Heater Option

[Pat M]

The new egg we are looking at (17' Casita) offers a 16,000BTU furnace as an option. I thought it was a no brainer - yes! Then I talked to two regular Casita users (from California) who "never" use their furnaces. If you do not choose the option you get another small storage compartment that's a plus.
We will likely do most of our camping on the West Coast as we are in Northern California. So now it is a question.
So the question to you is" do you use your furnace? Often? Are you in Alaska? Would you consider not including the option if you started over with a new rig?
Thanks,
Pat

[Gina D.]

I use mine all the time, and I am in southern california.

Nites get cold here. I like to camp all year, and I won't let a little thing like outside temp stop me. I have done winter camping in No. Cal and Oregon, I used it all the time then.

You could consider alternative heating such as a Coleman Blackcat or a Mr. Heater Buddy. I use mine when I have no power, or when I don't need the full blast of the furnace.

It depends on your "heat" requirement. I am the type that needs to stay warm, and bundling up doesn't cut it for me. Your milage may vary.

If I were to buy new, yes, I would get a furnace.

[Donna D.]

Nobody likes to think resell prior to even buying, but that may be a consideration worth thinking about.

I've never used my propane furnace, I'm always hooked up (and paying for power) so prefer a cube heater. I've thought about yanking the propane out of my trailer, then someone mentioned using their trailer when they had a major power outage in their town (or other catastrophe), that alone told me it would be a smart thing to leave it in... stove, furnace and three-way frig. That would fall into the "you never know when you'll need it" category!

[E. Graham]

Yes, we use our furnace --- often --- because we actively avoid campgrounds that have electrical hookups but have an aversion to being chilled. We live in the San Francisco Bay area and spend most of our weekends camping in state or national parks within a 3 hour drive, on the coast or in the Sierras.

On the coast, in spring, we turn the furnace on for a short time in the morning to take the chill out of the air before I make coffee. At night, we've turned it when it was raining.

For us, the built-in furnace is also a backup when we're camping at ski resorts, with full hookup, in the winter: even if the power fails, our pipes won't freeze while we're skiing.

The alternatives to a built-in furnace are stand-alone propane heaters (e.g. Mr. Buddy), shore-powered electrical heaters, and layers of warm clothes. However, stand-alone heaters are not recommended for use while the occupants are sleeping and shore power may not be available.

That said, you should know that furnace fan is quite noisy and consumes battery power (assuming you're not hooked up to shore power). The noise is actually a good incentive to leave it off overnight and use it sparingly during the day.

[Christi V.]

I have a furnace also but dont use it.. i have to agree with Donna D.. ya never know when ya might need it...

[Frederick L. Simson]

Would you consider not including the option if you started over with a new rig?

"It is better to have something, and not need it, than to need something, and not have it."

[Gina D.]

I do spend a nite or two in my rig in to driveway during power outages here, if it looks like we will be down awhile. It always goes down when it is

I have gas heat in the house, and an old wall furnace that doesn't require power, but it provides little light :-P

[Pete Dumbleton]

I'd get it without the furnace, have the space, buy a Mr Heater Portable Buddy with some of the saved money and consider investing the remaining money in beer!

Don't take the Buddy when you don't think you need it, take it when you do, take it to the potty, take it to warm your backside at the campfire, take it to warm your garage, and take it into your egg parked in the driveway when the power is off, smugly knowing that the people with the RV furnaces won't be using them when their batteries run down and won't get as many BTUs out of a pound of LP as you will!

That's what I'd do...

[Pat M]

Thanks for all the good info. It looks like I will get the heater.
Pat

[peterh]

Our camping is about 40-60 without 110v electric hookups and with. When we're off-grid we use the furnace, but switch to the quieter and less-expensive cube heater when we have hookups. We also have a Portable Buddy ceramic cartridge heater that runs on 1 lb propane cylinders as a back-up and for nights when we want quiet. I don't think Lynne would even consider camping without a heater.

Two downsides of the furnace are that it's noisy and consumes 2.4 amps (29 watts) of battery power. The battery power issue could be a problem for you if you boondocking without a generator for several days at a time or depend on solar for your electric supply. If you like warm, quiet evenings far from civilization you might consider a catalytic heater or ceramic cartridge heater, which have the downside of creating water vapor in your trailer but are quiet, gas-efficient and consume little or no electricity.

--Peter

[Sandra Lair]

We removed the propane heater that came in our Scamp. We always camp where there are hookups & prefer to use an electric cube heater. It's so easy to heat the Scamp that we only have to turn it on once in a while. I don't think there's as much condensation with electric heat as there is with propane, so that was a consideration too.

