Cold Weather Smoking

[Silverstix]

Awfully chilly here in my neck of the woods this time of year.  I got this gift for my birthday recently, anybody use this outside and does it actually help?

[MrBirdman]

Depends a lot on how windy it is. If it’s still it can definitely help - if it’s breezy the benefits aren’t as great. 

[Nevrknow]

^ this. Love mine but I use it in the garage. Outside in wind? Eh, not so great.

[NSXCIGAR]

I use one of these. No need to plug in:

 

[Walter2017-1]

In my experience, propane is the way to go. Milwaukee Tool, also makes heated jackets, which have been really helpful in frigid WI winters.

[Bijan]

1 minute ago, Walter2017-1 said:

In my experience, propane is the way to go.

How many hours do you get out of a tank? I mainly went with electric because I'm too lazy to deal with that. But if it's not too bad, I might consider.

I could always go with natural gas, but at that point I could upgrade to 240V too...

2 minutes ago, Walter2017-1 said:

Milwaukee Tool, also makes heated jackets, which have been really helpful in frigid WI winters.

These are great. I have the hoodie I wear under my jacket and 3 batteries. 1 battery will run on high for a cigar, on medium for 2.

[Silverstix]

Thanks guys for the feedback.  Could see how the wind is a killer.....also thinking it probably won't help much when it's 20 degrees out like it is today.....

This one actually runs off a 1lb propane camping style tank, or I can connect via hose to a large tank if I wanted to.  I didn't want an electric one, wanted to have the portability option

The heated jacket is definitely intriguing too - I bought one for my dad and he loves it.  Might be my next indulgence 

[yadegari6]

I agree with going the route of propane, the other heaters work well if the temps are comfortably above freezing but in the middle of winter the propane heater is all I use. I get 8-10 hours per tank normally which lasts me a couple weeks, definitely worth it to make it a comfortable experience. 

[Bijan]

32 minutes ago, yadegari6 said:

I get 8-10 hours per tank normally which lasts me a couple weeks, definitely worth it to make it a comfortable experience. 

Thanks! That would last me a week... But I definitely need something better for January and February.

[yadegari6]

15 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Thanks! That would last me a week... But I definitely need something better for January and February.

I think a propane heater would certainly help. The one that @NSXCIGAR posted might be better suited for outdoor use than mine, but either way the heaters are not that expensive so it’s worth a shot. Propane exchange is at $20 a tank here at lowes

[Bijan]

1 minute ago, yadegari6 said:

I think a propane heater would certainly help. The one that @NSXCIGAR posted might be better suited for outdoor use than mine, but either way the heaters are not that expensive so it’s worth a shot. Propane exchange is at $20 a tank here at lowes

Same here. I use it for my BBQ. Just too lazy to go once a week. I keep an extra tank so that I can delay it for the BBQ. Usually only have to go a couple of times a year.

[Nevrknow]

45 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Same here. I use it for my BBQ. Just too lazy to go once a week. I keep an extra tank so that I can delay it for the BBQ. Usually only have to go a couple of times a year.

Rookie numbers 😁🤣🤣.  6 20lbers  2 40 lbers and 3. 100 lbers. Oh God, I have a problem lol.

I could say the same about cigars. ( Not to some guy's levels but I'm ok. 😁 )

 

But I won't run out anytime soon! 👍

[Kitchen]

Cold smoked some pork bellies into bacon this week with the low temps really helping out.  

[NSXCIGAR]

9 hours ago, Bijan said:

How many hours do you get out of a tank? I mainly went with electric because I'm too lazy to deal with that. But if it's not too bad, I might consider.

Electric alone just doesn't have the muscle and it'll cost you at least 2/3 of the cost of propane. With my setup (keep in mind it doesn't ever get colder than 45°F for me) on full tilt I get about 10 hrs out of a 5 gal tank. Obviously I don't need full power in my area and if you move it close enough you can regulate the flow with the main knob and I can squeeze 14-16 hrs out of $25 worth of gas. 

Best thing about mine is it's ultra portable and I can just do a quick tank swap at the gas station. 

[Bijan]

13 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Electric alone just doesn't have the muscle and it'll cost you at least 2/3 of the cost of propane.

