Heaters?

[David_L6]

I bought portable A/Cs that are also heaters. Have to have 110, but I have a small generator. I haven't had a chance to test the heater part of the portables yet. It's been over 100° 62 days so far this summer here (107° Tues., 103° yesterday...). Maybe it will cool down enough by January to give them a test.

[8ball_99]

I bought portable A/Cs that are also heaters. Have to have 110, but I have a small generator. I haven't had a chance to test the heater part of the portables yet. It's been over 100° 62 days so far this summer here (107° Tues., 103° yesterday...). Maybe it will cool down enough by January to give them a test.

Again pretty much any plug in electric heater is going to top out around 5500BTUs. Which could be plenty depending on the trailer and the weather.

[David_L6]

I bought portable A/Cs that are also heaters. Have to have 110, but I have a small generator. I haven't had a chance to test the heater part of the portables yet. It's been over 100° 62 days so far this summer here (107° Tues., 103° yesterday...). Maybe it will cool down enough by January to give them a test.

Again pretty much any plug in electric heater is going to top out around 5500BTUs. Which could be plenty depending on the trailer and the weather.

I don't know what the BTU rating is on the heating part of my smaller A/C, but the larger one is rated at 13,000 BTU heating. Not sure what's up with that rating because a regular run of the mill portable electric heater does top out slightly over 5000 BTU.

[southpennrailroad]

Check out "HEY RUSS HOW YOU DOING" shows how I managed using a 19000 btu Atwood furnace during the past winter. I recommend that heater. The Attwood gave straight 3 days of heat during freezing weather on a one 20 lb tank. Don't use open flame heaters in your trailer. My trailer has now (soon to change) no insulation and during freeze weather has maintained 75 degrees. With insulation I expect at least one tank saving per month but will let you all know how that works thru this winter. I live and stay in Pittsburgh all year.

I figure $16.00 per tank saving and with our six month winters will save the one tank and @ $16.00 per tank will be saved in the added insulation to my alum 6x10 utility trailer.

[d30gaijin]

Check out "HEY RUSS HOW YOU DOING" shows how I managed using a 19000 btu Atwood furnace during the past winter. I recommend that heater. The Attwood gave straight 3 days of heat during freezing weather on a one 20 lb tank. Don't use open flame heaters in your trailer. My trailer has now (soon to change) no insulation and during freeze weather has maintained 75 degrees. With insulation I expect at least one tank saving per month but will let you all know how that works thru this winter. I live and stay in Pittsburgh all year.

I figure $16.00 per tank saving and with our six month winters will save the one tank and @ $16.00 per tank will be saved in the added insulation to my alum 6x10 utility trailer.

Southpenn,

It's great to hear from you! I hope you're doing well. Sounds like you survived this past nasty winter in your CT. I've been somewhat absent from the CT forum the past several months do to family situations (Dad passed away March 28th and the wife has been sick).

Again, I hope you're doing well. How's life treating you these days?

Don out west

[southpennrailroad]

Things are slowing down faster then last year. But the Lord takes care of me.

Thanks for caring and looking forward to another winter if you could really believe that. Still going to insulate the trailer this fall. Going to put everything under an easy up while insulating the trailer in the open field. want to take time and do it right.

Already used the heater a few times to take the chill off. temps in the high 50's.

From the heart: A long time ago I wished for something and got it. Now I wish I never wished for it.

[d30gaijin]

Things are slowing down faster then last year. But the Lord takes care of me.

We, who believe, understand that.

From the heart: A long time ago I wished for something and got it. Now I wish I never wished for it.

Retrospect is a bitch. Been there done that. That's not much comfort but hang in there my friend. Life truly is worth living in the many forms that it comes to us in. We never will know what's in store for us around the next bend... but that's the beauty of life given to us by our Lord. If we knew what was coming we'd spend too much time worrying and trying to prepare for it rather than making the most of living our life day to day as it comes to us.

Don out west

[dog812]

Thanks for all the info on the heaters,
I do only camp with no power, so i was leaning toward propane heaters.
With these atwood furnaces how long can i use it without charging my battery?

Also due to space limiations, i think i may try to mount it in a metal box on the tongue. And plumb the vent in.. anyone done this?

[mskobier]

dog812,

With these atwood furnaces how long can I use it without charging my battery?

That depends on several factors, so I will try and list the most important ones.

1. How cold is it outside? Colder means more furnace run time.
2. How warm do you want it inside? Warmer means more furnace run
time.
3. How well is it insulated? Since the trailer is only 6x8, it will not take
much to keep it warm. However, insulation will make a huge
difference in the run time of the furnace.
4. How large of furnace are you planning on purchasing. With a 6x8
trailer, I would not be considering anything but the smallest Attwood
makes. I purchased the 8012-II for use in my 7x16, and it has
proven to be more than enough. The larger the furnace, the more
battery power it takes to run it. I think that the 8012-II is rated at
1.9 amps.
5. How large of battery do you plan on using? The easiest way to
estimate this is to take the batterys amp/hr rating and divide by
2(50%). This will give you a safe estimate of how much battery
power you have to use. Then estimate how long the furnace will run
per hour. I have found the furnace in mine runs about 30 minutes
per hour, so the run time would be .5hrs. Multiply the amp rating of
the furnace by the run time per hour to get the number of amps
used per hr, then divide the estimated battery capacity by the run
time to get the estimated time the battery will power the furnace.

For a 100 amp/hr battery and the attwood 8012-II, the math will look
something like this.
100 amp/hr / 2=50amp/hr
1.9amps * .5=0.95 amps
50 amp/hrs / 0.095 amps =52.6 hrs

So for a battery capacity of 100amp/hrs and a current draw of 1.9
amps for .5 hrs per hr, you would be able to easilyy run the furnace
for 52 hrs or just over two solid days without having to recharge the
battery.

So you see, the math is pretty straight forward once you make a few assumptions. Again, I would use the smallest furnace I could find. even without insulation, you only need a very small furnace.

I hope this helped
Mitch

[8ball_99]

Not that it really matters, But my furnace is a suburban brand not a atwood. Its model Nt-20s I paid 350 for it on ebay! One of the reasons I went with this brand/model because you only have to drill a couple so small holes through the exterior of the trailer.. Think the holes are 1 1/2". Mine pulls 2.8 amps when running.

As far as how much power or propane one will use. Like said above really depends on the temps and how well the trailer is insulated. Pretty much no way to really know with out just a test run in different weather.. Like mskobier said 30 mins on 30 mins off would probably be a pretty good figure to base your numbers on.. I really don't think it would run that much in most cases though.

[BC Dave]

I now sware by ...

Dickenson Newport stainless steel heater (designed for boats) looks great puts out about 9000 BTU's; has an optional electric fan to help circulate air,if needed; but I use it without, to save the battery; wholely enclosed venting with the intake and exause on the outside of the trailer; its been too warm on cool nights so I talked the manufacturer into a selling me a reducer valve for warmer nights; a 20 lb tank will lasted the whole summer ... its pricey at sale prices of 650, but feel it was money well spent for quality; prefromance; safety and I feel like I'll make the dollers back in propane savings. I cant speak more highly of a product; it makes my CT!

I have a well insulated CT that helps save on propane; pics are in my album; I only wish I had invented it! There great; and I get no comission on this ...

minsuses are theres only a high and low setting and you have to light it so its "on or off". You need some space around it and the vent pipe for safety; and the vent pipe has to be installed upright to allow for convection to work in the heater. Still it an impressive usefull design; it took months of bellaching to justify the seeming over expense and I got frowns and chastizing form the wife; untill we stayed in it in March in a snow storm