Best Indoor Propane Heaters for Power Outages and Emergency Preparedness

Going without light, internet, and appliances during a power outage is one thing. While it might be inconvenient, it’s usually not a matter of life or death.

But it’s another issue to go without heating during a winter power outage.

At best, you’ll be uncomfortable. At worst, you could suffer severe hypothermia or even death.

Getting an indoor propane heater is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to ensure you can heat your home during a winter power outage.

Why Choose a Propane Heater?

There are many ways to heat your home during a winter power outage. The most popular ones include Kerosene heaters, generators, fireplaces, and wood stoves.

Propane heaters are usually easier, cheaper, and more convenient than these other methods. See kerosene vs. propane heaters for an in-depth comparison.

If you are looking for a long-term preparedness solution, it is worth looking into wood stoves and generators.

However, if you want to prepare quickly for a winter power outage, a propane heater is probably your best choice.

Best Indoor Propane Heaters

There aren’t many indoor propane heaters I can recommend with a good conscience.

Most aren’t rated to use indoors or are made for commercial spaces like warehouses and factories (Hint: You don’t want a 30,000 BTU heater with a powerful fan blowing in your living room!).

All of the following propane heaters are rated for indoor use, have safety features, and are easy to use during power outages.


Our Top Pick
Big Buddy Portable Propane Heater Big Buddy Portable Propane Heater

Why Buy It? It’s an affordable propane heater that is incredibly easy to use.

The Big Buddy by Mr. Heater is one of the most popular portable indoor propane heaters. It is small and lightweight but still powerful enough to heat most rooms in your home.

There are three settings (4,000, 9,000, and 18,000 BTUs), so the heater suits various spaces and temperatures.

The heater is very affordable to buy, and you can use it with two 1lb propane canisters or get a hose to connect it to a 20lb tank.

Not only is the Big Buddy heater very affordable, but it has lots of built-in features that make it incredibly easy to use.

There’s no need to worry about getting a regulator or a filter since these are built into the heater. The design makes it less likely to clog than other propane heaters. As for safety, there is a tip-over switch and an ODS shutoff.

The Buddy heaters are also available in smaller sizes.

However, the Big Buddy is probably the best choice for power outage prepping. The other sizes also don’t have a built-in fan (which uses four D batteries) for blowing hot air throughout larger spaces.

Features

  • Type: Convective
  • Max BTUs: 18,000
  • Settings: 3
  • ODS: Yes
  • Tip-over shutoff: Yes
  • Thermostat: No
  • Fan: Yes
  • Wall mountable: No
  • Weight: 7lbs
  • Run time on high (20lb tank): 23 hours


Best Radiant Option
Mr. Heater Corporation Vent-Free 20,000 BTU Radiant Mr. Heater Corporation Vent-Free 20,000 BTU Radiant

Why Buy It? This is one of the few portable propane heaters with a built-in thermostat.

This propane heater is also by Mr. Heater. It is entirely different than the Big Buddy heater listed above, though.

For starters, it is a radiant heater, meaning it heats objects in front of it rather than the air. This is a much more efficient way of heating for emergency preparedness or situations where you won’t be moving around a lot (like sitting on your couch).

They also make a convective version of this heater (see our #3 pick).

One of the Corporation Infrared heater’s standout features is its thermostat. You can set the temperature, and it will shut off once the space reaches that temperature, sparing you the hassle of cycling the heater on/off and saving you fuel.

The only downside is you need to get a separate pressure regulator. Don’t connect it directly to the propane tank without the regulator, or it could be damaged!

Features

  • Type: Radiant/infrared
  • Max BTUs: 20,000 or 30,000
  • Settings: 5
  • ODS: Yes
  • Tip-over shutoff: No
  • Thermostat: Yes
  • Fan: No
  • Wall mountable: Yes
  • Weight: 24lbs
  • Run time on high (20lb tank): 14 hours
Convection Heater with Thermostat
Mr. Heater 30,000 BTU Propane Blue Flame Mr. Heater 30,000 BTU Propane Blue Flame

Why Buy It? When you want a convection heater with a built-in thermostat.

“Blue flame” is the convection version of the Corporation heater listed as #2. The heaters are identical in features, so I won’t harp on those again.

The difference is in how they heat: Choose the Blue Flame convection version if you want to heat the entire space. Choose the Infrared version if you want to quickly get warm by huddling in front of the heater or if the room is poorly insulated.

Note that the Blue Flame Corporation heater does not have a built-in blower fan. Fans aren’t necessary for infrared heaters but are more important for convection heaters since you are heating the entire room.

