Omega 12 volt heater

[noseoil]

Has anyone used the 60 watt model of the Omega ceramic heater in their trailer? I'm looking at the FCH-FGC10022R, which seems like a good model & doesn't draw too much current, it's pretty compact & looks fairly robust.

What electric heaters do people use & which do you stay away from? I've seen some pretty bad reviews on electric car type heaters in general.

Is a 12 volt electric blanket a better option for cold weather than a fan type of heater? Thanks, tim

[Shadow Catcher]

Generally using anything with resistance heat is not a good idea. using 6.5A for 8 hours you will need 130 AH to keep it about 50 % SOC.

[KennethW]

It just is not enough power in a battery (BTU=AMP) to heat anything if it is rather cold. If it is cool maybe, but then a warm quilt will do fine. For cold temps one has to plug in, run a generator, of burn some type of fuel( propane, pellets,kerosene, candle wax) If burning any type of fuel be safe and vent.

[MtnDon]

The above are correct. Generally heating with current from a battery is a poor idea. We can get away with using an electric heater blanket to take the chill off before we crawl into bed. But that is a short duration load. It would be better to have a warmer grade of sleeping bag. When we tent and truck camped we each had 2 grades of bags; warmer and colder weather types.

FYI, the average human emits about 250 BTU/hr when sleeping. That 250 BTU = approx 75 watts, more heat than the 60 watt heater that started this topic. Conservation of heat is always better than trying to add heat. Hence the warmer sleeping bags for colder weather.

I only use an electric heater when we have a grid tie plug in. Running a generator overnight makes too much noise, even with a quiet Honda or Yamaha. IMO. Keeping warm at night in a small trailer was the impetus behind using the heat from the RV water heater.

[lrrowe]

I along with MtnDon and Shadow Catcher have proven the feasibility of using a water heater use for cabin heat. But I suspect most TD's will not have the need for the typical RV water heater.

[noseoil]

Back to square one again. Just thinking out loud about a plug-in heater. Too much load for too small a return.

I guess with shore power it would work OK, but a small 110v ceramic heater would be a better choice in general for a teardrop if there's power available. We used one briefly in Nevada on cold mornings in November. It worked really well with shore power, but was a bit of "overkill" due to the 1000 watts it was putting out. Didn't take long to take off the chill in the morning in such a small space.

Looks like the propane & water solution is better in terms of energy use, just a bit more complex to setup & run as a closed loop system.

[lrrowe]

Back to square one again. Just thinking out loud about a plug-in heater. Too much load for too small a return.

I guess with shore power it would work OK, but a small 110v ceramic heater would be a better choice in general for a teardrop if there's power available. We used one briefly in Nevada on cold mornings in November. It worked really well with shore power, but was a bit of "overkill" due to the 1000 watts it was putting out. Didn't take long to take off the chill in the morning in such a small space.

Looks like the propane & water solution is better in terms of energy use, just a bit more complex to setup & run as a closed loop system.

Actually it is not that complicated. But it does present some cold eather storage issues as MtnDon and I have been discussing offline. I myself just made mine too complicated which I could simplify significantly if I were to do it again.

[Shadow Catcher]

noseoil we found that one of the 120V ceramic heaters when we are plugged in was even on low over kill. I did find a West Marine heater that would throttle down far enough to work well. I am installing our water heater heater now so do not have actual use experience with it yet but plan on using it when boondocking mostly.

[noseoil]

Slow, thanks for your reply. I guess it's just a balancing act between the power needed & the heat you get. In Arizona it isn't too bad, but we just had a few days of temps in the 20's over night, so it started me thinking again about heat.

I like the idea of using water & a water heater with a loop to do the heat, but with colder temps in the 20's or teens, the lines would need to be pretty well insulated, as well as the supply of water itself to keep everything from freezing up & splitting open if the water stopped moving....

[MtnDon]

Our reasonably well insulated CTC has been sitting in the side yard here in NM with the water heater burner on (low setting) for the three weeks. The thermostat for the water loop interior space heater has been set at 40 F. Exterior night time lows have been dipping to 20 to 22 F. Daytime highs from 40-something and higher. Sunny days sees the interior warming the interior into the 50's. I have the side window insulated plug inserted and the trailer is exposed to the full southern sun during the day.

[aggie79]

Our standard set up for camping is to use a side tent on the curb side of the tent. The side tent has mesh windows and mesh door with nylon flies. For cold weather camping, we leave the door and one window of the side tent "closed". On the other window, the fly is open. A thermostatically controlled ceramic heater is placed in the side tent. We open the window on the teardrop door enclosed by the side tent and open the roof vent. This way we have "flow-through" heat - just enough to take off the chill. (We don't like sleeping with heavy blankets or covers.) A side benefit of the flow-through set up is that we don't have condensation build up inside the teardrop (from breathing.)

[noseoil]

Tom, it sounds like you must have access to some shore power at the site, yes? I like the idea of feeding some heat into the space from outside & the tent, simple & easy.

Having no condensation inside during cold weather would really be a plus. Ours was pretty wet inside on the glass when it was in the 30's at night. The walls & roof were fine, since it's well insulated, but the glass is wet after a night of sleep. We used a small ceramic heater with shore power in the morning in Nevada, but it will run you out after about 15 minutes of putting out heat in that small space.

That's why I was thinking about a 60 watt 12 volt ceramic model. I guess a 60 watt 110v light bulb would do the same thing & be cheaper to buy, that is, if you can still find them....

[lrrowe]

Tom, it sounds like you must have access to some shore power at the site, yes? I like the idea of feeding some heat into the space from outside & the tent, simple & easy.

Having no condensation inside during cold weather would really be a plus. Ours was pretty wet inside on the glass when it was in the 30's at night. The walls & roof were fine, since it's well insulated, but the glass is wet after a night of sleep. We used a small ceramic heater with shore power in the morning in Nevada, but it will run you out after about 15 minutes of putting out heat in that small space.

That's why I was thinking about a 60 watt 12 volt ceramic model. I guess a 60 watt 110v light bulb would do the same thing & be cheaper to buy, that is, if you can still find them....

I have memories of back in the early sixties of using a 150 watt bulb under the hood in those cold Adirondack winters to warm our engine block. It worked. The cars started.

[booyah]

I have memories of back in the early sixties of using a 150 watt bulb under the hood in those cold Adirondack winters to warm our engine block. It worked. The cars started.

Friends up by Marquette MI have done the same with some blankets to thaw out their propane tank to get heat in the house. Amazing what happens below -40F

Apparently the propane wont boil off to deliver the gas at those temps at least not with enough volume to run the furnace

[wildcatphotography]

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