heater recommendations

[rdemler]

I'm waiting on my 7x14 deep vee nose to get here so I'm thinking of options.I'm looking for ideas on the best way to go for heating.It will be insulated and vented.I was thinking a portable heater of some kind that runs on gas with no fan needed.I'm also wondering how much ventilation is needed for a trailer this size with a gas heater.Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.Thank you!!

[MtnDon]

The combustion of a gallon of propane produces approximately 25 ounces of water as water vapor. That can and will condense on any indoor cool surface. That alone should provide a hint as to why any propane fueled portable heater is a bad idea.

Not to mention the hazards of possible CO production and the depletion of O2 in the interior as the propane burns. I know these heaters all come with warnings about leaving a window open partially to counter those things. I have friends who came very close to a death experience because of an unvented appliance coupled with dead batteries in the CO monitor they had.

We will be using a Propex heater if we decide we need interior heat. Or I'll be trying my experiment with using heat from the water heater circulated through a radiator by a small DC pump and small DC fan.

[bc toys]

Rdemler where you from here in Nv we just turn it (Mr Buddy Heater) on about 30 min. before we are ready to go inside and heat up trailer really good then turn it off and climb into bed and stay nice and stay nice all night. There has been a few nights that I wished it was warmer after a few hours I've even got up and turned it on for another 30 min or so but I never leave it on when I go to sleep. You can light a chafing fuel cans and place it in a pie pan and it will keep the chill out at night.

[Rainier70]

Whatever you decide on....get a good CO detector it's always good to have.

I too second the recommendation that you get a vented heater. Unvented propane gives off a lot of water vapor as well as CO and CO2. If you are going to use it very much, vented is the way to go IMHO.

There are several options available. There is the Propex that has been mentioned. There is alaso a small rv furnace that uses a fan, but it has gotten better at how much power it uses. Then too several of our members have put in Dickinson Marine heaters. I put in a NuWay 2000 propane stove. My install is on page 4 and 5 of my build thread viewtopic.php?f=42&t=55219&start=45.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

I say just fill a 50 gallon plastic tank with 150 F water & you will be fine

[lrrowe]

The combustion of a gallon of propane produces approximately 25 ounces of water as water vapor. That can and will condense on any indoor cool surface. That alone should provide a hint as to why any propane fueled portable heater is a bad idea.

Not to mention the hazards of possible CO production and the depletion of O2 in the interior as the propane burns. I know these heaters all come with warnings about leaving a window open partially to counter those things. I have friends who came very close to a death experience because of an unvented appliance coupled with dead batteries in the CO monitor they had.

We will be using a Propex heater if we decide we need interior heat. Or I'll be trying my experiment with using heat from the water heater circulated through a radiator by a small DC pump and small DC fan.

Mt Don,
Too bad my trailer was not here now and we could compare notes on our experiments as that is what I want to do - with the water heater that is.

Jerry,
As stated before, I want to test your idea out but I have no real way of doing it now.

Bob

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Jerry,
As stated before, I want to test your idea out but I have no real way of doing it now.

Bob

BOB ....just fill 10 x 5 gallon buckets in your current bedroom

[nacho1]

I have the Propex 2800 in my 6x10 with just the roof insulated. I was fishing last weekend at night it was about ten degrees outside. I slept on top of my sleeping bag with a light blanket worked great. It will roast me out if I want it to.

[rdemler]

Thank you for all the replies and ideas.I will be looking into vented heaters.I did look at the little stove nuway 2000,and like the idea.I'm sure I'll be back for more ideas as time goes on.

[hankaye]

rdemler, Howdy;

Was just reading the RV News Letter that pops up in my Sat. morning emails and saw this,
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BU ... ravel04-20
You WILL have to ensure that you have ventilation for this one. But they ( Gas Catalytic Heaters), do
work very well.
Just another option to explore ...

hank

[tnriverluver]

Since I always camp where electricity is available by either full hook ups or running my generator, I always just use a small 1500 watt ceramic heater with a fan and even on nights down in the twenties running it on low (750 watt) will easily keep my trailer a toasty 70 degrees. No worry of CO. poisoning and very little risk of fire.

