Electric Space Heater

[Weekender 1]

Originally Posted by Customer1

Consider this; what happens from the electricity used to operate the fan?

Answer; friction/heat, and heat is what you wanted.

That makes even a fan operated heater virtually 100% efficient.

Maybe some day when I'm bored I'll test out a couple of the wife's cube heaters that are in storage to find out how much juice the fan uses.
My point was that the juice the fan takes to run drops off the output of the heat elements. Instead of being 5200 BTUs it might be 4700 or so.


The fan running and creating friction equaling that out, NO WAY! Just not enough friction even dried out to create any discernible heat.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Weekender 1

Maybe some day when I'm bored I'll test out a couple of the wife's cube heaters that are in storage to find out how much juice the fan uses.
My point was that the juice the fan takes to run drops off the output of the heat elements. Instead of being 5200 BTUs it might be 4700 or so.


The fan running and creating friction equaling that out, NO WAY! Just not enough friction even dried out to create any discernible heat.

I can't imagine the fan on a small induction heater consuming very many watts.

[Roscommon48]

the oil filled type...hands down.

[larryflew]

Just to add info wattage on the fan of our 1500 bath heater is 8 watts.

[dcount]

We recently camped and it got down to 15 degrees one night. We were running our 1500 watt "FIREPLACE", and some of our pipes froze up, fortunately on a temporary basis, and no leaks. My theory is that this caused the gas central heat to blow an inadequate amount of heat into the sealed area to keep the pipes from freezing, due to less running time. We do have the 30,000 BTU "Artic package ", yeah right. So we will cut the electric heater way down at those temps from now on.

[cliff]

If you are considering space heaters the pundits have recommended some that do not even have tip over switches. We use Honeywell Safety Sentinel Tower heaters Model HZ-385BP. The reasons are 1) tip over switch, 2) proximity detector if something comes in front of the heater, 3) an over temp thermostat in case the one controlling fails, and 4) a melting link on the heater in case the fan fails and the heater gets too hot. If 4) happens the heater is dead, but you and your RV are not

[Rwake901]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I prefer the oil filled radiator type. Much safer around kids and pets and I believe they draw less amps.

X2 on the oil filled space heaters.

[pjinthedacks]

Originally Posted by slow

We use a Vornado heater https://www.vornado.com/shop/heaters...h-auto-climate

Air is warm not hot and is stable. Just what we wanted with grandkids and pets they bring along.

We love our Vornado heater! We spent 5 nights at the end of the season in northern New Hampshire and were toasty and warm the entire time.

[tjkarch60]

I keep my trailer parked at home and only use an oil filled radiator heater and don't worry about it shorting out or overheating or something falling on or in front of it a catching fire.
When I take it camping, I might bring the oil heater, or use a smaller heater with fan to supplement the furnace.

If you use a heater other than an oil filled radiator heater,
Only use one that has a tip over safety switch!!!

[jmatteis]

We are new to camping in a travel trailer... ours is a 19ft BH style, with it's own propane furnace, however while doing some last minute work late fall on a really cold day, I had the gas furnace running and found that it didn't get that hot really. Not that we will be winter campers, but I had wondered if it would be okay to use a small space heater style heater to help warm things up, even on a cool fall evening? I wasn't sure if a trailer with 30 amp service and regular breakers etc would be able to handle it (again, new to Camping and understanding how all the electrics etc work).
But if I left the furnace to run to warm to the temp set on the thermostat, I fear I would run out of propane before that ever happened.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by jmatteis

We are new to camping in a travel trailer... ours is a 19ft BH style, with it's own propane furnace, however while doing some last minute work late fall on a really cold day, I had the gas furnace running and found that it didn't get that hot really.

But if I left the furnace to run to warm to the temp set on the thermostat, I fear I would run out of propane before that ever happened.

Yeah, that's just wrong. A properly operating propane furnace should deliver oodles of heat quickly. This should be repairable. Maybe something simple, like the furnace's circulating fan isn't running?

Originally Posted by jmatteis

Not that we will be winter campers, but I had wondered if it would be okay to use a small space heater style heater to help warm things up, even on a cool fall evening? I wasn't sure if a trailer with 30 amp service and regular breakers etc would be able to handle it (again, new to Camping and understanding how all the electrics etc work).

Sure, the whole rest of this thread discusses all the aspects of this. Many space heaters have two wattage settings, and you can use the lower one if the upper one pops breakers. But be aware that if it is freezing temp outside and you use a space heater instead of the furnace, you may be defeating a design feature in many rigs in which some of the furnace heat is dedicated to the underbelly to keep the pipes and tanks from freezing.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by jmatteis

We are new to camping in a travel trailer... ours is a 19ft BH style, with it's own propane furnace, however while doing some last minute work late fall on a really cold day, I had the gas furnace running and found that it didn't get that hot really. Not that we will be winter campers, but I had wondered if it would be okay to use a small space heater style heater to help warm things up, even on a cool fall evening? I wasn't sure if a trailer with 30 amp service and regular breakers etc would be able to handle it (again, new to Camping and understanding how all the electrics etc work).
But if I left the furnace to run to warm to the temp set on the thermostat, I fear I would run out of propane before that ever happened.

