Will 30 amp run the heaters?

[angelbones]

Being from Florida and looking to go to colder climates this fall and winter (in other words 40 degrees is very cold for us), and we areunsure about heater use. I know that we need a 50 amp to run our two a/c units, but wasn't sure about heat. Is as much power needed to run the heater? Will 30 amp do? Maybe I'm optimistic but what about 20 amp?

Sorry for the basic question but new to this so looking for any helpful advice. I know the propane supplies the heat, but I assume some sort of electric is needed to run the heater itself.

[Tony Lee]

No problems running the propane furnace of course, but if you want straight electric heat then you are limited to about 3000 watts.
Your propane furnace fan draws approximately 8 amps at 12V so your converter, battery charger won't even notice it.

[azpete]

if you run a electric heater, run it on a circuit that you dont use much. also run it on the lower setting. the high setting takes all 15 amps on that circuit

[fotofx]

Although I need 50 amps to run both AC's, the heat is propane and requires 12v for the blower. The 30 amps should keep the inverter creating 12v so if yours is the same you should be fine. I am from South Florida and heading to Chicago at the end of October for a few days. Going to only have a 15 amp extension cord available but that should work fine. Worst case I will run the genny..

[JFXG]

angelbones, you'll get varying answers unless you are more specific. What heaters are you talking about? Are your roof units heat pumps as well as A/C? Are you talking about a propane furnace? Electric space heaters?
Please.


John & Diane, fulltiming since '12 02 DS40, FL, Cat, '04 Element NHSO RVM103

[mpierce]

A single 1600 to 1800 watt electric heater will use all of 15 amps. Two would use 30. NOTHING left. So, two, on high, are out.

One, with 30 amps, would be fine. I like to use a heater with a high/low switch, and use the low if at all possible.

[paz]

Most plug-in electric heaters are around 1500 watts. You should be able to use one heater plus one other major appliance (hair dryer, clothes dryer, microwave, water heater on electric, etc.) without tripping the breaker on the pedestal.

In my experience, an RV looses too much heat at 40º for one electric heater to keep it nice and warm - unless the RV is very small or unless sun is out to help heat things up. At 40º with no sun you will probably need to run a heat pump if you have one or the furnace.

[mel s]

Originally Posted by mpierce

A single 1600 to 1800 watt electric heater will use all of 15 amps. Two would use 30. NOTHING left. So, two, on high, are out.
One, with 30 amps, would be fine. I like to use a heater with a high/low switch, and use the low if at all possible.

mpierce
There are is no such thing as a 1600 or 1800 watt 120VAC electric heater.

The most that any 120VAC electric heater will draw is 1500 watts, ...(whether it cost $15 or $250).

1500 watts of energy uses 12.5 amps.

[Larrikin]

Mpierce is right. That's why your toaster takes so long to make breakfast!

[ahicks]

We just got back from a 30 day trip into the Yellowstone area (high country). Temps frequently dropped into the 30's and 40's at night (we had 2" of snow one night!). We relied on a trusted old 1500 watt (max) electric heater to keep us nice and toasty. There were however, some pretty chilly nights where the propane heater, which was set at 62, did kick on for a bit, giving the little electric a welcome boost (it never kicked on during the day) .

Point being, 20 and 30 amp served us just fine - while using the coach's propane furnace as a back up for the 1500 watt portable - even though though the propane furnace seldom ran. We used less than 1/4 tank of propane for the entire trip (which included a lot of cooking and the fridge).

[Ready2Travel]

Guessing that you are asking about running heat pumps? If so like the A/Cs you will only be able to run one at a time and not much else. When an A/C-Heat pump unit is run on the heat mode it will use the same amount of current as it does when cooling.

[bobk3d]

I'm also from Florida and I dislike cold as much as anybody. I carry an oil-filled electric radiator, partly for safety, but also because it heats the air better than the radiant electric heaters, which tend to heat objects.

Anyway, I'm finding that one radiator keeps the coach warm enough down to about 40 degrees. Mornings are chilly but not miserable, and a short blast from the furnace takes care of it. I've had one overnight in the 30's so far, and that was tolerable. This morning it was about 40 degree outside, and about 60 inside, the furnace quickly brought it up to 70.

A caveat is that I'm in the west, so days are much warmer than nights, and I usually have to run AC during the afternoon. So it's still warm when I go to bed, and the coach body is holding some extra heat. On the east coast, the coach might not get as warm during the day, so it might not stay as warm overnight.

Anyway, the system is working for me. The oil-filled radiators do a good job, they just don't provide fast heat. But they work well overnight, and if I need heat fast, the furnace supplies it.

[tmetz]

Originally Posted by bobk3d

I'm also from Florida and I dislike cold as much as anybody. I carry an oil-filled electric radiator, partly for safety, but also because it heats the air better than the radiant electric heaters, which tend to heat objects.

Anyway, I'm finding that one radiator keeps the coach warm enough down to about 40 degrees. Mornings are chilly but not miserable, and a short blast from the furnace takes care of it. I've had one overnight in the 30's so far, and that was tolerable. This morning it was about 40 degree outside, and about 60 inside, the furnace quickly brought it up to 70.

A caveat is that I'm in the west, so days are much warmer than nights, and I usually have to run AC during the afternoon. So it's still warm when I go to bed, and the coach body is holding some extra heat. On the east coast, the coach might not get as warm during the day, so it might not stay as warm overnight.

Anyway, the system is working for me. The oil-filled radiators do a good job, they just don't provide fast heat. But they work well overnight, and if I need heat fast, the furnace supplies it.

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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 ?

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by mpierce

A single 1600 to 1800 watt electric heater will use all of 15 amps. Two would use 30. NOTHING left. So, two, on high, are out.

One, with 30 amps, would be fine. I like to use a heater with a high/low switch, and use the low if at all possible.

I've run two 1,500 watt heaters over winter for many years on a 30 amp circuit. Never blew a breaker either.