Do you mean fuel or the hardware? I think my relatively puny 120V electric heater is $0.20 to $0.50 an hour to run depending on time of day with electricity prices here (mainly $0.20 since I smoke in the evenings after 7pm, and almost never $0.50 because the peak periods are 7-11am and 5-7 pm, and I generally smoke between 11-5 if not smoking in the evening, though I guess peak rate is 11am-5pm in the summer, but that's May through October so a lot less need for heating 11am to 5pm).

Of course if I had a 240V outlet, I'd run a more powerful electric heater..

Of course at 45F I don't even run my puny heater at full. I'd run it at 1/2 or 1/4, usually toggle between those two settings. But below about 25F it's not enough even on full. It's been really cold this week in the -5F to 15F range. At 15F and below it's acutely uncomfortable without gloves.

 

13 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I get about 10 hrs out of a 5 gal tank.

Doing the math, your style of heater is 6x to 8x more powerful than mine. Although being infrared less of it drifts up and away.

Anyways ordered one, will see how it goes.

Long term I'd either want a natural gas infrared heater or an 6kw electric one, should deliver similar output without ever having to worry about refueling. But I don't like the cost of either option or the fixed permanent install.

[NSXCIGAR]

32 minutes ago, Bijan said:

58 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Electric alone just doesn't have the muscle and it'll cost you at least 2/3 of the cost of propane.

Do you mean fuel or the hardware?

Fuel. You're saying at 120v it's $.50/hr and it sounds like you need at least 240v to get anything close to what you need. So at $1/hr you're at about half of my cost of $2/hr on full blast and mine at full blast is plenty of heat even below freezing. I'm at $1.50/hr on about half power.

My point is you get what you pay for. Your $1/hr still isn't cutting it. Spend the extra $.50 and go propane. 

[Bijan]

5 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Fuel. You're saying at 120v it's $.50/hr and it sounds like you need at least 240v to get anything close to what you need. So at $1/hr you're at about half of my cost of $2/hr on full blast and mine at full blast is plenty of heat even below freezing. I'm at $1.50/hr on about half power.

My point is you get what you pay for. Your $1/hr still isn't cutting it. Spend the extra $.50 and go propane. 

Not only that, I'm at 120V and 15A. I'd need 240V and 30A. So 4x the juice. So cost would be pretty much the same at peak. But that would probably be enough though.

But either that or the equivalent natural gas setup, would be a job to set up and more of an expense/investment.

I'll see how the propane tank top goes.

[NSXCIGAR]

17 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Doing the math, your style of heater is 6x to 8x more powerful than mine. Although being infrared less of it drifts up and away.

The burner dishes on mine are about 10" but they do project heat very well especially on full and it deals with wind pretty well. On full blast I can't have it closer than 5 feet. There's no temp it can't handle--you just have to move it closer. You can move it really close and choke the gas to about 1/2 like I do. The main valve on a 5 gal is very sensitive so you have to do some fine tuning to choke the gas off without extinguishing the dishes. It has a high/med/low knob but it's useless. More like 90/95/100% so I just leave it on low and regulate with the tank knob. It also sits at a very high angle so I shim up the tank with a piece of wood to get it to angle more downward. 

[Stogeyfish]

On 1/22/2022 at 6:11 AM, Silverstix said:

Awfully chilly here in my neck of the woods this time of year.  I got this gift for my birthday recently, anybody use this outside and does it actually help?

Look on YouTube for Mr. Heater modifications.  They attach a thermal electric fan to disperse the heat.

[teamrandr]

Drink it will help with the cold

[Fosgate]

On 1/22/2022 at 6:11 AM, Silverstix said:

Awfully chilly here in my neck of the woods this time of year.  I got this gift for my birthday recently, anybody use this outside and does it actually help?

I have been eyeballing that very same heater. My garage is below my house to it retains a lot of heat but right now I'm having to get a better seal on the garage doors. I would still like one of these for the garage for a quick warmup if I just come in from shoveling etc after opening the main doors. I also want to get a second for my mother in law/airBnB suite in the event of power failure in the winter. 

 

[rguinn]

The heaters work pretty well down to freezing. With the fireplace going I can tolerate down to around 25F
 

[Bijan]

Managed to light both burners. Got to clear some snow to get it closer to me without risk to life and limb.

Wet spot on the knees of my pants is really starting to steam. I think this might work.

[Drguano]

Time for a double corona…NOT!