Tent Heater options – candle/alcohol/propane, what to use?

[Richard Nisley]

Today I did combustion plume measurements for both the BRS-H22 and Kovea Fireball radiant heaters. BRS set to low heat = 68 ppm and high heat = 44 ppm. Kovea set to low heat = 18 ppm and high heat = 22 ppm.

[Christoph Blank]

Richard, that’s quite interesting, and a huge difference! When I measured the output 30cm above the heaters, it was around ~20ppm max for both of them. Thanks for the insight!

To me it seems the Kovea is burning cleaner, due to a better design. Glowing much brighter and more evenly than the BRS.

[Richard Nisley]

I didn’t test in one preconceived location. I looked for the highest CO reading, at every location, from each radiant heater. I found them in approximately the same spot for both radiant heaters . It was not directly above the burner heads like I expected. It was approximately vertical in line with the front grills and about 10.2 cm (4 “) above the heaters.

I don’t know if it is related to their respective CO levels but, there is a big difference in the sound from the two heaters. The Kovea Fireball is loud and the BRS-H22 is barely audible.

[Richard Nisley]

“The Kovea can be tilted, however the angle it points up is ~45 degrees, which is quite steep. If I’m sitting on the same level as the heater, I have to put it in between my feet to warm my whole body.”

I will post the thermal radiation patterns for both heaters later. In the interim, be advised that at a 2′ distance, the center of the radiation pattern for both heaters is within 1″ height of one another.

[Christoph Blank]

Thank you Richard, that would be very interesting. I couldn’t test it extensively and have no possibility to visualize this pattern.

I’ll also try to reproduce your CO measurements. You are right with the sound, the flame/jet of the Kovea looks different.

[Tim Skidmore]

While having a warm tent is really nice, I don’t think the risk is worth the reward. I generally just concentrate on making sure my sleeping bag/quilt is warm enough. If my body heat can’t do it I heat a bottle (heat resistant) of water up and toss it in.

Of course I’m at sea level in a temperate forest not in the Alps and I’m breaking camp in the morning, so my opinion isn’t as qualified as people who hike in those conditions.

[Richard Nisley]

 

Both heaters put out the same delta radiation at the center of their patterns which is ~+30F on high. The center of an average man seated on the ground is about 14″ and so both heaters need to raised up a few inches for optimal seated heating. The lid on the Kovea Fireball raises it 3″ to near optimal height and it has the heaters foot imprints on top to accomplish this securely. The Kovea Fireball lid could also be used to raise the height of the BRS-H22.

Note that the ruler taped to the wall is 16″ long and the horizontal lip along the bottom of the wall is 4″ tall. The dark circle on the ruler is at the mid-point. These dimensions should be used to determine the height and width of the radiation patterns.

The BSR-24 stove to IR adapter is a very poor design for heating a single person in a pyramid, but it would work well, for a group of people in a circle in combination with a double wall tent. As with the other heaters, it needs to be raised for optimal radiation to the core. In addition, the high temp under the stove (182F) requires a special base for safety. The radiation output is so low with this stove that I positioned it only 1 foot from the wall to see the pattern. You would have to shield the canister adequately to prevent an explosion when using a stove that connects to the top of a canister like a Pocket Rocket.

 

[Christoph Blank]

Thanks a lot Richard, that’s great information. I had a different impression when I quickly tried both heaters, but it was too warm anyway. Will test it again.

Just one question: How are you using the Kovea lid for the fireball? In the picture you only positioned 2 feet on the lid, I tried that but it’s very unstable.
Did you measure it like this, or did you put the whole heater on top of the lid as the imprints suggest?

[Richard Nisley]

The thermal images above are of the Kovea sitting on concrete at its lowest 45 degree setting and BRS at its default 90 degree position.

When I put the Kovea front legs only on the lid, the thermal pattern covered the ground and only  two inches up the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Christoph Blank]

Thanks for the clarification! Also for the data of the BRS-24, it’s not worth carrying around in this case..

Tim Skidmore, risks can be minimized if you take care. Also I’m interested in this for a particular reason, it’s more related to base-camp style camping. If I’m moving, I don’t carry too much weight with me.

The main motivation for trying this is also curiosity. What can be achieved in heating a tent with minimal input. What tents perform best in colder temperatures, etc.
Especially regarding the last point I think people are misguided by all the lightweight tents that are (as discussed before) marketed as double wall while just being a hull with net inner. I think this can be quite counter-productive.

[Roger Caffin]

marketed as double wall while just being a hull with net inner. I think this can be quite counter-productive.

And rather cold too.

Cheers

[Richard Nisley]

The MSR WindBurner has a low CO output but is ineffective when used as a IR tent heater:

Many years ago Roger C. tested the MSR Reactor and reported atrocious CO levels on low. That design used a venturi air inlet but, the newer WindBurner uses a more conventional ported air inlet. I measured the WindBurner CO level at 5 ppm on low and 1 ppm on high. The only caution is that when the flame goes out, the CO will spike to 35 ppm and then take a few minutes to ramp down to 0. It should be put outside a shelter during this period to let the porous Fecralloy burner purge itself.

I also tested the stove at a 45 degree angle and neither CO reading changed. Although billed as a IR burner, the major heating mechanism is convective (appears to be ~30% IR and 70% Convective). At a 2′ distance the IR component would only heat a shelter occupant ~8.2F over ambient. Most of the heat goes up in a convective plume. In contrast, both the Kovea Fireball and BSR-H22 provided ~30F over ambient IR heating.

[Christoph Blank]

Very interesting, thanks Richard!

Do you maybe also own the larger one of these heater covers?

 

Btw. the CO meter I received is not new, according to the manufacturer it was produced Nov/2015. Have to decide whether or not I should return it now.

 

[Richard Nisley]

Christoph,

I think your CO meter will be fine for your application. The manufacturer recommends 3 years between mail-in sensor replacement and recalibration. 1 year in inventory is reasonable.

I don’t have a large stove top IR heater like you showed in your photograph.

[Christoph Blank]

Thank you Richard, meanwhile the manufacturer told me that European staff will contact me regarding a recalibration as you wrote.

[Christoph Blank]

Had to move my vacation plans 1 week into the future. As I have some more time now I think I’ll look for a warm solo double wall tent.

Maybe the Hilleberg Akto if I can shed some weight

[Christoph Blank]

Stumbled across the Kovea Cap Heater and thought it might be a good addition to this older thread:

http://kovea.com/product/cap-heater/

Any thoughts?

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