Small Portable Butane Heater - like a mini mister buddy - Kovea Cupid Heater from Korea

Heating a home is something that I have become passionate about, as my current living situation is very drafty.  My kitchen will be fifty degrees with all my heaters on.

A youtube video about camping heater caught my eye.  This small heater from Korea looked to be the size of just what I needed.

Having lived in a car for a while, I have some experience with the muster buddy system.  They are really big, really hot, and cost a bunch to run.

Having experimented much, this heater barely warms the area below and behind it, which is an integral feature as I intend to use this heater while tent camping.

The fuel isn't too expensive, as butane canisters are between 2 and 3 bucks, and can run for five or six hours. My choice is to run the heater on low, and set a fan behind it.  A small USB powered fan works well,  and the fan only pulls 1 watt of power, which really helps the efficiency of the butane.  The fan allows me to run the heater lower than without it.

When you lower the heater too much, the flame starts to jump and waft around.  The low fan makes it able to run lower, as the flame seems to burn with more stability.

Afront the heater is a mounted heat powered fan.  This one was like sixteen dollars on Amazon, and came with an adapter for little buddy heaters.  I was able to fit this right to the front of the Kovea Cupid.

The fan blowing down seems a bit odd, but works great for several things.  Heat rises, so this helps move it efficiently.  Taking this into my frigid bathroom heats the floors up super quick, and feels luxurious.  I also imagine blowing heat down to ground level would be best for tent camping when sleeping on the ground.  Otherwise, you are heating from the ceiling down and waiting until the heat reaches the ground.

I am not a master in thermodynamics, but this system seems to work well. I thought that it is a piece of gear that could help some people who have particular situations.

There is the ability to cook on this unit, although the instructions say not to.  It definitely needs some things to help stabilize it vertical, and a system to stop the saucepan from sliding around on the grate.

With small modification, this could be used to heat water for cooking quite easily.

Twelve 8 ounce cans of butane fuel cost about thirty dollars delivered,  Several people have shown how to hook this Kovea Cupid up to larger green propane bottles, and even the full size propane bottles that can be filled in bulk.

You have to get some hoses with adapters, and then barely turn the propane on, as the propane bottles are higher pressure than the butane canisters. There's a little button inside that safety faults if there's too much pressure, and you just press it and lower the pressure until you get it low enough to work.

I personally enjoy the portability potential of the small butane canisters, and got the adapters to refill canisters from larger ones or from partially empties.  That process gives me apprehension, but it sounds as though it can be done safely.


Here is the original YouTube video that got me interested in this heater.  https://youtu.be/uV2fy4HXdSI?si=elRdsMiJdGk_nDUP

I have owned this heater for nearly a month now, but have yet to take it camping.  One frigid morning, I did turn it on inside my car on the passenger seat while I was scraping windows.  It worked well, but just need a more stable place than on some reflectix on my seat (when seats are far from flat).  

I felt a little chill today, and decided to turn on my heater for a couple minutes.  It was a nice feeling, that I was very confident and comfortable with my heater, and is the reason that I wanted to share it as a gear review.  

The YouTube video shows it off better than I do, as he comments about the case not being the best.  It is about bare minimum of a case, but seems to be doing it's job.

The heat powered stove fan starts up very quickly.  As the time depends on the room temperature, I counted somewhere under twenty seconds for the fan to be spinning in the coldest situation.  Having it atop in this fashion does not make the heater unstable, and I feel confident in handling the heater by the other leg.  It stands on one, and the other is atop not doing much.

You wouldn't want to move it while on with the fan attached, because it leans the heater forward with the fan weight.  You could carry the heater while on, if you had to in an emergency, if the fan wasn't adding front weight.

Cool unit! The only consideration with butane is that it might be tough to get going in very cold weather. I know that I can get the cylinders at the ethnic markets for cheap (I have a portable butane stove in my fleet).

I have some propane Buddy heaters but they're either too hot in a small space or too cool in a large space. Plus the cost of the 1-lb cylinders has gone completely insane so I have to schlep a propane tank and hose around.

What's the model of the butane heater? How much do they cost?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
What's the model of the butane heater? How much do they cost?

Kovea Cupid, and is 89 on Amazon.  So there's no cost savings versus the mister buddy unit.

https://www.amazon.com/Kovea-Cupid-Gas-Heater/dp/B01NAEOJYC

Another question -- some of the reviews complain that the butane cartridge doesn't lock in place. That could be a safety concern. But then some reviewers can't screw in a lightbulb either. In my butane camp stove the cylinders certainly lock in place. Thoughts?

It is a very secure fit.

I see no issues with it for ease or safety.

There's a notch to line up, and it's a push and turn style.

This is one of the best fuel connections I have had in a unit.

Doing another load of laundry in my tub, my normal prices is to hang dry outside. In the winter, this becomes less available.

Using a canister to dry clothes gives me six hours of drying heat for two bucks and some change.  That is the cost of one load in a dryer.

This reminded me that it can help me save money.