Sandra

[danny m]

If you're going to burn propane in your trailer without exhausting you may as well just light a stove burner or two, oven if you have one. They all make carbon dioxide and water vapor. No extra expense and no storage.

[Connie M.]

We use our furnace on almost every trip, generally very lightly - and, yes, we do live in Alaska.
If you'll be camping in the spring and fall, in the rain, in the mountains, etc., you might be glad to have it.

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Pat M,
Our air conditioner has a heat function, so when we have hook-ups there is theoretically no need of another furnace. As others have said about their furnace, they are noisy. So is the air noise created by the fan on our roof air conditioner when we use it for heat or A/C.
In actual practice, we use a small quiet electric cube heater which has a good thermostat. It can safely be used while we sleep without any adverse effects.
The storage for food stuffs is a requirement for us, as we like to take long trips. The space that a forced air furnace would permanently occupy, would mean having a box of food on the floor, underfoot.
One of the selling points, when we bought "Nuestra Casita", was that it did not have a forced air furnace!
Again, as others have mentioned, propane portable heaters are available which work great for temporary use when there are no hook-ups. In the seasons when it is not needed, it can be left at home.

I'd suggest making a list of your camping plans, as to duration of trips and seasons when you'll camp. Then make another which includes pro's and con's of having a furnace, which reflects your personal needs.

Enjoy the planning process, it's part of the fun!!!
Kurt & Ann K.

[peterh]

If you're going to burn propane in your trailer without exhausting you may as well just light a stove burner or two, oven if you have one. They all make carbon dioxide and water vapor. No extra expense and no storage.

NO NO NO NO!

Stove top burners are not to be used as heaters!

Not only are they open flame devices and a fire hazard, they throw off poisonous, deadly carbon monoxide.

DO NOT USE STOVE TOP BURNERS TO HEAT YOUR TRAILER!

The Mr Heater "Buddy" and "Portable Buddy" ceramic cartridge heaters and the Olympian Wave, Northstar Flameless, and PlatCat catalytic heaters are designed in such a way that they completely oxidize (burn) their propane fuel in a way that no open flame device can. These heaters are designed for indoors use as a space heater and do not produce carbon monoxide.

--Peter

[Pat M]

OK, I know last night I said we would go with the heater. Well after carefull reading of all the posts, and realizing that our airconditioner will have a thermostatically controled heat strip, we ordered the Casita with no furnace. It is my intention to be in sites with hookups most times and I'll have a small cube heater or one of the recommended gas heaters if needed. Thanks again for all the helpful and thoughtful suggestions.
Now we just have to decide what to do with all that extra space (LOL).

[Roy in TO]

DO NOT USE STOVE TOP BURNERS TO HEAT YOUR TRAILER!
--Peter

Agreed.

OTOH, We've found lighting up the stove for that bedtime cup of tea takes the edge off a cool trailer.

We've got a propane heater (gravity) without a fan. Most cold nights the pilot light alone keeps the trailer comfortable. On occasion we've had to turn the heater on for a half hour or so to bump up the interior temp and the pilot light will pretty much keep it comfortable after that.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Pat M... If you got "Extra Space" maybe I could fit in it
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Dwain]

I'm a bit confused on these portable gas heaters. I've never used one. Are they all abaout the same - just with different names? Also, are they safe? At night? I need to be enlightened. Thanks, guys. Dwain

[David and Nancy]

Like Pete said, the Buddy Heater seems like the unit of choice among many of the FGRV'ers on this forum. That being said, I bought one and seldom use it as an alternative to the main furnace. The two best things about the forced air furnace:
1. It has a nice accurate thermostat so you can set it to your actual comfort zone. With the Buddy, I am constantly turning it up, down, on or off to regulate the heat in the trailer. When I owned a Casita, I had the same issue with the electric heat strip and with other electric heating devices.
2. The furnace runs on outside fresh air which prevents condensation and doesn't reduce the oxygen level or increase the carbon monoxide level. I have never felt comfortable going to sleep with the Buddy heater turned on. When it is on, the windows are totally steamed up at all times.

I have used an RV gas furnace everywhere from Florida to Alaska. I don't know where you could live in the USA that it NEVER gets cold at night. Even in mid-summer, if you go to high elevation it can get downright cool.

I have to admit, the noise level on my Casita furnace was pretty annoying. And it does quickly draw down the battery if you are boondocking. That is the main reason I tried the Buddy. Now I just keep the battery maintained with solar panels or an occasional charge-up with a Honda 2000. The Bigfoot furnace is further from the bed and doesn't wake us up like the Casita furnace, anyway.