Need suggestions on heater

[mary and bob]

Mike: I like that answer!! Actually what used to be our milkhouse when my family was farming is now my shop, and now heated with an oil fired furnace. And many years ago we had an incubator for hatching EGGS, so I do have a connection here somewhat. Bob

[Panoz77]

I have both a ceramic heater and a big buddy for off grid, I have not used the BB yet but the ceramic easily does the job in my CT-13. I figure the BB will be equal or better with the battery operated fan going.

[mcbrew]

Last weekend, we were camping with my inlaws, who were in a large tent. They had brought an oil-filled heater (the kind that looks like a radiator). They mistakenly reserved a non-electric site, so I let them use our Buddy heater and we used their radiator. It worked very well, but took up a lot of room. It had three power settings and a thermostat. I had to play with it a bit, but it kept us nice and warm. It was about 40 degrees at night. They said the iffy kept them warm, but they went through a bottle and a half of propane.

[Sharon G]

We have both the small Mr. Heater Buddy and the Coleman Black Cat Catalytic heater. The Coleman was far superior in the Aliner. It's smaller so was a lot more convenient and the heat felt "softer." Very subjective, but we haven't used the Buddy since we got the Black Cat.

[Owen Lindsay]

I have a Dometic factory furnace in the dolphin, But I really wish I still had the convection DuoTherm that was in my 74 Trillium. The convection furnace was only rated at 5500 btu, but was more than adequate for the 13' trailer. I had no fan and required no power to operate. The one I have now uses a lot of power, and I dont want to run out of battery in really cold weather. I have used the Mr Heater Big Buddy on construction trailers and found them quite effective. It has a tip sensor and a low O2 sensor, but it still hasn't my 100% trust.

[lamimartin]

Hi,
I've got only good things to say about my Convection Duotherm furnace (1977 Trillium 4500). The advantage of the furnace is the fact it is not using the indoor oxygen, because it has an outdoor intake and exhaust. Ventilation is still needed, but much less than with a portable catalytic heater. The minute I opened the top vent a little, our heat was gone, so I kept it shut for both heaters, keeping only two windows slightly open. Our 5500 Duotherm is a bit more powerful than the BlackCat, it is easier to use it is likely much safer for extended use. I suspect it probably consumes twice more propane, but with two 20# tanks, it is not a problem and it does not need any electric fan (perfect for wilderness style of camping we like).

Before I reinstalled it, I used a Coleman Black Cat portable catalytic heater, connected directly on my exterior tank with a T and an extension hose I passed trough the opening for the main electric power connector. I found the 3000 btu power sufficient for cool summer nights with two windows slightly open. I keep the Black Cat as a backup unit for our RV or our tent.

[evanwilliams]

I just installed an Atwood Hydroflame 8012 forced air furnace in our 13' Scamp and used it over the weekend in ~30F overnight temps and it was awesome. It draws less than 2 amps when running so you can get 4 nights easy on a deep cycle battery. I use this furnace in our VW Westy as well and it works great there too and that has a bunch of canvas to compete with. I did the install myself and it took a few hours (I built some shelving in the cabinet at the same time so it was a bigger project than just the furnace) and the furnace cost $400 online.

[Roger C H]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Ruth, if you're always hooked up to electricity there are pluses for using a smaller heater (you can leave it home in the summer!)

Here's a recent topic on small electric heaters: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ter-48041.html

Donna,
We spent one of the coldest nights in a tent we ever did in the middle of July at Bryce Canyon. In the restaurant the next morning we asked how cold it was and were told it got down to 25º!!

We like our SILENT Honeywell oil filled. It has a fold out handle in the front, and we use a hot pad to hold the rearmost fin and the handle if it needs to be moved. Another advantage is that it is not heat on heat off, but heats and cools slowly.

[Byron Kinnaman]

In My Humble Opinion the safest heating is a plumbed in propane furnace. The combustion is vent to the outside both intake and exhaust. The plumbing is solid and leak checked at least once a year. Many many homes have gas forced air furnaces and they think nothing of it.
I think if I was in your situation I'd try to get a RV forced air furnace installed. If I didn't want a propane tank on the tongue, I'd get a smaller tank with quick disconnect connections and hoses to set on the ground when I wanted the furnace.

I did a temperature test on the inside of my trailer around the forced air furnace. No place could I find temperatures close to the paper or cloth flash points or even close to the boiling point of water.

I have a hard time imagining owning a trailer without the furnace. In March of this year, we were in Big Bend NP, TX. Even there it got cold, very cold. Down to 5° two nights in the teens for 3 or 4 more nights.

[Tim D.]

We use both Mr. Heater Buddy and the stock forced air furnace in our Bigfoot 17.

While the forced-air furnace is safe, it is noisy, uses electricity, and uses quite a bit of propane. (Feel the exhaust air and you'll know why.) We mostly use it on freezing nights on its lowest setting, just to keep the plumbing from freezing.

The Buddy is definitely a fire hazard. We are quite careful with it. We keep the area around and immediately above it clear. We NEVER sleep with it on. We ventilate more than adequately.

Since the Buddy has no thermostat, just high and low settings, it must be manually turned on and off as temperature dictates. In our small trailer this has not been overly inconvenient.

Our Buddy regulator has been bypassed so it will run on low pressure propane like the stove does. The propane line to the furnace was tapped into so another line could feed the Buddy. That line has its own shut-off valve as well as a female quick-disconnect fitting. The Buddy has been fitted with a 5' hose ending in the male half of the quick-disconnect. During warm times the hose can be disconnected and the unit stowed under the dinette.

