Electric Heaters

[ebrian]

I am wondering what type of heater I should be looking at to heat our jayco 19xh hybrid it is all ready getting cool here in Ontario....

[bigbird]

We just replaced our table top heater with one that is thermastat controlled and has overheat protection as well as a safety tip over switch. I stuck with "classic"brand that Home Hardware sells because that was what we used previously for a few years and its still works but I want more safety features. The thermistat should work better for us because we woke up either to hot or to cold. Keep in mine that you are suppose to keep any thing in front 3 ft away. It has a 1500 watt and 750 watt setting but i only use the 750 when were sleeping.

[hoppers4]

Of all the heater types, my preference is oil filled. They're large and fairly heavy but the big thing to me is that they're quiet. The little ceramic jobs are certainly cheaper, smaller, and lighter but the noise generated by their fan is a deal breaker for me. I've had another fanless heater that wasn't oil filled, but it wouldn't hold up. It had several failures in the first year that I kept fixing until I got tired of it. The oil filled I currently have is 1500/750 watts which I've found to be just right for my MH through three seasons.

[Tunce the traveler]

Here's my oil filled heater, it's 36" long and I use it in the cold months Oct.-Nov. & March, April-May in my Hybrid. I run an extension cord to the panel so it frees up my 30A cord. It has a dial from 1-10 and I keep it on 4 and when it's in the 40s at night it's around 67 inside. I also use the Pop up Gizmos. Now I also have a 5/8" interlocking foam floor that keeps the floor warm so that 4AM call with bare feet is just like home. Tunces likes it when not she's not in bed and so do the grandkids. It's great on your feet after being out all day.

[Jagiven]

We use a small 1500 watt ceramic heater. At night I put it on the floor in front of the stove. In the day if it is needed, it's on the stove. We also use electric mattress pad heaters. It's very rare the gas furnace is needed.

[DebKen]

In a smaller camper (ours is small) all you need is a ceramic heater. I have one that has different temperature controls. You will be surprised at how well it works. Remember to crack a window open to avoid condensation.

[SkyBound]

We have a rather large trailer and all we use at night is a small oscillating ceramic heater on the low setting. We keep the bathroom ceiling vent fan running all night and one of the windows in the bedroom up front cracked to move air and vent condensation.

My wife and I prefer it a bit on the cool side up front when we sleep but the baby needs warmer temps. To achieve this I insulated the underside of the rear bunk (storage compartment) with 1 inch foam board and a can of low expansion spray foam. The baby monitor has a thermometer on it and before the insulation the bunk was about 2*C colder than the rest of the trailer. Now, the bunk stays 1-2*C WARMER than the rest of the trailer. Worked better than expected.

[VicS1950]

There is advantage to a fan moving some heat around, but I understand the fan noise comments.

While using our van for sleeping we learned that not all cube style heaters are created equal. A Toastmaster model we have has safety features, puts out good heat, and has a thermostat to do the job, but the fan cycles on and off at a noticeable noise level. The Polonis unit that we prefer using has a feature which varies the fan as to the ambient. Once it gets near set temperature the fan goes to a low maintenance output. For our tolerance level the unit is not noisy at all.

We're soon heading to Ohio for a week stay. I packed my cube heaters. After the comments here I'll swap in a baseboard style unit similar to what Tunce showed.

vic

[jimp]

We have a small ceramic heater that has variable heat settings just like a stove top control, and a 2 or 3 speed fan in our GH 31ss. It kept the GH comfy last fall, never used the propane heater at all.

[Nighthawk 96]

We have an Optiums oil filled heater. Is 25" high 13"wide by 5" and sits on 4 small wheels. Looks like a small steam heat radiator in older houses.

Has two switches on one end, one for 600 watts, the other for 900 watts; both can be on for a total of 1500 watts. We keep it across from the couch in the middle of our living area. Got it at Wally Mart for around $30.

Will keep the trailer warm down to about 50 degrees, below that the trailer central heat will come on. It has an adjustable thermostat to cut it on and off.

I also use this heater as a load for my generators when I run them once a month.

[kjohn73]

I have a neat little NOMA fan heater that is very quiet. It heats our little 197 in no time. Most of those little heaters make a lot of noise, not this one. Of course, I have never been able to find another one!