Vented cat heater - Fiberglass RV
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Old 12-14-2008, 12:16 AM   #1
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I have followed discussons on cat heaters biting my lip after having had a few thoughts on safety in the back of my mind. While surfing the web and finding this brand I wanted to bring it into the forum and see if anyone has one of these. I like the thermostat control, 12v ignition and the venting system which requires no open windows combined with a saftey shut off system. I think I could get behind this if it does what it says.

http://www.ventedcatheater.com/2.html

Harry
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Old 12-14-2008, 09:55 AM   #2
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Reminds me of the Wave 3 and Wave 6 cat heaters....

I have no experience w/ either, but I've been considering a Wave 3 for my future RV. The ones you're looking at seem to be very similar.
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Old 12-14-2008, 11:43 AM   #3
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Looks like a nice product. I just installed a Wave 3, which requires opening the roof vent a little and a window down lower for a fresh air source. One thing I don't undertand about this vented one is where the air comes from that replaces what's being pumped out through the power vent. It has to come in from somewhere (didn't see anything about a fresh air connection, so it must get air through window leaks, the occaional door opening, or somewhere) so I wonder how more efficient it really is in heating the RV.

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Old 12-14-2008, 01:14 PM   #4
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I was just reading between the lines on this one, but it looks like it NEEDS power to start, so it won't be working if your battery is low...
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Old 12-14-2008, 03:32 PM   #5
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Yes, it does. It's a platcat, I had one in my 13 footer.

It vents with a fan. No power, no start.
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Old 04-21-2011, 08:24 AM   #6
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Platcat heater

I am considering installing a platcat heater. There were some discussions earlier on several years ago. Someone was going to post the results after installing and using it, but never did. Any feedback? Going to use it with a 16ft Scamp I will pick up in a few days.
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Old 04-21-2011, 09:02 AM   #7
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At first, I thought this thread was about a product for people who didn't want their animals to sleep in the bed next to them.

But after going to the website, I think there's more questions than answers about this product. A & L seems like a small company and I couldn't find anything about the prices or a page where you could order one. It doesn't look like there's any RV dealers out there carrying this product. My guess is that they can't get distribution without a UL (Underwriters Laboratories) label and for some reason, either financial or design, they can't have this. So this may be a fine product, but personally I wouldn't buy one.
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Old 04-21-2011, 02:16 PM   #8
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Placat Heater

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Originally Posted by Terry G View Post
At first, I thought this thread was about a product for people who didn't want their animals to sleep in the bed next to them.

But after going to the website, I think there's more questions than answers about this product. A & L seems like a small company and I couldn't find anything about the prices or a page where you could order one. It doesn't look like there's any RV dealers out there carrying this product. My guess is that they can't get distribution without a UL (Underwriters Laboratories) label and for some reason, either financial or design, they can't have this. So this may be a fine product, but personally I wouldn't buy one.
Some of the claims from placat seem to fit the use for an RV very well: Low amp draw, vented exhaust, low chance of burns, and SMALL.
Had not thought about the UL.
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Old 04-21-2011, 03:42 PM   #9
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I think I read some comments on rv.net from folks who had bought and were using this heater. The general feeling was that they were good units but it was taking 2 or 3 months after ordering to get them, small mfr.
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Old 04-21-2011, 04:35 PM   #10
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Harry, I bought and installed a 3P12 platinum cat heater in my Scamp restore. We plan to do at least 1/3 of our camping without hookups, and my wife wanted to be warm, but insisted on a vented heater. I didn't have an original heater in the scamp, so got one. To answer a couple of your questions

1. It is a small company, I talked directly to the guy that was building it, I can't remember his name. It took 3 weeks to start because he had to order additional metal covers, but he got back to me on pricing and questions quickly.

2. There is a circuit that checks electric power and a positive gas flow. If one is gone, it will not run.

3. The price was not cheap; I think it was around $400. I was able to design it into a wall at the entry.

4. Unlike a regular heater, the power draw is minimal. With our LED lights I figure we have multiple days on battery.

5. It has a positive on/ off thermostat included. I put the thermostat next to the bed so I can reach it without getting out.

6. I was able to pick out a vent cap from 4 or 5 different ones. I picked a boat v shaped chrome one that matched the look of the trailer.

7. They had good instructions on installation. When I had a question, I was able to call/ Email and get questions answered.

8. I found out more information on sites that make standard vans into livable RVs. They are popular in those sites.

Hope this helped. I still need to get out in my trailer to fully test out all my systems. Take a look at my trailer profile to see the heater and vent. I made a cover for the heater as they recomend keeping it clean.

Dan
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Old 04-21-2011, 06:12 PM   #11
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Does it get the fresh air from the outside?
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Old 04-21-2011, 06:25 PM   #12
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Not directly. Per the person that built ours you need about a pencil width of fresh air coming into the trailer through cracks or an open window for the fan to draw correctly. I looked at my door seal and louvered windows and figure I should have at least that much air coming in. If not, I will open the door window slightly. It also has a sensor that will shut off the unit if it does not have enough air coming in.
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Old 04-22-2011, 07:42 AM   #13
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It also has a sensor that will shut off the unit if it does not have enough air coming in.