If you have a large space to heat, then it is worth it to buy the optional blower fan (F299201 on Amazon)

Features

  • Type: Convection
  • Max BTUs: 20,000
  • Settings: 5
  • ODS: Yes
  • Tip-over shutoff: No
  • Thermostat: Yes
  • Fan: No
  • Wall mountable: Yes
  • Weight: 24lbs
  • Run time on high (20lb tank): 14 hours
Easy To Move
Dyna-Glo 18,000 BTU Cabinet Heater Dyna-Glo 18,000 BTU Cabinet Heater

Why Buy It? The caster wheels make it easy to move the heater and tank around your home.

This DynaGlo radiant heater has a back compartment where you store the propane tank. Because the heater is on wheels, you can easily move the heater and the tank around a room.

Don’t take this feature for granted! 

Radiant heaters only heat what is directly in front of them, so it is a great benefit to be able to easily relocate the heater as you move around the space.

The heater also has all the safety and usability features you’d want, like adjustable heat settings, ODS shutoff, and tip-over shutoff.

At 18,000 BTUs, the heater can heat even large-sized living rooms.

Features

  • Type: Convective
  • Max BTUs: 18,000
  • Settings: 3
  • ODS: Yes
  • Tip-over shutoff: Yes
  • Thermostat: No
  • Fan: Yes
  • Wall mountable: No
  • Weight: 7lbs
  • Run time on high (20lb tank): 23 hours
Premium Pick
Camco Olympian RV Wave-8 Camco Olympian RV Wave-8

Why Buy It? It’s the safest and most efficient indoor propane heater.

The Olympian Wave Catalytic heater isn’t as well-known as the others on this list, but it is one of the best choices for disaster prepping and camping and RVs. The Wave catalytic heaters are much more efficient and safe than other propane heaters.

As discussed later in the buying guide part of this post, catalytic heaters are much more efficient because they produce heat without a flame and at a lower temperature.

Olympian claims flame-based heaters waste 45% of energy, whereas their Wave heaters are 99.98% efficient. It isn’t just the company making these claims, though.

One user did a test and found the Wave 8 on the low setting (4,300BTU) was able to keep his bedroom at 68F. By comparison, the guy could only get his bedroom to 62-64F with a 25,000BTU furnace heater.

Even with the Wave 8 running constantly, it still used 3x less fuel.

Regarding safety, Olympian Wave heaters operate at lower temperatures: 720F versus 2,100F with traditional propane heaters. This makes the heater less of a fire hazard.

Wave catalytic heaters also produce virtually zero CO gas.

They require oxygen to operate, though, so you could end up with dangerously low oxygen levels. There is an ODS shutoff feature to protect against that, but you will still need to ventilate.

There are a few downsides to the Wave catalytic heaters.

First off, they are relatively costly. If you need something for your RV or supplemental gas heating for your home, then the price is well worth it. Not everyone will want to invest this much in a heater for occasional power outages.

The other downside is catalytic heaters like the Wave 8 are sensitive to dust. You must keep it covered when not in use, or the catalyst plate can easily get damaged. The plate is also sensitive to humidity, so it might not be the best choice for very humid areas.

Features

  • Type: Catalytic
  • Max BTUs: 8,000
  • Settings: 3
  • ODS: Yes
  • Tip-over shutoff: No
  • Thermostat: No
  • Fan: No
  • Wall mountable: Yes
  • Weight: 14lbs
  • Run time on high (20lb tank): 53 hours
Dual Purpose Heater
Pleasant Hearth 30,000 BTU Gas vent free stove Pleasant Hearth 30,000 BTU Gas vent free stove

Why Buy It? It is an attractive, permanent heater that you will enjoy using regularly.

Propane vent-free stoves are becoming more popular as an alternative to fireplaces. Many models could be used for power outage prepping, but this one by Pleasant Hearth is one of the best choices.

The Pleasant Heart Compact stove has many interesting features compared to other vent-free stoves.

For starters, it is intermediate in size at just 28 inches tall, 31 inches wide, and 14 inches deep. It is free-standing on four legs, so you can put it virtually anywhere in your home.

It’s heavy at 78lbs, but not so monstrously heavy that you couldn’t move it to another room if necessary during a power outage.

There are five heat settings, each controlled by a thermostat. The heater will cycle on/off based on the room temperature, which means you save fuel in the long run.

Note the blower fan is sold separately, but this should only be required for the largest of rooms (purchase the fan.)

The stove does require a 100lb tank or larger with a two-stage adjustable regulator.

