Electric Baseboard Heater

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Curious if anyone has ever installed a small electric baseboard heater in their trailer. Those little portable ceramic space heaters typically eat up 1000W/1500W which can be overkill and a huge drain on the battery if you're boondocking.

But what about a 24" electric baseboard heater that uses only 375W. That's barely over 3A of power, which is equivalent to a Fantastic Fan on high.

Heres one I found, and it really isn't expensive at all. Could be a good way to take the edge off of bitter temps. I have a small 400W inverter (800W peak) that could power this using the onboard 12VDC when not plugged into campground power.



http://www.goodmart.com/products/tpi-24 ... 3-024a.htm

[parnold]

Zach:

I think you're losing something in converting your 120v wattage to 12v wattage.

Also, a 400 watt inverter is rated for 400 watt peak, not continuous. Someone with all the formulas can chime in, but I don't think your battery would last one night with that heater plugged in.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Zach:

I think you're losing something in converting your 120v wattage to 12v wattage.

Also, a 400 watt inverter is rated for 400 watt peak, not continuous. Someone with all the formulas can chime in, but I don't think your battery would last one night with that heater plugged in.

I very well could be losing my mind.

[parnold]

I found this in a spec sheet for a 400 watt inverter.

Use only 40 amp spade type fuses for the inverter.
• When operating the inverter with an automobile or marine battery, start the
engine every 30 to 60 minutes and let it run for approximately 10 minutes to
recharge the battery.

40 amp fuse on the 12v side! Recharge the battery every 30 to 60 minutes.

Now, if you have 120v, that heater may be the cats meow!

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Here is the inverter that I have... 400W continuous, 800 peak

http://www.blackanddecker.com/power-tools/PI400AB.aspx

[Engineer Guy]

With the usual 10 PC Inverter loss, you pull 415 Watts or so. That's 35 Amps/hr.

The used Baseboard Heaters I use require 240. They don't do much on 120.

Instead, I would look at Low Voltage Mat Heating for Bathrooms. See if it will work on 12 VDC.

[IndyTom]

Zach,

Paul is right. on your inverter, that heater would pull just over 30 amps on the 12V side. Most batteries would last only a few hours at that rate, even though your inverter can handle it.

Tom

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I knew that this would have been tooooooo easy. See what I get for trying to think after a long night out with friends. Brain kills beer cells.

[parnold]

Some of my best and worst ideas were inspired by aochohol.