Portable Heaters

[Mentor]

Helium, a very very light gas that is present in our air at over 5 ppm, is it gathering at my ceiling, is it slowly leaking out and rising to the stratosphere? How on earth is it possible that these light gases are not rising up and away? Why do we not have layers of the various gases in our atmosphere and have them stacked in our homes floor to ceiling in order of SG? How can this not be so?

[Smitty77]

Originally Posted by Mentor

The heating units that came with your coach use outside combustion air and exhaust to the outside, some of these units that some are using do none of that and exhaust inside the coach and use coach air for combustion, this can be deadly and will kill you til you die from it. There are units that have an O2 monitor that shut the unit off when the O2 falls below the set point but this does not deal with the CO

Again, prudent to post this clearly in case others were not aware of this. As noted, we cover the air circulation needs buy windows and vents being opened while operating the Buddy. As noted, we have two CO detectors, one that has the other posters mentioned readings of current value. As noted, all equipment is properly maintained.

And my point on those other devices that are 'external' air combustable, is that if not properly maintained - they too can kill you. Just read this winter about a couple and two kids that died from CO after running there 'external air sourced' generator too long, without enough breezed to blow away the foul killing stuff.

Again, prudent to post. But also again, still just my opinion - 'internal' sourced heating units can be used safely.

ALL EQUIPMENT IN THESE RIGS NEED PROPER MAINTENANCE AND CAUTIONS WHILE USING. Not, just internal air consuming heaters...

I've said my piece, and will move on to other posts!

Best to all, be safe (I say this in many signing off's), have fun (Say this too, and that is the key to me!),
Smitty

[Mentor]

Originally Posted by Smitty77

Again, prudent to post this clearly in case others were not aware of this. As noted, we cover the air circulation needs buy windows and vents being opened while operating the Buddy. As noted, we have two CO detectors, one that has the other posters mentioned readings of current value. As noted, all equipment is properly maintained.

And my point on those other devices that are 'external' air combustable, is that if not properly maintained - they too can kill you. Just read this winter about a couple and two kids that died from CO after running there 'external air sourced' generator too long, without enough breezed to blow away the foul killing stuff.

Again, prudent to post. But also again, still just my opinion - 'internal' sourced heating units can be used safely.

ALL EQUIPMENT IN THESE RIGS NEED PROPER MAINTENANCE AND CAUTIONS WHILE USING. Not, just internal air consuming heaters...

I've said my piece, and will move on to other posts!

Best to all, be safe (I say this in many signing off's), have fun (Say this too, and that is the key to me!),
Smitty

I will add that any petroleum fueled appliance will have a heat exchanger and they can and do crack releasing CO and so it pays to have a pro check your system annually. It would also be possible to put a sensor and solenoid valve in the home system to shut it down at the first sign of trouble just as we have in our RVs.

[OLYLEN]

Someone tell me this. Wife is cooking chili, and a soup or whatever for a long time, two open air burners going and no worry. But a heater is a big no no. Caution YES but can be done safely.

LEN

[Bigd9]

I think I would be more afraid of the gasses after I ate the chili.

[reckless]

I've used procon's, the oven, and mr buddy's; and of the 3 of them I like them in that order. all non-vented heaters dump the same amount of water and co2 and co into the air, per unit of propane burned. But the procon has a great thermostat which can be set very low or to the tropics. The mr buddy won't run at higher altitudes, but the procon and the oven will. I spend most of the winter in ski resort parking lots and they range from 6500 to 10000 feet altitude and the mr buddy is worthless as well has only on or off. I've used them all with 5gal to 30 gal tanks, upright and the old style laying flat. They all work ok except as noted.
this is an old thread, and I only posted to relate my experience with the procon.

dw

[totaldla]

Nobody measures the actual CO concentration created by a Mr.Buddy. I appreciate general warnings, but without supporting data, I simply ignore worries about Mr. Buddy heaters.

[OLYLEN]

Reread the post and another thing caught my eye. Most bigger A's have a 38 gallons propane tank not 38#. If this is the case you have over a 100# tank.

LEN

[ajohansson]

I dont understand why you wouldnt use your coaches propane powered furnace? But opt for a stand alone propane powered furnace. What am I missing. My furnace has a thermostat just like a residential. It heats up the coach fast then shuts off. Are you worried about the draw on the batteries for the fan? Thats the only thing i could think of that a portable would help with but man i would change
Having ducted heat in my rig. Keeps the bathroom nice and warm.

[computerguy]

Originally Posted by ajohansson

I dont understand why you wouldnt use your coaches propane powered furnace? But opt for a stand alone propane powered furnace. What am I missing. My furnace has a thermostat just like a residential. It heats up the coach fast then shuts off. Are you worried about the draw on the batteries for the fan? Thats the only thing i could think of that a portable would help with but man i would change
Having ducted heat in my rig. Keeps the bathroom nice and warm.

Yes, the RV furnace works and also heats the water/basement compartments to keep from freezing. The problem is their lack of efficiency. If I recall they are like 36% efficient whereas a catalytic type convert is close to 99% efficient (please don't quote me on these numbers they are what I recall reading through a number of articles and websites). Also, Catalytic are quiet whereas a forced hot air rv furnace is similar to a jet plane taking off inside your RV.
So propane use is a big reason why.

[twogypsies]

.Catalytic heaters give a very warm constant heat and are used extensively by boondockers/dry campers to save battery usage. They are very efficient with propane. We used one for 16 years of full-timing and we mainly dry-camped. We'd highly recommend one. Ours was an Empire. We didn't use it at night, mainly because we like sleeping in colder temps. It only takes a few minutes in the morning to warm the RV up. By the time our coffee was perked in the stovetop perculator the RV was toasty warm.

[ajohansson]

Originally Posted by computerguy

Yes, the RV furnace works and also heats the water/basement compartments to keep from freezing. The problem is their lack of efficiency. If I recall they are like 36% efficient whereas a catalytic type convert is close to 99% efficient (please don't quote me on these numbers they are what I recall reading through a number of articles and websites). Also, Catalytic are quiet whereas a forced hot air rv furnace is similar to a jet plane taking off inside your RV.
So propane use is a big reason why.

ok I get that. I guess i dont camp when its that cold out. At least for like the whole day where furnace would be on constantly. We usually just kick it on in the morning if overnight gets into the 30's. I am going to put twin 40 # tanks on my rig though. I got the space for it so figure why not.

[Beau388]

Actually non-vented catalytic propane heaters are 95.5% efficient if you don't let the water vapor condense on the ceiling. Dometic propane furnaces are from 76 to 79% efficient if you don't count the electricity to run the combustion fan and the distribution fan. So you save about one pound in five of propane using a non-vented catalytic. UPG dealer sells propane for $1.88 a gallon at the dealer. At Tractor Supply it is $2.00 a gallon or $0.47 a lb. Assuming you have an $80 - 9,000 btu catalytic heater, that is equivalent to buying 170 lbs of propane. So you would have to burn 850 lbs (200 gallons) of propane in the catalytic heater to break even. After that you save about 20%. Now if you are dry camping and on battery power that an electrical issue not a propane issue. A fully charged 100AHr battery will run a 35,000 btu Atwood for about 2.5 hours continuous before the battery is 50% discharged.

[ajohansson]

Originally Posted by Beau388

Now if you are dry camping and on battery power that an electrical issue not a propane issue. A fully charged 100AHr battery will run a 35,000 btu Atwood for about 2.5 hours continuous before the battery is 50% discharged.

Yup thats why I have 450 Amp Hours of battery storage. 2.5 hours continuous is a lot of on/off heating cycles.