You might need professional setup, and it is meant to be a permanent installation in your home. It comes with ceramic logs, and the flames are a pretty yellow.


Safety

Propane heaters are an effective and safe way to heat your home in an emergency. As long as you take precautions against fire and provide proper ventilation, most propane heaters are perfectly safe for indoor use.

What Size Propane Heater Do I Need?

Propane heaters are sized in British Thermal Units (BTUs). The higher the BTUs, the larger the space the heater will be able to heat. You can use the following formula to determine your BTU requirements.

  1. Find the cubic feet of the space you want to heat. This is done by multiplying length x width x height.
  2. Determine how many degrees you’ll need to increase the temperature. For example, if it is 20F outside and you want it to be 50F inside, then the amount is 30F.
  3. BTUs required = Cubic Feet x Temperature Increase x 0.133.

*For Celsius, use this equation: BTUs required = Cubic Feet x Temperature Increase x 0.2394

Unless you are prepared to stockpile large amounts of propane, it is usually impractical to heat your entire home with a propane heater during a power outage.

Instead, you will want to gather everyone into one room and heat this room. Shut doors and hang heavy blankets over them to prevent heat from escaping. Put rolled-up towels at the bottom of the entrances to keep air from escaping through the gap.

Here’s an example:

The average living room size in the USA is 319 square feet. The standard ceiling height is 8 feet. That means a typical living room is 2,550 cubic feet in size.

In Upstate New York, where I grew up, temperatures regularly get down to 17F in January. To make life comfortable during a power outage safe, you’d want to increase the temperature to around 50F, so a temperature increase of 33F.

2,550 x 33 x 0.133 = 11,191 BTUs required

Get a Larger Propane Heater than You Need

In the example above, I’ve made the calculation using average January low temperatures. However, temperatures get a lot colder than this – like during the 1994 blizzard when the temperature dropped to -11F!

To play it safe, you’ll want to get a propane heater with a higher BTU than you actually need.

However, don’t get too large of a propane heater, especially if it doesn’t have a thermostat. The room will heat up too quickly, and you’ll have to constantly cycle the heater on/off to get the temperature right.

Further, a large heater in a small space might produce too much CO gas.

Tip: Choose a propane heater with multiple heat settings. This way, you can choose a lower setting to save fuel and only use the higher setting when it’s really cold out.

How Much Fuel Do I Need?

Use the following equation to determine the amount of fuel needed:

  • Look at how much propane the heater uses per hour. This can be found in the heater description or user manual.
  • Calculate how many hours per day you will be using the heater. This number will probably be 24 hours per day in a blizzard situation.
  • Determine how many days you want to prepare for. At the very least, you should have enough fuel to get you through a 2-week power outage. It’s probably advisable to have at least 30-days’ worth of fuel stockpiled for extended power outages.
  • Multiply these numbers to get the amount of fuel required.

For example: the Mr. Heater Buddy uses 0.099 gallons of propane per hour at the 9,000BTU setting. If you were to use it 24 hours a day for 14 days, it comes out to:

0.099 x 24 x 14 = 33.264 gallons

You can also calculate how long your propane tank will last. 

  • One gallon of propane contains 91,502BTUs.
  • Multiply this by how many gallons of propane you have.
  • Then divide by how many BTUs your heater produces.

For example: A 20lb tank of propane contains 4.7 gallons of propane for a total of 430,059 BTUs.  A propane heater operating at 18,000bBTUs would last 23.8 hours (430,059 ÷ 18,000 = 23.8).

This isn’t as exact as the first method because some heaters are more efficient than others, but it still gives you a rough estimate of how many hours a propane tank will last. 

Propane Tank Sizes in Gallons

  • 1lb canister = 0.2 gallons
  • 5lb tank = 1.2 gallons
  • 11lb tank = 2.6 gallons
  • 15lb tank = 3.5 gallons
  • 20lb tank = 4.7 gallons
  • 30lb tank = 6.8 gallons
  • 100lb tank = 25 gallons

(Source)

*You can drastically reduce fuel requirements by heating a smaller space or lowering the temperature. Remember, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You don’t want to run out of gas and end up freezing – so stockpile adequate amounts of propane for your heater.

Convective vs. Radiant vs. Catalytic Propane Heaters

Propane heaters heat a space using convection or radiation.

A convective heater will heat the air in the room.

By contrast, a radiant heater (also called infrared heater) heats objects in front of the heater.

Catalytic heaters are a type of radiant heater which don’t rely on a flame to produce heat.

