electric plug in with timer

[vomadude]

Hello, It seems to me that heaters and air conditioners used in teardrops are always to big. They freeze you or boil you before they turn off and they don't turn back on till the opposite has happened. It's like the thermostats aren't sensitive enough. Is there a way to make an outlet with a timer on it to turn the outlet off and on? I know you will say they already make those but here is the twist. I want the timer adjustable so the appliance will come on for say 10 minutes then turn off and come on again in 10, 20 or 30 minutes. There would be no need for a thermostat on the heater or a/c. What do you think? Thanks.

[ERV]

They make some that have pins you push in and pull out. You can make things turn on and off all day. The only problem is I don't think it will handle the loads of an A/C or heater. Mostly for lights.

[Shadow Catcher]

For both heat and AC it is a matter of sizing the out put and using a quality thermostat. The latter is extremely difficult to find. I found a Johnson Control digital commercial thermostat that has a settable anticipator level and a remote thermocouple.
Thermostats have a device called an anticipator. The anticipator shuts off the heater or AC before the air inside the thermostat actually reaches the set temperature. Often, the trailer will reach the set temperature before the thermostat does. The anticipator shuts the heater or AC off a little early to give the heat or AC time to reach the thermostat.
One of the big problems is that for many we are dealing with a very small volume of space that needs to be heated or cooled.

[S. Heisley]

Why not just set the heater's thermostat lower so it turns off sooner, before things get too hot for you? In other words, if you have the thermostat set for 70, back it off to 65. If you're under the covers, you really shouldn't need it set even that high. And, after all, our trailers are very small. It's not that big of a deal to slip out of bed; turn it on or up, and get back under the covers. If you keep the covers up instead of turned back when you get up to turn on your heater, the covers will stay warm for quite a while so you to jump back under them until the heater warms the air.

[ERV]

Sharon,
Thats way to easy! You should know us boys have to have toys and gadgets to play with.

[Lgboro]

The requirement that heat and air not be oversized in a small tear to me will justify the added cost of a "Petcool" type system if the reliability issues have been resolved. I have one but am not far enough for an install and test of this system in my 4 x 9 build (the extra foot to allow space to build in a petcool). In Eastern NC a tear is useless without the comfort of air conditioning and with my asthma I can't function well in heat and cold extremes. Being able to filter out some of the pollens is worth the effort and cost of a proper preforming heat/air system. There are lots of discussion and ideas in the index concerning heat/air in a tear.

[razorback]

The first link is to a heater I bought 4 years ago for the TD. Back then they had an 18" X 24" version which was 240 watts. The panel is 1/4 inch thick and has spacers that hold it 3/4 inch from the wall on my wife's side of the wall by our feet. The panels do not get hot enough to catch anything on fire. The radiant heat is very soft and does not dry out the air. My TD is 5 X 10.. It still got hot enough that I would turn it off and on a couple times a night. I then bought the thermostat from the second link. The thermostat plugs into my outlet and the heater plugs into the thermostat. digital readouts. Just set the temp on the stat and the heater maintains that temp. It is perfect. I paid 60.00 for the smaller panel four years ago and I think the thermostat was 45.00. we have camped as low as 22 degrees and the temp stays around 68 which for us is ideal. the wife is very happy so I am happy. I have not used it on the air conditioner but the thermostat has a heat and cool setting.
http://www.heartlandamerica.com/browse/ ... =WIF10001&
http://www.eheat.com/products/PT300-Plu ... ostat.html
Larry and Macy

[vomadude]

Thanks for the replies. the thermostat you linked is not exactly what I had in mind but looks like a better choice. I think the problem with most cheapy heaters is in the lag time in the thermostats, especially in small spaces. The panel heater used on a side wall in my 4 wide would take up too much precious space. I could take out the big screen TV and put it there . Thanks again.

[razorback]

The instructions for the flat panel heater says to place it close to the floor.
I put it about 1 1/2 inches from the floor on the wall that separates the cabin and galley. Our sheets and mattress sometimes come in contact with the heater but it does not get hot enough to worry about combustion. the heater is on the left side of the wall and the plug is on the right side of the wall. this gives about two feet of distance between the two and allows the thermostat to function correctly. We first tried an inexpensive heater with fan that sat on the shelf our feet go under. We were cold on the floor and the top half of the td was very hot and dry. This heater produces a very soft, radiant,comfortable heat from the bottom of the td to the top.
the thermostat makes it perfect. We have had one of the 24 by 24 inch flat panel heaters in a bathroom in our house that was always cold. We have had this heater for 7 years with no problems. My wife would NOT camp in cold weather without it.
Larry

[southpennrailroad]

Sharon,
Thats way to easy! You should know us boys have to have toys and gadgets to play with.

And they have to be tuned to the exact point. Remember when cars needed to be tuned just right. Now computers do it for us.