Coleman made 7487 Model 3 “Hot Beam” radiant heaters, all in Aug – Dec, 1928. This one is dated Aug. 1928 and is in Neil McRae’s collection. This is a Quick-Lite appliance and should start relatively easily after heating the generator with two matches but it is more difficult to start than that. Once it is running it runs well.
Coleman Model 480 was also called the Hot Ray radiant heater. This heater, in the Nichols’ collection, was made in Wichita and is dated Oct 1929. It has the original ceramic radiant and still works well. This heater can be tilted to the horizontal position and used to heat food on the wire guard which becomes a grill.
Coleman – Toronto also made the 480 Hot Ray heater. The handle has lost much of its original two-tone black and silver paint. Mike Ogilvie, whose collection this is in, found that the upper knob to secure the reflector as well as the back of the reflector were also painted silver at the factory. The heater is date stamped Sept 1929.
Coleman made this radiant heater for their Sunshine Safety Lamp Co. subsidiary in Kansas City, Missouri, beginning in 1926. The fount and handle are the same as on their Model 532 lamp and the fount is stamped with that model number. This heater, in Jan Dyke’s collection, lacks the ceramic radiant.
Several of these small fount Coleman Hot Ray heaters have turned up in Australia, according to Iain Sedgman, whose collection this is in. The diameter of the reflector is 13″, less than the Model 480 above, and the wire guard is proportionately smaller. The original 6″ diameter rusted fount, dated July 39, was the same size as this replacement Coleman lamp fount, but is not nickel plated as the original. Iain replaced the asbestos mantle with one he made from a piece of metal pipe. He also repaired the middle area of the reflector.
Coleman’s No. 2 radiant heater was made in the Wichita factory more than a year earlier than their No. 4 model below. They made 33,749 between April 1926 and the end of 1929. Model 2 differs from No. 4 in requiring a separate pump. In the lower image you can see the large filler cap on the left side of the tank has an air screw for the pump nipple. This heater is in Agostino Del Coro’s collection.
Coleman shipped 30,126 thousand No. 4 radiant heaters from June, 1927 through 1929 (Charleen Becker – Hiram Strong’s “Shipping Records”). This match lighting appliance, in Ron Drake’s collection, has 8 ceramic radiants. It requires preheating and has a large fuel tank with built-in pump behind the front panel (lower image) The pump is on the right end of the tank with a black knob that extends out of the heater case.
We photographed this No. 4 heater one evening when it was running. The second radiant from the left has a different pattern cast in the back of the ceramic material that easily identifies it as a replacement when it is running. This heater is in Phil Rhoades’ collection.
Coleman made their No. 5 heater in 1929-30. This model included a new Instant Gas starter by just scratching a match (controlled by valve C in the right image), and a new Thermo-Safety Generator that automatically controls the flow of fuel (Wright). The heater includes an integral pump and heater control (lower image). In the upper image, A is the filler plug, B is a combination fuel level and pressure gauge, and D is the valve for turning the fuel on and off. This well-designed and constructed heater is in Ron Becker’s collection.
Coleman’s 5A heater is much the same as Model 5 above. The inspection tag on this heater has a printer’s date stamp of May 1929. The controls are positioned the same as on Model 5 above but the instant light and fuel controls on the right in the lower image are levers rather than knobs. This heater is in Alan Shiplett’s collection.
Coleman made their No. 5B heater from 1936 until 1942 (Becker’s Coleman Shipping Records). Glenn Knapke restored this heater which was in his collection. This model requires preheating.
Coleman made the Model 456 Soldering Furnace and the 454 Utility Burner in the later 1920’s and early 1930’s. This one, in Dwayne Hanson’s collection, is dated Nov. ’29. The brown lacquer on the collar may be the remnants of the original finish on this never-plated brass fount. The knob was replaced with a “T” handle by a previous owner.
Coleman Canada advertised the Model 16 heater in the mid-1930’s, according to Roland Chevalier, whose collection this is in. The art deco guard in front of the radiants is as on Model 17 (upper and lower images). This model is instant lighting.
Coleman Canada likely made this kerosene fueled No. 17 heater in the same period as No. 16 above. The fuel tank is labeled kerosene, paraffin, and coal oil. There is a preheater tray (not shown) cast as part of the burner. While it has had a hard life, Thomas Alchorn was able to run it with no repairs.
a
Coleman made these Model 520-498 Battery Heaters in 1943. The grate arms from a 520 stove were removed (lower left image) and a flue with a flue skirt and two latch bars and a funnel with a top clip and telescoping spout was added. The flue skirt can be raised to adjust the valve during operation (lower right image). The three hooks on the top of the flue lock it in place on the bottom of a battery box (not shown) for heating the batteries in cold weather. The upper image is of another of these heaters, in Bill Whitten’s collection, that came with the case including the brackets to mount it in a military vehicle. The battery heater in the lower images is in John Bell’s collection.
Coleman introduced the Twin-ring flue cap in August 1948 to all the jobbers via the Coleman News as a better way to exhaust heat from their furnace and space heater chimneys. A year later employees realized that the 7″ diameter flue cap would attach over the burner on a 500 stove (right image) and alerted the jobbers to this secondary market that made the stove an effective heater. The 4″ cap was advertised to convert a 530 stove to a heater. This Coleman 500 stove, dated B 1947 and with the flue cap, is in Sam Heath’s collection.
Coleman Canada made these radiant heater Models 18 (top) that used kerosene and 19 (middle and bottom) that used gasoline. The art deco design has only two wide radiants rather than several narrow radiants as in other models. Paperwork with the Model 18 is dated Jan. 1950. These heaters are in Tom Muscardin’s (top) and Agostino Del Coro’s (middle and bottom) collections.
Coleman Canada made this Solus stove with a roarer burner circa 1950. It was exported to Australia where the Coleman distributor, C. J. Thomas & Son, Pty. Ltd., sold it with their heater conversion kit, 532R400. The kit included the reflector, cone (to disperse the heat) and guard that were supported by the 3 grate legs and the lip of the roarer flame spreader. The heater can be compared to several Primus Brand heaters lower on this page. This stove-heater combination is in Greg Diehl’s collection.
An Amish shop in north-central Indiana made these buggy heaters to hold a Coleman 500 stove (left, dated A [Jan-Jun] ’51) and a Coleman 502 stove (right, dated May 1962). The sliding door protects the buggy occupants and the upper, double-walled enclosure prevents burns. A handle and place to hook the heaters to the dashboards are not visible. This heater on the left is in Jon Schedler’s collection.
These Drum Heaters, No. 5050 (left), and No. 999 (right) were made by the Kamp-Site Products Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the Coleman 500 and 502 stoves respectively. The drum heater and 500A stove (left) are in Fred Kuntz’s collection. The stove is dated Jan. 1957. The drum heater and 502 stove (right) are in Dennis Hanson’s collection. The stove is dated Jan. 1968.
Coleman also made drum heaters for their Model 501 & 501A stoves in the early 60’s (left) and Model 502 from the mid-1960’s at least to the later 1970’s (right). Drum Heater 501-952, in John Morris’ collection, lacks the cut-out for the burner on stove Model 502. Drum Heater 502-952 is on a 502 stove dated May 1972. The vertical steel clips attach the heaters to the stoves.
The Canadian Coleman factory also made this Model 519 heater that is date stamped Feb. 1983. This heater, in Mike Ogilvie’s collection, uses the same size fount as on lanterns of that period such as the 321 series.
© 2000-2026 Terry Marsh