heat

[jim22]

I just bought a quartz heater and I am wondering if it would be ok to use it while in a campground instead of using the gas bottles. I am concerned about using up the gas before i could get them refilled. Speaking of that how long do the bottles last if you use them for heat? Is there a problem with campgrounds policy if you use electrical heaters? I think these one draws about 7amps an hour. Remember i have never gone TT camping and want to be prepared as best as i can. Any tips for heating or cooling is appreciated. Another thing is there a good way to clean your black tank just before you pack up to go to your next stop?

[TXiceman]

A typical 1500 watt electric heater will draw 13 amps which will work fine on a 15 amp breaker, provided you don't have any other loads on that circuit. We often use the electric heater to supplement the propane furnace. Out trailer is set up so that I can run two 1500 watt heaters if desired.

As for the life of a propane bottle in cold weather, it all depends on how cold and how warm you keep the trailer and if you have 20#, 30# or 40# bottles. In below freezing weather in a 4-season trailer, we get 3 to 4 days on a bottle.

Ken

[pitcrew18]

We typically run 3 small electric heaters instead of our prophane and are very comfortable in our camper and find it to be alot cheaper than running our prophane only to heat our camper. We keep them set on the lowest setting and have never tripped a breaker or had any other problems, this is the course we will take next week at James Island SC where the nightime lows are supposed to be in the 30 degree range.

[MoonchaserTX]

Similar question....are 1500 watt heaters Ok to run in a 2007 Winnebago Sightseer? (Meaning the house wiring is fine to support that current draw?)

[KIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoonchaserTX Similar question....are 1500 watt heaters Ok to run in a 2007 Winnebago Sightseer? (Meaning the house wiring is fine to support that current draw?)

Yes, you should be just fine providing you only have a heater on a circuit at a time nothing.......... else on that circuit.

[Wizard]

We have been on the road for a few weeks now and our Quartz Qube has been used about every night. One 1500w will usually keep us warm.

We run it all night usually and set the propane heater to a low temp just in case the qube can't keep up.

Been doing it for years and never a problem.

[dsbike]

We use 2 quartz heaters, one most of the time & the other as a supplement. If we expect to be gone for a long time, (overnight for a few days, which happens every other week) we will turn off the electric heaters & set the propane furnace to 50'. We usually set up for 3 + months at a time & usually have to pay for our own electric. Our monthly bills are not any more than our air conditioning bills in the summer. Apprx $75 a month. Be sure to get the heaters with an automatic shutoff if they tip or get knocked over. The park we are in now does not charge us extra for the electric, however they are charging us $25 extra for 50amp & $25 extra for 2 air conditioning units. I do not feel guilty for using the electric heaters since we are not using the ac units but still paying for them to be dormant sitting on our roof.

As for how much propane we use... I have a 20# bottle & the 80# permantly mounted bottle. I have filled the 20# once since Oct 19th & is due in the next week to be filled & the 80# is at 3/4 full. We only use the propane for the water heater & when we are using the furnace. We also only turn on the hot water heater prior to needing to use it & leave it off the rest of the time. It takes about 15 minutes to heat the water.

[MoonchaserTX]

thanks guys, and Merry Christmas!!
We leave for our first full week camping trip in the MH tomorrow morning...tonight we'll have shore power at home but tomorrow night we'll be at a relative's house. I guess we could use our shore power extension cord (yes, it's heavy duty designed for 30 Amps), use the converter plug, and plug in to his house current on a regular outlet, but THAT I bet you guys will tell me would not be a good way to power a 1500 watt heater eh?.

[Ray,IN]

If you will be plugged into a 15A outlet, which is what I interpret you to mean. You should monitor the voltage inside your RV. Low voltage will not harm an electric heater, but will slowly damage an inductive motor, like heat pump compressor, microwave turntable motor, etc. The safe limits are: low voltage limit 108 VAC, high limit 132 VAC.

[TXiceman]

As long as you are at 108 volts in the RV with the heater running....should do OK. But be sure the 15 amp circuit you are plugged into does not have anything on it like a refrigerator or freezer.

Also, if it is below freezing you will need to let the furnace run some to protect the piping and tanks in the basement if you have a basement model.

Ken

[bldrbob]

The first winter I owned my motorhome I tried supplementing the furnaces with electric space heaters.They fooled the thermostat so the furnaces didn't run and water in the lower compartments froze.Space heaters are good till it gets below freezing.

[bdpreece]

A couple of years ago I was plugged into 50 amps and was running two ceramic heaters when I lost power to half of the coach. I found that the wire connectors inside my xantrex inverter had loosened up enough that the current draw melted the connectors. Word of caution don't go off and leave them on and also check all wiring connectors periodically.

[dsbike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bldrbob The first winter I owned my motorhome I tried supplementing the furnaces with electric space heaters.They fooled the thermostat so the furnaces didn't run and water in the lower compartments froze.Space heaters are good till it gets below freezing.

Assuming you have basement heat. I do not & my pipes and water pump are above floor. The small amount of pipes that are below floor are well insulated including my service bay. So far 2 years of mid south winters have proven no frozen pipe. But we are always careful & aware of the outside temps.

[mikron]

We have 3 oil radiator style heaters which are quiet and safe. We plug them each into the main GF outlet with the buttons. That lets us know we are on seperate brakers. Saves our gas and is quieter then the coach furance.