Electric heater for Travel Trailer

[Manana]

I want to get an electric heater for the trailer to keep it warm without using propane. Any recommendations? I bought a Honeywell 360 surround and it didn't put out much warm air at all. I've returned it and thinking about a Lasko tower.

[Mr_D]

I carry a couple of the small cube heaters. High us 1500 watts and they do a good job and don't take up much space. They are a little noisier than some though.

[Cumminsfan]

Kinda depends on how big your TT is. We use a Vornado. Our 5th wheel's only 28' and we keep the curtian to the upper level close during the day. That contains the heat in the living area better.
I also ran a separate elec cord out thru the docking access hole where my hose comes thru. That way I can plug into the 120V receptacle at the power pole and leave the 30A for the rest of the coach.

The Vornado is pretty quiet as well.

[tuffr2]

I have a Lasko tower occilating tower and a cube style electric heater. I like the occilating tower better.

I heard the Vernado was a good heater. I may buy one of those to compare to the Lasko tower. I am always looking to stay warm.

I like the occilating heaters better than non ossilatling as they do spread the air around a bit better. Plus you can set it not to oscillate if you want.

I know you need a heater quick but if you can wait a day or two I am sure you will get some good ideas from other forum members.

[ScoobyDoo]

When it is cold we run a extra cord to the 20 Amp plug for a heater, and a heat lamp for the plumbing. We plug a heater and the mattress pad into a outlet powered from the 20 Amp air conditioner breaker. Then a 3rd heater can run off any of the other outlets, if nothing else is on. We set the thermostats so the one that makes the least noise does the most work. We my run 2 little box heaters and the oil filled until warm, then shut off one, let the other cycle...

[Polyian]

I too have a Lasko tower heater. It works great...I can set the digital temperature and it keeps the living area at that temp consistently. The bedroom area stays a bit cooler which we like. It has an oscillating feature but I chose not to use it. Very happy with the Lasko, it put's out more heat than the Dyson I was using before.

[KM Rolling]

We use an oil filled radiator and have a fan blowing across it. It will keep our 20' trailer warm even when it's in the high 20's outside. (1100 watts used intermittently, it's on a thermostat)

We also have rubber interlocking mats on the floor. This is a great insulator, keeping the cold from coming up there. They are also very comfortable to walk on.

We have also sealed any leaks.

Counter-intuitively we leave one of the ceiling vents cracked open.


The reason we gave the oil filled radiators a shot in the TT is that we started using them in our sticks and bricks home over 5 years ago.

We heat the entire 2500 sq. ft. house with 3 of them. We regularly get temps in the 20's and 30's and even drop into the teens now and then. It's 38* and dropping right now...low tonight is forecast for 25*. Inside it is a warm 72*.

Saves us a ton of $ vs. what we used to spend on our gas central heat.

[Manana]

Oddly enough Costco had the lasko oscillating remote control fan for $39 so I'm going to try that.

[richardcoxid]

Now about space heaters-

120VAC Electric- This includes Hot Air (Convection), Cube/Ceramic/Hot Oil- (Convection and Radiant) etc.

No matter what kind of heater, if the power cord has the standard residential two parallel flat prongs with a grounding pin it is a MAXIMUM of 15 Amps. Go to your local Hardware store and look at their electrical receptacles and compare their pin configuration/voltage/amperage rating.

Now we have to complicate things a little-
Volts (V)- pressure, Amps (A)- volume, flow, and Watts (W)- total power consumed. V x A= W (think of water flow thru a 1" dia. pipe vs a 2" dia. pipe)
Small portable space heaters are limited to 1500W or 12.5A.
This is true even with the just discovered "plug in space heater that will heat your whole house for just pennies a day!" This is nothing more than VERY expensive ($200.00 to $300.00) Radiant 1500W heater enclosed in a particle board box! Remember if it plugs in your house receptacle IT IS 1500W Max! You can go to HD/Lowes and get their $29 Hot Air Electric Space Heater and get the same amount of heat for a lot less money!

Now, how much heat is 1500W? We have to complicate things a little more.

The standard measurement (quantity) of heat is the BTU (British Thermal Unit) defined as "that quantity of heat that will change the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit" My handy dandy little conversion reference book states that W (watts) times 3.41214 equals BTU. So 1500W times 3.41214 equals 5118.1BTU. So finally we are talking about something that we can all understand- A small 1500W electric space heater produces a little more than 5,000BTU of heat. As a comparison the Propane forced air furnace in my RV is 40,000 BTU and the furnace in my house is 106,000 BTU.

[Pepper2]

Lasko tower here and loving it.

[Polyian]

Originally Posted by Manana

Oddly enough Costco had the lasko oscillating remote control fan for $39 so I'm going to try that.

That's where I picked mine up on the way south this year...Oregon no tax


I contacted Lasko regarding their power draw on settings, H1, H2 & H3.


Here is their response:


H3 (High Mode): 1500 watts/ 12.5 amps
H2 (Medium Mode): 1350 watts/ 11.25 amps
H1 (Low Mode): 900 watts/ 7.5 amps


I don't know why they don't include that info in their manual...thought I would share for those that care about amp draw.

[theflake]

I have one of those little electric infrared wood stoves from Home Depot. It runs all the time in the winter. We also have a ceramic tower heater on the other side of the trailer. Interlocking foam floor mats make a BIG difference.

We have camped in -10F for a few nights and kept the interior close to 70 using just electric heat.

It's a great time to get away! So quiet and peaceful...

[minytrker]

We have a built in electric fireplace with thermostat and couple weeks ago it kept trailer warm when it was in the 30's. We had to lower the thermostat on it cause we were getting hot. Was shocked how well an electric heater worked in the tt.

[Bob_C]

This one works real good.......Along with the fireplace I installed...