Portable Propane Heaters – Coleman Catalytic Propane Heater

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
The best tent heater on the market…. period !, December 19, 2006
By Paul Cochran

I purchased this catalytic propane heater to heat my tent for winter camping with my son for his Cub Scout winter camps. I tried the heater out on a three night camp out the last week of October, 2006 at 7,000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains. Those nights dipped in the high 20’s. The heater worked very well with only a few concerns, which were easily overcome. I placed the lit heater in my tent well in advance of retiring for the evening and 6 hours later replaced the emptied propane cylinder right away and re-started the heater for the remainder of the morning. My son and I were nice and warm when we went to bed and stayed warm all the night through. Sure is nice to be able to stand up and dress in a warm tent in the morning. Next we will be trying the heater out at a snow camp in February with temps expected to be in the low teens.

Reading the directions dismissed any apprehensions of opertion. And yes, as another reviewer commented… the unit does throw out a small fire ball when first lit. YIKES! However, should you read the instructions BEFORE USE… you are forewarned about this and the reader is instructed NOT to light the heater facing anyone/pets/tent or indoors because of this issue. Instructions are not placed with the item for looks you know, you have to read them! OK, it spits out a small fire ball at first. Big deal… nothing too intense that an average human can not adapt to.

As for the “hot oil smell,” noted by another reviewer… yes, there is a “smell,” that emits from the operating unit. How one describes that smell will vary. Each individual person’s sensitivity to that smell will also vary. To me the “smell” was simply like sightly hot metal, as with any other heater, and faint enough that it did not bother me at all. However, should one be rather sensitive to the “smell” it may prove uncomfortable.

The battery operated fan that blows the heated air away from the unit is awesome. The fan does not blow the volume of air like a fan on your desk or counter top might. The fan is much smaller, yet it does greatly aid in the ciculation of the heat. Without the fan on, the heat is simply radiated out and the heat is not evenly distributed throughout the tent. One huge issue with the fan… it eats batteries like a child eats candy. Two “D” batteries will run the fan for one full night. That’s it, no more. Recharable batteries are strongly recommended to keep the battery budget in check, because the fan really needs to be used.

Some advise… 1.) Light the heater OUTSIDE of your tent (remember there will be small fire ball emiting from the heater when it is lit). 2.) Start the unit and place in your tent at least one full hour before going to bed. That way your tent will be nice and warm when you go to bed. 3.) Keep a replacement propane cylinder close by for replacement in the early morning hours. Should you allow the tent to cool before replacing the propane cylinder and re-igniting the heater it will take a very, very long time to warm the tent up. Remeber… nights are coldest the hours just before dawn (usally) which is much colder than when you started to warm your tent up the previous evening. Also, the larger the tent (or area being heated) the longer it will take to bring up and maintain the temp. I am going to buy a second heater for my large three room tent. This way I can start one heater well before going to bed to heat the tent, and then 6 hours before I plan to wake up I can start the second heater. With two heaters operating at the same time in my large tent the heat will be easily maintained (hopfully even with winds) but also the first heater will will run out of fuel and shut off in the night and the second heater will continue heating maintaining the temp without me getting up to change out the propane cylinder. 4.) Place the heater in an area of your tent in which nothing will come in contact with it. The heater grid gets very hot and will burn you or any other item that contacts it.

All in all, this ProCat Catalytic Propane Heater is a great heater. It is larger than others on the market (the heating head is larger in diameter), including other Coleman brand heaters. It appears to be the only one with a fan to assist in heat distribution. It puts out a good amount of heart. The only serious failing on this ProCat heater is that the output can not be regulated. The heater is either on full blast or completly off.

Please note though, the more ventilated your tent the less effective any heater will be in heating such a tent, let alone this particular heater. Thus, should you have a “summer family camping tent” that is very well ventilated either consider purchasing two heaters to heat your tent, or in addition to this heater purchase a tent that is designed for cold weather (which is less vented than summer family tents).