RV Furnace or Space Heater?

JonDirk · 02-28-2017, 04:46 PM

Newbie question here... I'm putting together a shopping list of must-have items (water pressure regulators, power monitors, etc..) and am wondering how many of you fine folk use only your rv furnace when plugged in at a campsite or do you use space heaters?

I'm not 100% clear on the rv furnace. Will it run off of electricity only or does it use propane, or perhaps both are required. Scratching my head on that one. I've noticed a lot of YouTube videos where people are boon docking (or even plugged in) and prefer to use space heaters (either electric or portable propane.)

And how effective are the heat pumps? They run solely off electric, right??

Any help or feedback on heating my rig and what I should order from Amazon for my essentials shopping list, would be of great help.

Thanks.

SouthCo · 02-28-2017, 04:55 PM

The RV furnace uses propane and electric. So it will run while not plugged in as long as your 12v battery is charged but I don't know for how long. We dont boon dock and don't camp in the cold often but it has offered more than enough heat for us.

I think most who use space heaters do it because it uses electricity only and they are not paying campground fees based on electric use. Perhaps some also use space heaters because the camp in colder climates more often and it helps in those cases.

RedHorse1 · 02-28-2017, 05:14 PM

We have a "fireplace" which is a glorified space heater in addition to a portable space heater. We use them for the majority of our cold weather needs. I will turn on the furnace in the morning to take the chill out of the 5th. We don't make a habit of camping in cold weather but a few hours a night at or just below freezing isn't a problem.

JonDirk · 02-28-2017, 05:39 PM

Is your space heater electric or propane (with the small 1 pound bottles)? I've been researching the Mr. Heater Big Buddy which can operate at 4,000 9,000 or 18,000 btu but not sure if I should go that route or an electric space heater.

Flapper · 02-28-2017, 05:43 PM

In most, the furnace burns propane to supply heat and only uses electricity for the fans. In three years of spring/summer/fall camping I never had to change a 30lb tank (we had 2). Just topped off the one when we got it out of storage in the spring. This last trip for a month in Colorado and Utah in the late fall, nights got down into the low 40's, with days near 70. I actually ran low, and had to switch to the other tank after near 20 days. Refilled it at a nearby gas station, just in case, but didn't run the second out. For summer use, you'll be surprised how long a tank lasts. When boondocking, running the fans runs the battery down pretty fast, hence driving considerations for generators, solar, bigger batteries, etc.
Kind of funny, at the local RV show, a lot of the units we looked at had electric fireplaces, and the salesmen all touted the saving of propane. But in many units, the fireplace tipped the RV toward needing 50amp, which of course you have to pay more for at campgrounds...so there goes the savings.....
(Not saying that is the sole reason for 50 amp service for many...but in some mid sized units, it was the only reason they had a 50 amp plug...)

Jagiven · 02-28-2017, 05:50 PM

We use both. If we have a campsite with electric (almost always do in cold weather). We place a small 1500 watt ceramic space heater on the stove top, and place a small in the area to blow the heat around even more. We have a hybrid (tent ends) and it does a nice job, but it can be cool in the mornings, when the temps are in the 20's. We then turn the RV furnace on in the morning to take the chill out.

The RV furnace uses propane for the heat source, and 12volt for the fan and controls. The fan uses a lot of power, and has the ability to run a single cheap 12volt battery down in a single day. For that reason, we carry two batteries when we need heat.

If your Greyhawk has a generator, when you run it, it will recharge the battery. It will take about 4 hours to return the battery to 90% charge from the 50% state.

On thing to note, your furnace might also heat the storage areas of your MH, and your piping might run through this area. If you use an electric space heater, no heat will reach these areas. Others can tell you the specifics about the piping and ducting. But it will be a good question for your PDI.

TMatos · 02-28-2017, 05:51 PM

I used the furnace this weekend in our small SLX 175RD. I was solo and testing out the rear bed for when have a guest. Got down to 40ish over night. It did a great job keeping the camper comfortable. However, sometime between midnight when I fell asleep and 6:30... It stopped working. I checked fuses, flipped breakers and it wouldn't come back on. I haven't had a chance to drop it off at the dealer but I'm hoping it's something small. I'll be putting a portable space heater in the storage just in case. Don't know that I'll need heat much any more this year anyway.

DebKen · 02-28-2017, 05:53 PM

We always camp with electric hook-ups so we use a space heater. It is more quiet as the furnace can be loud when it turns on and then goes off based on what the thermostat is set to. Plus we don't want to use up our propane.

jloco · 02-28-2017, 06:02 PM

We're on shore power at our seasonal site and the electricity is metered so we pay for it. We always used the RV furnace for heat when needed. We like how the heat is distributed throughout the whole camper. During our 5 month season last year, we used one 30lb tank of propane all season. This included early season (may) and late season (sept/oct) occasional use of the furnace. We also used the RV stove top regularly throughout those 5 months. We have not used the oven. We use the electric option of the water heater to heat water.

