Power comparison heat gun vs propane torch

Factual Questions
1

I learned Milwaukee makes a cordless heat gun yesterday. I decided to pick one up and I’ll be trying it out a bit to see if it’ll make it into my usual arsenal.

I currently use a propane torch for most my regular tasks that involve heat. I’ll occasionally use a heat blanket for bending conduit.

My most common tasks are:
Heat shrinking tubes for making water tight electrical connections to submersible pumps.
Heating HDPE(poly) pipe to slide over hose barb connections.
Heating PVC electrical conduit to made bends and offsets.
Soldering copper plumbing
Heating stubborn threaded pipe connections(steel and brass)

I don’t have a lot of experience using heat guns for much of anything. They’ve never been a practical tool for me compared to a torch as previously cordless heat guns didn’t exist. If you wanted to use a heat gun you had to run a cord. I’m typically working outside at the wells and don’t have much need to run power out there.

I don’t have any idea how much wattage a torch puts out vs a heat gun.

My expectations are the heat gun can handle heat shrinks fine.
It may be able to heat 1" and smaller pipes and conduits.
It won’t be strong enough to heat larger pipes or conduits.
It would be near useless for soldering or heating stuck threads to a meaningful level.

The cordless heat gun is this one:

My torch set up is this one:
http://www.esabna.com/us/en/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.product&productCode=V445154
The most common torch head used is a T-3, but I carry all of them:
http://www.esabna.com/us/en/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.product&productCode=V445141&tab=2

I prefer to use a heat blanket to bend conduit, it takes longer than a torch but I don’t have to sand char marks off a heat blanketed conduit:

Can anyone figure out the mathematic expectations?

2

Not only will a propane torch get vastly hotter, but it also has orders of magnitude more energy.
This torch is 50,000 BTU (presumably per hour). It’s probably much bigger than your average propane torch, so let’s say the average torch is 10,000 BTU/hr.
10,000 BTU/hr is approximately 2.9KW
The battery pack for that tool doesn’t have a watt-hour rating, but I found a link on the web that said that their standard pack was 54WH. Let’s be generous and say this pack is 100WH.
So, the the torch will put out more heat in 2 minutes than the heat gun will in an hour, and in an hour, the heat gun battery will be dead.

3

I really like the heat guns for shrink tubing and also conduit bending. You are right about the other uses. I have only used 110vac versions and they might solder a 1/2" copper line but I never tried it. It would take awhile if it managed it.

Dennis

4

Heat guns are great for heat shrink tubing, and they are great for quickly removing all of the components off of a circuit board for those of us who like to scavenge old boards for parts (a torch would just scorch the circuit board and would probably damage the components).

If you put a C-shaped half-cylinder of sorts on the end it does an even better job with heat shrink tubing:
http://www.malcom.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/Malcom%20MCH-100-A%20Battery%20Powered%20heat%20Gun%20Nozzle%20Accessories.gif?itok=03q3FNLN

I wouldn’t even bother to try soldering or heating pipe and conduit with it, not even the smaller sizes. Stick with a torch for that kind of stuff.