Community Forums

WDW · 10-03-2016, 03:43 AM

Tmetz - the propane heaters will do the job. However they use a lot of gas and put out a lot of moisture. In short term trips it's tolerable. However long term heating below 50 is can be expensive / refilling inconvenient and costly from some perspectives.

2016 Coachmen Mirada 35 BH
2015 Jeep Roadmaster AT. tow bar with RVI2 supplemental.

Taking in the sight wherever our Trolley takes us...

**JohnRR** · 10-03-2016, 04:08 AM

It's my understanding when the out side temps get to the mid to low 40s the heat pumps become ineffective.

mel s · 10-03-2016, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WDW

Tmetz - the propane heaters will do the job. However they use a lot of gas and put out a lot of moisture. In short term trips it's tolerable. However long term heating below 50 is can be expensive / refilling inconvenient and costly from some perspectives.

WDW
ALL of the moisture propane RV furnaces "put out", (produce), is "put out" to the exterior of the RV....(none gets into the living space of the RV).

Crasher · 10-03-2016, 06:31 AM

Before we had Aqua-hot heat, we used an oscillating electric heater during the night because the furnace blower is noisy and the electric was so quiet. It was in the living area, so the bedroom stayed cool for sleeping, but the kitchen was toasty warm in the morning. I still do it sometimes even with the quieter Aqua-hot.

spritz · 10-03-2016, 06:49 AM

We use a small electric heat on low, and we use the MH Furnace. If you click on pic you can see the condensation on the windows. I prefer a little moisture.
Of course we now go too Az.

JS<
Tim
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/data/5...m/IMG_1949.JPG

ahicks · 10-03-2016, 07:23 AM

That moisture buildup was always an issue here as well. This last trip out I left a roof vent open to see if it made a difference. It sure did.... Moisture issue gone. Logic would tell me that I lost a lot of heat through that open vent, but what we lost was more than offset by running out little elec. heater, and not having to worry about de fogging the windshield was a blessing on many mornings.

paz · 10-09-2016, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnRR

It's my understanding when the out side temps get to the mid to low 40s the heat pumps become ineffective.

Newer heat pumps are more efficient. I read some residential models work down to the 25 or 30º. The book for the heat pump in our 5th wheel says it's good to the mid to low-30s.

paz · 10-09-2016, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmetz

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I'm wondering why more people don't just use the heater that's in the coach. We just bought an itasca (2000) & plan on going to northern Michigan in late October, is the coach heater going to be inadequate ? Is there something everybody isn't telling me ?

If you're talking about the furnace, it will heat the coach much quicker than an electric heater and should be adequate to maintain temperature even when it's very cold outside. It will probably also have an outlet to provide heat to the wet bay which an electric heater will not do.

That being said, many people like to use electric heaters for the following reasons:
1. While the furnace in our 5th wheel is buried in the basement and is very quiet, the one in the motorhome we used to have was right under the stove and was VERY noisy. The electric heater was much quieter.
2. While you have to buy your own propane, most campgrounds do not charge extra for electric usage. Therefore, many people prefer to use "free" electricity.
3. You don't have to go out and fill your electric tank the way you have to do with propane.

Excell · 10-09-2016, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmetz

>
>
I'm wondering why more people don't just use the heater that's in the coach. We just bought an itasca (2000) & plan on going to northern Michigan in late October, is the coach heater going to be inadequate ? Is there something everybody isn't telling me ?

The coach heaters work well .It just empty's the tank quickly .Propane cost more than free electricity that is usually included in camp fee . If you have to pay for power, it is usually still cheaper to run heaters and it saves going to get your tank filled.

Rich-n-Linda · 10-09-2016, 06:12 AM

I often travel in cold weather. I have overnighted down to 16 degrees more than once. I use both propane furnaces as needed to maintain 72 degrees in the coach. I have also run both furnaces overnight on just the batteries. The only draw is the blower motors, which is not all that great. It works fine. Batteries are down to 50% by morning.

I keep my sticks & bricks home at 72 degrees. I do the same with my motor home. My comfort is with more than a few gallons of propane.

spritz · 10-09-2016, 09:32 PM

Boy I don't know $32.00 for propane for a month and a 1/2 isn't too bad. I use it for cooking also. Using the camps electric to run a spare heater is just wrong. Then I wonder why are campgrounds prices going up.
If you can't afford the gas get rid of the MH.
J M O,

Tim

Larrygarber · 10-11-2016, 07:21 AM

Yes, 30 amp will run space heaters. If you run much else you will probably blow a circuit

**pasdad1** · 10-11-2016, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritz

Boy I don't know $32.00 for propane for a month and a 1/2 isn't too bad. I use it for cooking also. Using the camps electric to run a spare heater is just wrong. Then I wonder why are campgrounds prices going up.

If you can't afford the gas get rid of the MH.

J M O,

Tim

Is it wrong to use the campground electric to run an air conditioner?

Hit_the_Rhod · 10-11-2016, 07:41 AM

I'm kind of curious why people aren't able to run two heat pumps on 30 amps. We have two Penguin 1500 btu heat pumps in our coach. We can run both of the at the same time on 30 amps just fine! We generally turn one off if we need to use the microwave oven though.

Another thought to consider is that many (if not most) RV power pedestals have more than one plug in. Obviously the newer ones have 50 amp, 30 amp and 20 amp, but that is not what you are talking about because if 50 amp is available, you would hook into that. However MANY RV power pedestals we have seen have both a 30 amp AND a 20 amp plug in. If you have an extension cord, preferable a heavy duty 10 ga cord like used for construction, you could run a separate extension cord into the coach, plugged into the 20 amp plug, and the other end on a 1500 watt electric space heater. Your normal 30 amp plug in will run the rest of the coach, and the 20 amp plug will run the space heater independently of the RV electrical system. The only potential hick up I see in this is if the pedestal itself is limited to a total of 30 amps, or if the campground gripes about you having two hookups . . . but you never know until you try!

Just make sure that if you use an electric space heater, that it has tip over protection, and is "UL Listed! We bought two small heaters at Camping World three years ago. They stated on the box that they had "tip over protection", they were "UL Tested", please note that they did NOT state "UL Listed", so they were never certified by Underwriters Laboratories. We had one get knocked over, almost started a fire, we went back to Camping World in Bowling Green Kentucky, told them we wanted our money back. They refused, pointing to the writing on the box. I got the Manager, took a brand new heater off of the shelf, took it out of the box, plugged it in and tipped it over . . . . It kept running. They refunded our money, and to the Manager's credit, he took a shopping cart to the isle with the heaters and removed all of the same model heaters immediately. The last time I was in there, they were not longer sold by Camping World. . . .