RedHorse1 · 02-28-2017, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonDirk

Is your space heater electric or propane (with the small 1 pound bottles)? I've been researching the Mr. Heater Big Buddy which can operate at 4,000 9,000 or 18,000 btu but not sure if I should go that route or an electric space heater.

They're electric (the portable and fireplace).

01tundra · 02-28-2017, 06:10 PM

We set our gas furnace to 50F and run our electric unit heater as primary heat to save on propane. Even when it's down into the mid 20's at night our furnace rarely every kicks on.

I bought our heater at Lowe's, it has a low setting of 750W and a high of 1,500W and a tip over safety switch, works great!

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-5-1...stat/999929400

jal0710 · 02-28-2017, 06:33 PM

I would be a little concerned if it gets cold out and you just use the space heater, the underneath of your outfit might get too cold and freeze up some piping and, if it freezes, might crack and cause leaks. Our FW has a heat duct vented to the underneath part of the FW so the tanks get some heat when the furnace comes on and don't freeze.

oldmanAZ · 02-28-2017, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMatos

I used the furnace this weekend in our small SLX 175RD. I was solo and testing out the rear bed for when have a guest. Got down to 40ish over night. It did a great job keeping the camper comfortable. However, sometime between midnight when I fell asleep and 6:30... It stopped working. I checked fuses, flipped breakers and it wouldn't come back on. I haven't had a chance to drop it off at the dealer but I'm hoping it's something small. I'll be putting a portable space heater in the storage just in case. Don't know that I'll need heat much any more this year anyway.

Did you check your battery voltage? If you were boondocking (no electrical hookup), your battery may have become fully discharged. TT furnace fans draw a L-O-T of power.

Fully discharging is hard on batteries and if left that way, they can freeze at temps near 32*F.

Jagiven · 02-28-2017, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMatos

I used the furnace this weekend in our small SLX 175RD. I was solo and testing out the rear bed for when have a guest. Got down to 40ish over night. It did a great job keeping the camper comfortable. However, sometime between midnight when I fell asleep and 6:30... It stopped working. I checked fuses, flipped breakers and it wouldn't come back on. I haven't had a chance to drop it off at the dealer but I'm hoping it's something small. I'll be putting a portable space heater in the storage just in case. Don't know that I'll need heat much any more this year anyway.

Another thing to try. Remove the furnace face, and you will locate a reset button.

SouthCo · 02-28-2017, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonDirk

Is your space heater electric or propane (with the small 1 pound bottles)? I've been researching the Mr. Heater Big Buddy which can operate at 4,000 9,000 or 18,000 btu but not sure if I should go that route or an electric space heater.

I'm not sure I'd be comfortable using a propane space heater in the camper. I read about one propane model that has a Oxygen Depletion Sensor but I'd still be concerned as it's not vented to the outside like the furnance. I also wonder if it would trigger the carbon monoxide detector?

JonDirk · 02-28-2017, 07:28 PM

The Mr. Heater Big Buddy does have an ODS. The only problem I've seen people mention, is the heavy condensation (a byproduct of burning propane.) In these cases they leave the window cracked.

Based on comments from this post, I think I'll get an electric space heater to rely on when plugged into shore power and maybe run the furnace on a limited basis.

TMatos · 02-28-2017, 07:56 PM

Thank you OldmanAZ and Jagiven for the reply. Sorry to thread jack OP.

I was hooked up to 30A power.
I will check for that reset button tonight

Screwby · 02-28-2017, 08:10 PM

Love my Big Buddy heater, that said I never run it overnight. I run it during the day to keep TT comfortable and run the furnace at night. I'll crack a window to vent condensation if needed. With the polar package I run the furnace a little during really cold weather to keep tanks/lines from freezing. I think I'm going to mount a wireless temp gauge in the belly so I can really see what's going on down there in the winter/fall. I tied into my propane line behind my stove, added a quick connect hose and ran it to an access panel in my lower cabinet. Now I can run my Buddy off the onboard propane instead of constantly changing those little bottles.

I didn't like the idea of a juice guzzling electric heater because we want to boondock as much as possible so energy isn't infinite for us.

SouthCo · 03-01-2017, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonDirk

The Mr. Heater Big Buddy does have an ODS. The only problem I've seen people mention, is the heavy condensation (a byproduct of burning propane.) In these cases they leave the window cracked.

If cracking the window doesn't help enough with the condensation, you'll find that some use a dehumidifier.

dzwiss · 03-01-2017, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Screwby

I tied into my propane line behind my stove, added a quick connect hose and ran it to an access panel in my lower cabinet. Now I can run my Buddy off the onboard propane instead of constantly changing those little bottles.

Have you tried running your Mr. Heater off of the low pressure yet? How does it work?

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