The low oxygen sensor turn off is essential in all units that do not have outside fresh air vents. Sounds like you have a really great unit.
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Old 04-22-2011, 08:34 AM   #14
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What is the advantage of this heater over a conventional heater like the Atwood 8012? People usually choose a cat heater because it does not use any electric power, but this one uses 5 amps for 2 min each time it starts and then 0.5 amps after that when running. The 8012 uses 1.8 amps when running. The 8012 puts out a lot more btu's so it would not run nearly as long on each cycle and it has a blower to move the heated air around inside the trailer. The cat requires opening a window for fresh air or a leaky trailer, which is not good when you are trying to heat the inside space. The 8012 has a fresh air source built into the exhaust system. The 8012 also costs less and does not take as long to get when ordered and spare parts are available from lots of places. The cat is a different shape and a little smaller, but I don't see an advantage over a conventional furnace like the 8012 since it seems like it will draw more electric power.
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Old 04-22-2011, 10:14 AM   #15
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Andy, I mainly got this because I had limited space, and with the remodel couldn't figure out where to put a conventional heater. The one thing that the Cat has, at least from reading about it, is that it is over 95% efficient at using the gas for heating. I believe this is much more than the conventional heater, so it should make your propane last longer. I'm also a light sleeper and have heard that the fan noise is loud on a regular heater. I have tested mine out and I can barely hear it. I think if I had the space and a larger trailer I would think of putting in a regular heater, but this unit worked out well for my situation.
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Old 04-22-2011, 07:02 PM   #16
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Andy, I mainly got this because I had limited space, and with the remodel couldn't figure out where to put a conventional heater. The one thing that the Cat has, at least from reading about it, is that it is over 95% efficient at using the gas for heating. I believe this is much more than the conventional heater, so it should make your propane last longer. I'm also a light sleeper and have heard that the fan noise is loud on a regular heater. I have tested mine out and I can barely hear it. I think if I had the space and a larger trailer I would think of putting in a regular heater, but this unit worked out well for my situation.
That is the best reason of all, you installed the one that fits.
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Old 04-23-2011, 12:23 PM   #17
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What is the advantage of this heater over a conventional heater like the Atwood 8012? People usually choose a cat heater because it does not use any electric power, but this one uses 5 amps for 2 min each time it starts and then 0.5 amps after that when running. The 8012 uses 1.8 amps when running. The 8012 puts out a lot more btu's so it would not run nearly as long on each cycle and it has a blower to move the heated air around inside the trailer. The cat requires opening a window for fresh air or a leaky trailer, which is not good when you are trying to heat the inside space. The 8012 has a fresh air source built into the exhaust system. The 8012 also costs less and does not take as long to get when ordered and spare parts are available from lots of places. The cat is a different shape and a little smaller, but I don't see an advantage over a conventional furnace like the 8012 since it seems like it will draw more electric power.
2 minutes is negligible, so we can almost forget about the 5 amp draw for that short a time. Figuring .5A per hour, if there's 40A available for use in the battery, that would run the heater theoretically for close to 80 hours straight. But I would think the plat cat would shut off for periods of time when it got warm enough.

When I had a conventional rv furnace (in a 22' Rockwood, about 5 years ago) I recall one time boondocking in Colorado when it got into the 40s for a couple nights. The furnace did the job (albeit noisily) the first night. Then I drove about 20 minutes up the highway and found a new spot, and the second night it operated once and then ran out of juice (middle of night, blower running but no heat! Yuck!). So to my way of thinking, the cat should heat much longer than 2 nights.

Part of it may be that the furnace fan must run for a while before the burner kicks in, then it runs while the burner operates, then it keeps running for several minutes after the burner is done... blowing cold air! All of that runtime uses battery juice.

It seems like it would be possible to run a fresh air line from outside to the plat cat, if someone were handy. (that leaves me out!)

The trailer I just bought has one of those noisy furnaces. I almost special ordered one just to delete the furnace! In the end I took what was on the lot. I'll probably use the furnace occasionally to quickly bring a cold trailer up to comfy temp, then switch to the Coleman Black Cat (with windows cracked) to maintain temp. The latter is silent, great for sleeping.
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Old 04-23-2011, 04:05 PM   #18
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The "Plat Cat" heater (pictured) came up in a thread I started about condensation problems I had that were partly related to my use of a standard propane catalytic heater.
I think it's wrong to refer to this as a "fully vented" heater, especially if one presumes "vented" to mean that combustion byproducts (mainly water and carbon DIoxide) are vented to the outside. As you can see in the picture, the whole combustion surface is exposed to the interior of the trailer, meaning that warm, rising, vapor-laden air enters the trailer immediately, bypassing the "power vent". It's my opinion that the ONLY working difference between this and standard propane catalytics is that the fan may draw additional oxygen IN to the trailer, thus somewhat allaying the main safety concern attached to their use : oxygen depletion.
Even this advantage may be in doubt, since the manufacturer apparently directs the user to open a window somewhere in the trailer.
If it's true as posted earlier in this thread that this heater doesn't have a U.L. approved listing, it may be due to the dubious nature of the claims made by the manufacturer.


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Old 04-23-2011, 07:39 PM   #19
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Francesca, those are some very interesting observations and you have raised some questions in my mind. I just sent off an email to the manufacturer, asking for clarification on the venting's thoroughness (or lack thereof) and the air intake issue. I'll report back when I receive an answer.
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Old 04-23-2011, 08:47 PM   #20
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Francesca, those are some very interesting observations and you have raised some questions in my mind. I just sent off an email to the manufacturer, asking for clarification on the venting's thoroughness (or lack thereof) and the air intake issue. I'll report back when I receive an answer.
I'll be interested in their reply, and especially in any independent studies they may cite that support their claims...

.....
Francesca
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