and drop the moisture problem to zero

Your videos are phenomenal! Kudos to you for simple, clear, accurate, easy-to-understand, and valuable information.

Great video! It’s nice to see content focused on keeping people safe around heaters, as well as electricity. Thank you.

I have been very interested in these heaters for a long time. They look very effective and the price has been coming down. Thank you> I use two Big Buddy systems in my shop. The Garage door gets opened plenty and these heaters work very well.

I loved the video and the explanations of both heaters. I have used my Mr Buddy in my camper van (I have had it for about 3 weeks, and have wiring, insulation, sub-floor, framing, shore power connection, Maxxair fan, and swivel on the passengers seat done). On the way to Michigan from Tennessee, I used the Mr Buddy while camping in Kentucky (25 degrees that night), and it worked great, BUT I had a Vevor Chinese Diesel heater on order. Your video has convinced me to install the Chinese Diesel heater. Now, if I can find Chinese diesel to run it on... Thanks again, and I am planning on watching more of your videos before I really mess something up in my build!

Just finished installing and testing my Propex heater last weekend, so feeling smug and prepared for the winter. I am running it off a refillable LPG bottle. If on a hookup, I also have a small oil filled electric radiator. No vents to block so safer from the accidental coat cover issue. Prior to starting my van conversion, I used to run an old folding camper from small UK manufacturer Dandy. It had an early (it was 30 years old) variant of the Propex type heat exchanger, but mounted in the floor. Safe from an exhaust gas perspective, but you wouldn't want to accidentally step on the grate! Rumour had it that if you had forgotten your camp stove, you could put a frying pan on the grate and improvise bacon and eggs for breakfast. I never had occasion to test that!

You talk about the types of heaters, did you guys do a video on the heater that you guys went with and the installation of it , I may just be missing it, thank you for all that yall do

Great explanation of the differences & complications of heating a small space safely & effectively. Cheers

My thought process about a Mr. Buddy is that it's like being around a giant animal. If there were a cow in my basement then it would put out a lot of heat and water vapor and use up all the oxygen, so I need some ventilation. I had no idea there were small relatively affordable isolated heaters, like the Webasto. Thanks for the info!

I recently bought and installed a Chinese diesel heater in my caravan. I installed it in the gas locker, no gas in there btw. I am delighted with it, the 5 kw Vevor heater is much more quiet than I was assuming, I can bearly hear the tick of the pump, as I installed that to the chassis underneath, and it sips red diesel very economically. I can’t think of any downsides to it. I of course already had a CO meter, which is a no brainier, and a fire extinguisher too.

Great video! I just installed a Bison heater. It uses gas from the van's gas tank and it's like the webesto, but it was just $650. And it's tog altitude control to 13,000 ft.

I love my webasto but it was definitely not cheap. As many have mentioned, there’s many knock offs on the market. I’d be curious to see someone take a few different brands apart and see how they compare.

I had a Mr. Buddy heater my first winter of van life and it was awful and scared me. The moisture is too much and cracking a window/vent almost defeats the purpose because it allows cold air in/hot air out. I don't know how people can feel safe sleeping with a Mr. Buddy running - I couldn't do it. The first winter of vanlife was rough. The coldest I woke up to was -8F INSIDE the van. lol. And despite that, I still couldnt get myself to run the Mr. Buddy overnight. Getting a diesel heater before my second winter was the best upgrade I made!

Absolutely Beautiful & Brilliant Presentation & Illustration! Thank You 🙏 so much.

The Espar Airtronic D2/D4 diesel fired heaters are found in most all semi-trucks and buses and are the best things since sliced bread. With semi-trucks, RV's, motorhomes, and campers having small quarters, it's important to stay warm in winter without the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. All of my trucks have had Espar diesel fired heaters and now that I'm living full time in a 5th wheel RV trailer, I bought another one which I'll install soon. While this trailer has an electric fireplace and propane furnace for heat, I will install the Espar heater for both supplemental and emergency heat should the propane furnace fail or if power should fail for the electric fireplace. Espar Airtronic heaters can run for a long time on just diesel fuel and one or two 12vdc car batteries for many days straight. As for Mr.Buddy, I'm sorry but that don't compute, not in my vocabulary. They might be okay for a large space for emergency heat but certainly not for a small space.

Another great video. Keep them coming.

Thanks for another nice Sunday video. If you run out of ideas, how about one on how to get DIY insurance on what you are building. I am hearing some insurance companies will not even cover the DIY part of your van.

Yo!!! Shoutout to Blinn College! had to double-take on that one.