[rdemler]

Both good ideas thank you.One thing I have to learn is how long you can run anything with a 12v battery,ie.heaters lights etc.Is there a way to figure this out?

[MtnDon]

In general attempting to heat anything with low voltage DC is impractical, even with a large battery bank.

Many portable household 120 VAC electric heaters use about 1500 watts. If the element was manufactured to run on 12 VDC and it was to produce the same amount of heat it would still consume 1500 watts. Watts = volts x amps.

Lets pick a couple of golf cart batteries as a power source, because I like them. Two of them at 6 volts are connected in series to make 12 VDC. Wired like that a typical pair will have about 220 amp hours capacity. Multiply 12 volts x 220 amp-hours and we get 2640 watt-hours. That how much total capacity we have. But it is bad practice to run the batteries down past 50%; it shortens their life. So we really have 1320 watt-hours capacity to work with. BUT that is at the 20 hour rate. If we take 20 hours to draw the 1320 watt hours we could get that much total out of the batteries safely.

The heater uses 1500 watt-hours though. 1320 capacity divided by 1500 use = 0.88 hours available, or about 52 minutes.

BUT when the batteries would be discharged that rapidly under high load their actual capacity drops. So the batteries might only last 30 minutes at a high rate of discharge. That is a guess.

However that does give an idea of how long a simple battery setup would last. A single RV/Marine 12 VDC battery would most likely give half that and be useless, ruined after the first season.

{{ I have a background that includes some off grid PV experience. }}

[KennethW]

I commend you in looking for a vented heater. Yes,The Propex 2800 is a fine heater ,but for a lot of people is is more costly then they can or want to spend. I hate the thought of people filling a camper full of bad gases, then going to bed. I too was looking for a lower priced nonelectric(no battery required) vented heater. I came up with a home make ceiling mounted radiant tube heater.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=58648
It is not fully tested. I would like it if I could get some feed back so together we could prefect the design. If you go for the design and cut the hole in the side of your camper my back up plan was to use the holes for fan vents.
This is just my two cents

[Wi urban camo]

In general attempting to heat anything with low voltage DC is impractical, even with a large battery bank.

Many portable household 120 VAC electric heaters use about 1500 watts. If the element was manufactured to run on 12 VDC and it was to produce the same amount of heat it would still consume 1500 watts. Watts = volts x amps.

Lets pick a couple of golf cart batteries as a power source, because I like them. Two of them at 6 volts are connected in series to make 12 VDC. Wired like that a typical pair will have about 220 amp hours capacity. Multiply 12 volts x 220 amp-hours and we get 2640 watt-hours. That how much total capacity we have. But it is bad practice to run the batteries down past 50%; it shortens their life. So we really have 1320 watt-hours capacity to work with. BUT that is at the 20 hour rate. If we take 20 hours to draw the 1320 watt hours we could get that much total out of the batteries safely.

The heater uses 1500 watt-hours though. 1320 capacity divided by 1500 use = 0.88 hours available, or about 52 minutes.

BUT when the batteries would be discharged that rapidly under high load their actual capacity drops. So the batteries might only last 30 minutes at a high rate of discharge. That is a guess.

However that does give an idea of how long a simple battery setup would last. A single RV/Marine 12 VDC battery would most likely give half that and be useless, ruined after the first season.

{{ I have a background that includes some off grid PV experience. }}

Mtndon: I'm not trying to highjack this thread, but since we are on the subject of batteries.....I have a question that might benefit other readers.

Could you help me figure how long I could power my cargo trailer propane heater. Installed is a Atwood 7912-II furnace rated at 12 volts and draws 3.4 amp draw per OEM specs. My deep cycle 12volt battery is rated at 115 amp hour. Grated, it might be 32 degrees one day and 55 the next. Plus, the unit is not running constantly.....it cycles of course depending on demand from the thermostat. Could you please help me figure a timeline if I could last 2-3 days boondocking with no shore power. I know that many variables exist, but I don't want to draw the battery voltage too low for damage. Any help would be appreciated.

Plus, a suggestion to rdemler, the original post-er might consider a unit similar to mine. http://www.americanrvcompany.com/Atwood ... Trailer-RV.