Hello, i hane no experience with these, only lamps and stoves but I am interested in picking up one of these for using outdoors at chillier picnics or for when the sun goes down. How do they perform outside, are they successful or does the wind just blow them out? What effect does rain have, put them out or start a big fire, or no effect?
@Macaroon These heaters are radiant heaters. They have limited outdoor application, being useful only if you a quite close to them - the rest of the planet will receive the heat you are generating. If the rin was more than a drizzle I expect that they would struggle. Cheers tony
Well, in the UK we use these all the time for camping etc. but you need one each because of their small size - think of them as a mini patio heater and you won't go far wrong. They're also great in a large tent/gazebo/shed/garage/igloo* or whatever but you need to observe the obvious safety precautions i.e. don't bump into them, dry clothes in front of them or leave them unattended and certainly not left on overnight. You'll be woken up by the overwhelming stink of kerosene vapour if they go out through lack of pressure or fuel. Worst case scenario - you won't wake up at all. They're more difficult to light outside if temperatures are low and/or there's more than the slightest breeze blowing. The Tilley is better in this respect because it should come with a draught shield for use when lighting. If this is missing or you've got a Bialaddin (the draught shield was optional on these), you can generally cobble something up using a beer can. Once they're lit, it will take a very strong wind i.e. gale force probably, to blow them out completely. Lighter gusts blow the flame to one side temporarily so you get less heat output. Bialaddins are better engineered than Tilleys and are de rigeur if you're a proper collector when you're camping. Having said that, Tilleys are OK, too and I've used them quite a bit... *OK, I'm only guessing about the igloo...
The observations Tony has made about the Bialaddin Bowlfire are all true. BUT, as far as radiant heaters are concerned the Bowlfire rules supreme. At the annual meet of members from CPL and CCS at Newark, in the evenings Bowlfires will be seen everywhere. Outdoors it is a great personal heater (for one or two people) or in a large tent it will soon have the place toasty warm. As David has said, it is well engineered and totally reliable.
@shagratork It must be quite a sight to see you all sitting around with the bowlfires blasting away. Cheers Tony
Thanks all, for the interesting answers! Sadly I doubt I'll ever get the chance to verify the performance of either type in an igloo, but I get the general idea As for being radiant heaters, that's kind of why I was hoping they'd be effective outdoors, a bit like an infra red heater that heats the person not the air around. I agree that outdoors convection heating is mostly wasted. Either way the experience kindly shared here confirms that the heating performance isn't huge and that the more the merrier So rain is not a danger or problem for the unsheltered mantle? I was worried about that in case it caused a flare up or put it out, we're never far from the next downpour in good old England
The 'mantles' are not like lamp mantles. Two types; the asbestos ball, or wire ball for the Tilley, and cylindrical wire for the Bowlfire. Both are quite sturdy, and will not be affected by rain. But then who is going to sit out in the rain in front of a radiant fire? Under a lean-to or bivvy yes. Great heaters.
Thanks Derek, that answers my concern about the rain. To answer your question, everyone who started sitting outdoors before unexpected or unwanted downpours arrived, not uncommon in the UK I can assure you!
The Bowlfires, R1s etc are very good heaters. I would say however that stove-based one, a Primus 154 R/3 is probably my pick of the bunch so far. It is fitted with a No.5 size burner so nominally 2.5kW output into a brass heater dome and kicked forward with a reflector. It really belts out the heat! I also use R1s and have one with a thick asbestos mantle and one with a wire gauze ball, they perform very well. In my camper I often use my Franken-lamp AL15 with an R1 Burner as a compact little heater, the 7" reflector does a sterling job of small-space heating! I would echo that it would be advantageous to have it sitting right beside you and one per person outside Alec.
What! - with our ever-so accurate forecasting services?? Heavy rain for Shropshire tomorrow, and that's almost a certainty, and I'm driving to the Spey Valley where next week is also forecast rain - and no doubt temperatures in single figures! Such fun . . .
