Who Makes The Best Camping Tent Heater? Which One is the Safest?
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There are two main types of camping tent heaters that people used to heat their tents which are propane tent heaters and electric tent heaters. Electric tent heaters are going to be the safer option for using in a tent because they do not emit carbon monoxide as propane tent heaters do. With propane tent heaters it would be smart to have a carbon monoxide detector inside of your tent to alert you if the carbon monoxide levels get to an unsafe level inside of your tent. So then who makes the best camping tent heater? Keep reading to find out.
Propane Camping Tent Heater
Propane tent heaters emit their heat by burning propane gas to generate heat. One thing to always keep in mind when using propane tent heaters is maintaining good ventilation because of the nature of burning propane.
When you burn propane gas it can produce carbon monoxide which is poisonous to humans at high levels. As long as you have ventilation in your tent you should be fine.
As long as the propane tent heater is functioning correctly it should not emit any carbon monoxide but it would still be best to have a carbon monoxide detector around when using a propane heater. If you wanted to check out the Mr. Buddy propane camping tent heater on Amazon that I would recommend click here.
Some propane tent heaters are designed to burn their propane outside of the tent or enclosure to vent the propane combustion and eliminate the worry of carbon monoxide poisoning. It would then funnel the hot air back into your via hoses that are connected to the heater. This is going to be the safest option
Propane tent heaters will need a propane tank to be able to function but because a propane tank is easier to transport than an electrical outlet propane tent heaters are more portable than electric tent heaters.
You will have to purchase 1-gallon tanks of propane separately but they are not that expensive to keep replacing. If you are planning on using your propane heater a lot it may be a good idea to buy a pack of propane tanks so that you can get a better deal instead of buying one propane tank at a tame.
Electric Camping Tent Heater
Most electric tent heaters are going to have a ceramic heating element combined with a fan that will emit heat and disperse it from the electric tent heater.
Because electric tent heaters don’t use propane to generate their heat they are going to be the safer option for using inside of a tent. If you wanted to check out the electric tent heater below on Amazon click here.
You don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide levels at all with an electric tent heater, the downside is that just aren’t as portable as a propane tent heater.
Electric tent heaters will need to be powered somehow if your campsite has an electric hookup then this won’t be a problem. However, if you are camping at a site without electrical hookups then you will need to find another way to power your electric tent heater.
Having a generator at your campsite would be one option that would allow you to power your electric tent heater. Don’t forget to bring your extension cord camping with you if you plan on using an electric tent heater.
Watts vs BTUs
Depending on what type of space heater you go with they will have different rating systems to explain how much heat they can put out.
BTUs
Propane tent heaters will explain their heating power in BTU units. The higher the BTU’s the propane heater can output the quicker it will be able to heat up your tent. Usually the larger the heater the higher the BTU rating will be for that heater.
Another thing to keep in mind with propane tent heaters is that they may be able to adjust the amount of BTU’s they output but if you do this realize the higher setting will burn more propane so plan accordingly by having more propane tanks on hand in case you run out.
Watts
Electric tent heaters express their heating potential in watts, a unit of measure for electricity. The more watts the electric space heater is advertised as having the more heat it will be able to output. Some electric heaters may have different settings such as a low (750 watts), medium (1125 watts), and high (1500 watts).
If you are interested in checking out this electric tent heater on Amazon click here. What makes this one special is that it has three different heat settings. Which makes it easy to pick a heat setting that is right for you.
Portability
Depending on where you plan on using your propane heater you may want to make sure that it’s portable. If you are looking at this camping website I’d assume that you want your propane heater to be portable enough to be able to move around your campsite. It can be used at your camp table to warm up your hands but is ideally going to be used in an enclosed space such as a garage or tent. Most people will use a propane heater to help keep their tent warm if it’s cold outside.
One thing to keep in mind if you end up going this route is checking the levels of carbon monoxide being produced in your tent to make sure the levels are not unsafe. You can die from carbon monoxide poisoning, I will outline what safety precautions you can take in the safety section below.
Most of the portable propane heaters will use 1-gallon tanks that are meant to be light and portable for use. These tanks can be refilled from a larger propane tank down the line if you wanted, but a lot of people will just replace the old one with a new one. You can buy packs of these in camping stores and on Amazon in bulk so that you get a cheaper price.
If portability is not really a concern for you then you could go with a larger propane heater that is designed to be used with a 20-gallon tank. These types of propane heaters will be a bit larger than the portable propane heaters but are still somewhat portable because they are not mounted to a wall or fixture.
Tent Heater Safety
Generally, electric tent heaters will be safer to use than propane tent heaters because they will have more protection and be putting out less heat around the heating element than propane tent heaters.
With propane tent heaters the heat the comes out of the heater is from the burning of propane which makes the temperatures propane heaters housing to be hotter than an electric tent heater.
If you are planning on using your tent heater around kids or animals you may want to go with an electric space heater as they are typically designed with more protection around their heating elements.
Propane Heaters and Carbon Monoxide
One precaution that you want to take when using propane heaters is that they can potentially produce carbon monoxide if they are not operating correctly. If they are operating correctly they should burn all of the propane while they are in use and should not cause any problems. If they are not burning their propane correctly though they can produce carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide is odorless and is poisonous to humans at high levels. If you are planning on using your propane heater in an enclosed space, you would want to make sure that you are using a carbon monoxide detector in combination with the propane heater to ensure your safety.
If you don’t plan on using a carbon monoxide detector in your tent or garage it’s important that you have proper ventilation in whatever area you are heating with propane. This will at least make it a bit safer to operate a propane heater because fresh air should still be circulating through the room or area if you have proper ventilation.
Tent Heater Tip-Over Protection
Another safety feature that you may want to look at having is tip-over protection. Some space heaters are designed to be able to tell if they are tipped over and will turn off automatically when this happens.
This helps prevent a fire in case the space heater would happen to tip over onto something flammable. If the space heater did not have this built-in protection it would have higher chances of accidentally causing a fire from being tipped over.
Portable Tent Heater Oxygen sensor
A nice safety feature on propane tent heaters is a low oxygen sensor. If your propane heater has a built-in low oxygen sensor it can detect the amount of oxygen in the room and then turn off the unit if the oxygen levels get too low to still efficiently burn the propane. This is another safety feature to try to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning from burning propane.
Portable Tent Heater Reliability
Because propane tent heaters are just essentially burning propane to create heat they should be more reliable than an electric space heater that uses electricity to create heat. Propane tent heaters will have fewer things to go wrong and break than on an electric space heater.
This isn’t to say that electric space heaters are going to be unreliable as I’ve owned a couple for my house and they have held up fine over the past few years under light use in the winter months.
In Conclusion
There are many different camping tent heaters to choose from, it ultimately comes down to your preference to use a propane heater or an electric heater. If you are going to be on a campsite or in the woods with no electrical outlet then a propane tent heater would probably be preferred.
If you are going to be at a campsite with access to electricity an electric tent heater would probably be preferred. Hopefully, this article was able to give you a better understanding of what features you will want on your search to find the best camping tent heater.
To get the most out of your camping tent heater you would want to have a tent that is designed to be used in lower temperatures. If you are going to be camping in the cold a lot you may be interested in my other article about how to pick out the best cold weather camping tent.
