Electric Heaters

ClassicHammond · 10-14-2009, 01:11 PM

Hi All....am heading out in 2 weeks, down to Sycamore Ill. Fall camping ! Many of you speak of electric/ceramic heaters for the colder weather. What brand/kind are you using ?

Thanx

Tom

shoetravel · 10-14-2009, 01:30 PM

We have two that we have used, both Delonghi brand. the smaller one we use often in the bedroom area because the furnace doesn't quite get enough heat up there.

The second is a tower one that we have used a few times in the living area. It draws more power. When we use it we feed an extension cord in thru the slide out that is plugged into the 20 amp on the service box. If not it will trip the breaker in the 5er. Both are ceramic and give good heat and are thermostat controlled. We got both at Costco about 4 years ago. Have never had problems with either other than the large one tripping the breaker.

I don't see either model on the web site http://www.shopdelonghi.com/products/heaters/ceramic_heaters

They probably have been updated but the smaller one has the digital readout and the larger one I recall is a 30 inch tower.

RanCar · 10-14-2009, 03:04 PM

I'm using an "off" brand that works fine.

Only $12 at Wally World and it has the tip-over safety feature. I set it on the stove cover for extra safety. A small cheapo fan at one end of Zingie (19') keeps the heat from stratifying. Leaving the toilet door open helps prevent middle of the night "seat shock."

fhenn · 10-14-2009, 08:47 PM

Ours are a off brand, got them from the General Dollar store paid less than $20.00 for them

cwit · 10-14-2009, 09:25 PM

Mine came from Wally's world whatever they had on sale.

Virginia RVers · 10-14-2009, 09:27 PM

We have found many campgrounds state in their rules, that elec heaters are not allowed. I find this crazy. I don't recall what brand we use, but we also use a tower heater that the heat source cannot be seen and with no chance of something hitting it and starting a fire.

I would consider a oil filled radiant heater for the camper.

Hunter11 · 10-14-2009, 09:46 PM

We use one Sunbeam ceramic heater and a DeLonghi oil filled heater. The oil filled works very well because it has no fan so no noise.

As far as a park not allowing electric heaters, I have never come across one but if we did I don't know how they could prove we were using one. That would make me wonder about their electrical system at the park.

mbinohio · 10-14-2009, 10:51 PM

I have to ceramic heaters that I bought at Lowe's, got them at the end of winter and they work really good, you can make them oscilate or stay stationary...works nice, we also use the fireplace, it will take the chill off the living room and it does look nice.........we are out this weekend and the weather calls for sleet so I guess we will get to use them

Hunter11 · 10-14-2009, 11:26 PM

We do use the fireplace during the day but turn it off before we go to bed and use the other heaters at night.

usolm1 · 10-15-2009, 01:46 AM

We had a heat strip installed in the a/c unit when we bought the trailer, I think it cost about $150completely installed. We have never had to use a portable heater yet. We just put the thermostat to heat strip and it gets toasty worm in minutes. The heat comes right out of the A/C ducts.

Stan · 10-15-2009, 01:58 AM

We have a Lasco model 5362 tower. It also occillates so warm air gets to the bedroom. We also have a small fireplace that is good for keeping the rig warm, however it takes a LONG time to get it warm so we will use the furnace to bring the temp up and then use one of the other heaters to keep it there.

geondebi · 10-15-2009, 02:28 AM

We just use a small heater for the bedroom at night and the fire place

heater while we are in the living room area. We just got something

small and cheap. I think the big reason, and I have seen some of the

do not use electric heaters as they want you to use propane and not

their electricity. Just my 2 cents.

gossamar · 10-15-2009, 12:33 PM

Pelonis 5-disc furnace....

Kamper Dave · 10-15-2009, 01:08 PM

We use a Lasko ceramic tower heater, it doesn't use much floor space. It has two power settings 1500 watts and 900 watts. At 1500 watts it employs a digital thermostat. We use this setting and keep it close to the electrical circuit breaker box. I just do not trust the RV wiring enough to run a high wattage device over a long distance. The heater also has a battery powered remote. I was disappointed that when using the low power option (900 watts) that the digital thermostat is not availabe. I tried using the low power setting and it will drive the interior temperatures higher than comfortable. http://www.laskoproducts.com/heaters/model_5132.html

I was thinking of installing a line voltage thermostat but once the power to the unit is removed it will not restart without using the keypad or remote to program it.

lynlou14760 · 10-15-2009, 01:11 PM

Can't remember the brand, but they look like a baseboard hot water heater. They heat and circulate some type of oil, and they work very nice. I should add that I've never been camping below 20 degrees F, so they may not be too efficient below that.

As with most items along these lines, I buy seasonal close-outs at Home Depot!

J Ren · 10-17-2009, 12:19 PM

Be extremely careful using electric heaters. We were using one this spring (1000 watt) while sitting in the back of the 5th wheel working on the computer. I kept smelling something burning like rubber. We were lucky. I was able to trace the smell to the outlet where the heater was plugged in. It had burned the wires up several inches and melted the outlet completely on one side. The breaker NEVER kicked off and the CFI NEVER tripped. If I had not been sitting there the camper would have been history.
The wires had burned up about 3 inches on each side and when replacing and inspecting this I noticed the screws used to tighten the wires on each side or the outlet where NOT tight. They were arching (or jumping the gap) to complete the circuit. I checked ALL the outlets and connections and did find several others were working loose.
Something you NEED to check on your yearly to do list. Yes, we still use the heater but now always check the outlets each season and never leave it running unless we are near by.

BipeFlier · 10-22-2009, 10:12 AM

A 1000 watt heater will pull less than 10 amps. If you burnt up wires to the outlet, there was something very wrong with the connections or wire size.

At 10 amps you wouldn't expect the breaker to trip. My guess is the outlet was a "push in" style that wasn't making good contact. Any outlet that I use for something pulling several amps (ie. heater, toaster, etc.) I make sure to rewire with screws for a secure connection.

J Ren · 10-22-2009, 11:59 AM

Nope, the outlet had the wires wrapped around the screws but like a said the screws had come loose or were never tight from the factory. They had worked their way out enough to start the arcing. Anyway we could hear the crackling and popping then the smell. I would have thought the GFI would have kicked. OH WELL.

CamperNJ · 10-22-2009, 01:09 PM

Lose screws will do it. No doubt about it.

A point to remember. I camp in sometimes below 20 degree weather. It is important to run the propane heater as the heating ducts are under the trailer and help keep the tanks and plumbing from freezing.

And i do use electric heaters too! They are great for those not so cold nights.

calgarygringo · 10-22-2009, 02:20 PM

If you want to spend some buck do as we did and get a Voronado heater. They cost lots but nice thing is you can set it at one end of the trailer and its fan action will keep the whole unit at the same temp. We have had ours for a couple years now and love it. It is also not hot to touch the heater which we like for our smaller trailer plus 2 dogs and a cat that walk around alot.

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