Portable heater question

partimcmpr · 11-10-2007, 10:04 AM

I am considering purchasing a small portable heater for my 2553. I would like it as a backup to propane, and to use so as to consume less propane.

I would be interested in hearing experiences from others that supplement the trailer furnace with another heater. I am not sure if I should use electric, ceramic, or the oil filled radiant heater. Should I get the tower style or a small heater that can sit on the table? Should it be an simple 'box style', or oscillating?

I thought there was an issue using ceramic style in an enclosed/ air-tight area.

Thanks in advance for any input you may have!

David

Indy-Jim · 11-10-2007, 02:09 PM

Hi David - We use a ceramic heater in our T-2363 and it does an extremelly well job of keeping the unit warm. Ours has a thermastat which you can adjust to balance the temerature needs. Sometimes we sit in on the table or on a board on the floor. It does have a fail-safe switch on the bottom that shuts the heater off should it get knocked over accidently. It does have oscillation capabilities, however, we usually disable that feature. We purchased ours from Camping World. Other types or brands of units may be just as capable of providing the heat you need, as this is a personal matter of selection.
Keep warm!

Bobo · 11-10-2007, 03:17 PM

Dave,

Myself,I only had to run a electric heater in my camper when I had the popup. As a safety concern, I would run a heavy extension cord via the power cord door from the 20 amp service to power the heater. If the heater draws a lot of power,if you plug it into an outlet in the coach you run the risk of damaging the camper wiring. It is better to pop the breaker at the post than blow a fuse or breaker in the coach or overheat the wiring in the coach. If you only want to run the heater off the coach, choose a lower wattage heater.

Bobo

nickster60 · 11-11-2007, 01:13 PM

I have used these heaters and had good luck with them. The cords dont get hot anf the are the ceramic heaters. I have had mine for years. They sell them on Amazon for about 40 bucks

Honeywell HZ365 Ceramic Compact Heater

Trailblazer · 11-12-2007, 06:08 PM

We use a 1500w ceramic heater and would definitely recommend it. We find this one little heater can keep the trailer toasty warm in both the spring and fall season. We have been using the ceramic heater for two seasons now and have never had any problems with it. The cord does not over heat at all. We originally tried one of the oil filled heaters, but it just would not heat up the trailer.

DrJ · 11-12-2007, 06:24 PM

I would echoe the opinions of others in favor of the ceramic. I have one that I purchased when I was still in my pop-up and it worked well in that drafty camper. Don't recall using in the Sunline, just keep it for a backup.

Steve Collins · 11-12-2007, 07:56 PM

I have to add my voice to the others in favor of the small ceramic cube heaters, and for all the reasons mentioned above.

Also, they are small and easily stored in many different places in your unit. Storage space is at a premium for most of us so these particular heaters really work in a variety of ways.

One other item that may be valuable is a small table top fan, especially one that oscillates. This will help your little heater by moving the air around, spreading that warmth even farther, faster.

partimcmpr · 11-12-2007, 08:24 PM

We figured the fan thing out pretty quick. We have two clip on fans to keep the air moving in the trailer. We use one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen. I clip them to a cabinet door or the tv table in the bedroom.

The work great to keep the air from getting stagnant.

David

**JohnB** · 11-13-2007, 09:12 PM

We use the ceramic heater as well. I prefer them over the exposed glowing coil type. Others have posted the features of tip over protection, T stat etc. oscillation on or off. All used at one time or another.

To echoes Bobo’s comments, watch the power draw and what else you have going on in the camper. Most of these heaters are 1500 watt rated. In the 30 amp rated camper, you only want to have on, one large heat producing device at a time that plugs in.

1 heater
1 blow dryer
1 coffee pot
1 microwave
1 electric fry pan
1 toaster

etc. etc.

DW complains all the time when I remind her, 1 at a time that’s it. As she forgets this is the camper and that we are not in the house with a 200 amp service… If you manage the plug in appliances to 1 at a time, you will be OK. If you go 2, sooner or later a breaker will trip. Most all I listed are in the 1500 watt area. Running 3,000 watts will easily trip a 15 amp breaker. 15 amps at 120 volts is 1,800 watts. 15 amps at 110 volts is 1,650 watts.

I do have a separate 12 gage heavy extension cord I feed into the camper thru the shore cord hole to help offset the issues in the heater use months. Especially with our new larger camper. 1 little 1500 watt heater will not do. It did in the T2499 but not the T310SR. We just proved it last weekend….

Good luck

John.