Convective Heaters

Convective heaters (sometimes called blue flame heaters) work by heating the air around the heater. The hot air rises to the ceiling, eventually warming the room from the top down.

Pros

  • Heat the entire space: It can take a while, but the whole room will get to a warm temperature.
  • More options available: This means more features to choose from.
  • Cheaper: Convective heaters are usually a bit cheaper than radiant heaters.

Cons

  • Less efficient than radiant heaters: You lose a lot of energy heating air around the ceiling.
  • Not suitable for drafty spaces: A draft will carry away the hot air instead of allowing it to heat the space.
  • Work best with fans: The fan blows the warmed air around the room. This is a downside because the fans are often sold separately, annoyingly loud, and prone to breaking.

Radiant Heaters

A radiant heater (also called an infrared heater) will heat whatever is in its path.

Think of it like a campfire which you huddle around. They will eventually heat an entire space, but only by heating the objects in the space.

Pros

  • Much more efficient: They directly heat whatever is in front of them, so they will keep you warm with much less fuel.
  • No loud fans: No fan is required, so they are quieter to run.
  • Instant warmth: Sit in front of the heater, and you will get warm. No need to wait for the air in the room to warm up.
  • Better for drafty spaces: You aren’t trying to warm the air in the space, so radiant heaters work well for drafty spaces.

Cons

  • Not suitable for warming entire rooms: They only warm objects in front of them.
  • Need to huddle around the heater: This is great for situations like sleeping, but not for doing tasks in the room.

Catalytic Heaters

A catalytic heater is a type of radiant heater that will heat objects directly in front of it.

The difference between a catalytic and a radiant heater is how they produce heat. Radiant heaters have a visible flame. By contrast, catalytic heaters rely on a chemical reaction that uses a very low temperature and doesn’t produce CO gas.

Pros

  • Flameless technology and low heat: There is almost no fire risk.
  • Virtually no CO gas produced: The low temperature means almost no CO gas is produced.

Cons

  • Not many options: The Olympian Wave is one of the only propane catalytic heaters you’ll find.
  • Pricier: Be prepared to invest in one of these heaters.

Which to Get?

A convective propane heater is usually a better choice, especially if multiple people will be sharing a space for an extended period and the room is well-insulated.

Radiant heaters are better for individuals who don’t mind huddling around the heater to stay warm. Likewise, choose a radiant heater if you cannot stockpile lots of propane; thus, efficiency is a more significant concern.

A catalytic heater is the best choice if you are in a minimal space, such as a van or RV.

Tips for Using Propane Heaters during Power Outage

  • Be sure to have flashlights and spare batteries: You’ll need flashlights or headlamps for setting up the heater in the dark. It’s best not to use candles around propane heaters if you experience leaks.
  • Have supplies for sectioning rooms: Indoor propane heaters are meant to heat small spaces, not your entire home. Have supplies like heavy blankets hanging over doorways and towels to go under door cracks.
  • Test your heater before you need it: You don’t want a winter power outage to hit and realize you don’t know how to operate your heater. Read the manual and test it out as soon as you get it.
  • You still need warm blankets and clothes: During a winter power outage, your primary source of warmth should be your clothes and emergency blankets or sleeping bags. Make sure you have these ready, and you won’t blow through all your propane to heat your home.
  • Have a CO detector and spare batteries: Don’t rely on the heater’s built-in shutoffs. Use a separate battery-operated CO detector. Make sure you have spare batteries and test them before operating your heater.

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Leave a comment

  1. This article is just what I was looking for. We have a vacation house in the Colorado mountains where our only heating source is natural gas. Summers are fine, but winters are cold! We are concerned if we loose electricity and NG we will be up the creek. Albeit a frozen one. We are also contemplating a small power generator. Hopefully I can find as enlightening an article on generators.

    Reply
    • The tank can be in the house (but you can store them outside when not needed). I have propane tanks inside my cabin and just make sure to always shut the tank off when not using the stove or heater.

      It’s the stove (or generator) producing CO that you need to be careful about: get a CO detector.

      Reply
  2. Great article. I may install the Pleasant Hearth stove in a bedroom for power outage emergencies. Are the CO emissions and smell (if any) manageable? Are the CO sensors going to go off continually, even with a cracked window?

    Reply
    • CO detectors only go off when the levels become unsafe. It varies depending on the stove, but most propane heaters only require a tiny bit of ventilation — like cracking the window an inch. I highly recommend getting a CO detector (and spare batteries for it!) for all fuel-burning stoves, heaters, etc.

      Reply

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