How long did you let the furnace run? When starting off with a cold camper everything must warm up is. the furniture, walls, etc.

You can run a typical 1500 watt space heater (1500w/120v=12.5 amps) but you have to budget the remains available amperage. That means you won't be able to run anything heavy amperage like the hot water heater, hair dryer or microwave while running the space heater.

[jmatteis]

Thanks for the quick replies. I didn't let the heat run long, but I thought that basically the front grate would get hotter to the touch than it did (although thinking about it now, probably not wise, as it is easily touchable when walking by etc).
The air coming out was hot, but it wasn't an overly cold day, it was cold, but not like winter temps, so I thought with everything closed up, it would feel warmer than it did. our overhead AC unit has a heat setting as well, if we needed it.
We won't be doing any winter camping, we will be at best, fringe late fall campers. most of the campgrounds around us close mid to late October anyhow.
We have a couple of small space heaters at home with dual settings, may pop one of them in there to just have in case it's needed, the camper is only a 19ft, so it's not a ton of space to warm up.

[LHaven]

Sounds like a plan. We have a 26', traveled all September and October this year, and used only the space heater on low to keep the unit cozy most nights (sometimes with the AC fan on solely to distribute the heat to the bedroom). If the air coming out is hot AND there is fan pressure behind it, your furnace may be working as designed.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by dcount

We recently camped and it got down to 15 degrees one night. We were running our 1500 watt "FIREPLACE", and some of our pipes froze up, fortunately on a temporary basis, and no leaks. My theory is that this caused the gas central heat to blow an inadequate amount of heat into the sealed area to keep the pipes from freezing, due to less running time. We do have the 30,000 BTU "Artic package ", yeah right. So we will cut the electric heater way down at those temps from now on.

Well we have the “Cheap Heat” electric add on unit on our gas furnace. This allows a choice of heating with gas or electric, car safer than space heaters and heats all the spaces the furnace does.
Not cheap to purchase, but I am more concerned about safety.

[cliff]

A watt is a watt. Watts = volts X amps. Amps = Watts/volts. So much for the math. All heaters draw pretty much what the label says when they are new. There is some variation due to manufacturing tolerances, but they are small. As the heater ages the core gets higher resistance because of oxidation. Heat output is reduced. This is most prevalent on the small cube heaters. Second it's efficiency lowers as dust, cat hair, etc. get onto the core. So for safety reasons clean it or throw it away. The fan motor typically doesn't draw more than four to six watts. As it ages it may draw more but not much. When the bearings seize, then the fan stops, the heater core overheats and burns the heater down unless you have a fuselink on the heater core. So mind the safety interlocks on my previous post. Most is forgiven with oil filled, provided it is kept clean and has a tip over switch. We use the Honeywell because of its consistent heat output and safety interlocks. BTW it outran the Bob Villa super heater in heat output.

[srvnt]

Originally Posted by pjinthedacks

We love our Vornado heater! We spent 5 nights at the end of the season in northern New Hampshire and were toasty and warm the entire time.

X3
The vortex created by the fan warms the whole trailer, the fan design is the key difference. Vornado has tip over protection and a thermostat and keeps us warm in below freezing temps. It often gets too warm in our 28 footer!

[Northofu1]

Vornado's are quality products, I have had a couple of their regular room fans for going on 7 yrs, love them.
For heat, I use Honeywell Thermostat controlled oscillating heaters. Small quiet, relatively cheap.

[Brentw]

Originally Posted by cliff

A watt is a watt. Watts = volts X amps. Amps = Watts/volts. So much for the math. All heaters draw pretty much what the label says when they are new. There is some variation due to manufacturing tolerances, but they are small. As the heater ages the core gets higher resistance because of oxidation. Heat output is reduced. This is most prevalent on the small cube heaters. Second it's efficiency lowers as dust, cat hair, etc. get onto the core. So for safety reasons clean it or throw it away. The fan motor typically doesn't draw more than four to six watts. As it ages it may draw more but not much. When the bearings seize, then the fan stops, the heater core overheats and burns the heater down unless you have a fuselink on the heater core. So mind the safety interlocks on my previous post. Most is forgiven with oil filled, provided it is kept clean and has a tip over switch. We use the Honeywell because of its consistent heat output and safety interlocks. BTW it outran the Bob Villa super heater in heat output.

As well, 2 of the oil filled units I have repaired have a high temperature snap switch ( self resetting)as part of there safety systems.
I like them for there consistent heat output, but they do take up more room.