We just finished 8 months on the road, including three months in Alaska. Our little rolling house went all the way to Prudhoe Bay at the Arctic Ocean! The heating systems worked just fine. I would like to try a catalytic heater sometime for safety reasons.

[Ruth G]

I'm still struggling with the heater choice. I bought a mr buddy. It started well at home, but when we went camping it wouldn't start one night. The next morning, it started well again. I felt frustrated with it, and returned it. Don't know why it wouldn't start for either one of us. We both tried and tried.

Have been looking at the catalyst wave 3 heater.

This hobby of camping just keeps getting more and more expensive. I do like the idea of putting plumbing in, and putting a propane tank on the tongue, but concerned about the expense of doing that.

It seems crazy to have to leave a window open, when you're looking for warmth.
I have a little cube heater, but am trying to get off the grid more and more.

[Trill136]

My Trillium did not have a factory installed heater, so, I was planning on just using the Mr. Buddy heater. However, I cannot develop enough nerve to leave it running all night, and, it gets cold (above 4500') in the early spring/late fall.

So, I managed to find one of the older convection type furnaces which I will be installing. They have a rudimentary type of thermostat, and, a basic "B" vent that brings its combustion air from outside and vents to the outside. Probably not very efficient, but, pretty safe. Enough to leave on overnight, I hope! Also, no fan, so no power needed.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Min

My Trillium did not have a factory installed heater, so, I was planning on just using the Mr. Buddy heater. However, I cannot develop enough nerve to leave it running all night, and, it gets cold (above 4500') in the early spring/late fall.

So, I managed to find one of the older convection type furnaces which I will be installing. They have a rudimentary type of thermostat, and, a basic "B" vent that brings its combustion air from outside and vents to the outside. Probably not very efficient, but, pretty safe. Enough to leave on overnight, I hope! Also, no fan, so no power needed.

I had that type furnace in my 1969 Thorobred... IT worked GREAT and was quiet and didn't waste battery power, Wish they still made a version of it!

I just heard that they quit making the 12000btu suburban furnace so now the 16000btu is going into the new Scamp 13s ... even more overkill!

[Trill136]

I would think that 12000 btu is a lot of heat. Can't imagine having 16000 in a small trailer. I would have to have the windows open and the furnace on low.

The older types are not as "fancy", but, they work fine in the smaller trailers. I can imagine wanting more heat, and a fan, in a larger trailer.

[Panoz77]

The big buddy heaters take several tries to light when cold, it takes a minute or so to get the propane flowing. You have to hold the switch in the on position for about 30 seconds to a minute before you click the spark.

[Ron F]

Originally Posted by Ruth G

I'm still struggling with the heater choice. I bought a mr buddy. It started well at home, but when we went camping it wouldn't start one night. The next morning, it started well again. I felt frustrated with it, and returned it. Don't know why it wouldn't start for either one of us. We both tried and tried.

Have been looking at the catalyst wave 3 heater.

This hobby of camping just keeps getting more and more expensive. I do like the idea of putting plumbing in, and putting a propane tank on the tongue, but concerned about the expense of doing that.

It seems crazy to have to leave a window open, when you're looking for warmth.
I have a little cube heater, but am trying to get off the grid more and more.

Ruth,
I agree with Byron. My EggCamper came as "totally electric" and when we're connected, its small electric heater worked pretty well. But where I live in the northeast, it's rare to have power hookups at the state/federal parks (which have the nicer campsites IMO).

My solution was an Atwood 8012-II propane furnace. Power draw is 1.8 amps for its quiet fan. It vents outside and at 12000 btu does a good job heating the egg. Now I'm replacing the original electric water heater with an Atwood 6 gal gas/electric combo, with electronic ignition.

Along with LEDs and some solar, these should free me from the grid, but the down side of these upgrades is the cost.

Ron

[JohnF]

We just did two nights - one at 25 degrees and one at 30.
Loved having the simplicity, convenience, and out-of-the-way location of the built-in scamp furnace. With only 13', I can't imagine trying to move around some hot heater cube or a Mr. Buddy somewhere.

For upper midwest, the furnace is awesome. We hope to make some longer trips out to Maine and the big parks out west and I'm sure we'll hit some cold nights.

My first reaction was, with going so far to having a nice inside, waterproof, stand up trailer - why not another tiny step to having it always be a warm and cozy comfortable temperature. Even working inside the trailer on the driveway back at the house I'm loving it.

I can get through the noise and from my years of overnight road biking trips with roommates, always pack foam ear plugs. Tent camping I always slept with them so that the birds didn't wake me up at 5am! So for those with big noise sensitivity, that might be a cheap option.

[Mike Magee]

About the costs: maybe our trailers are a bit like boats. I have heard "boat" defined as a hole in the water that you pour money into. Yup, a hobby like RVing does take money, and trailers do seem to beg for upgrades and accessories.

I don't know if there is a perfect solution to the heating issue. Each heater has pros and cons. You may have to keep doing trial and error testing until you hit on what works best for you.

If I have shore power I plug in the electric heater. If no shore power, I'm still playing around between the furnace, the Coleman Black Cat catalytic, and a 12v mattress warmer. Maybe in another year or two I'll have an answer for myself.

[DavidSo]

Ruth,
have you seen this: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ces-48505.html

I just saw it cruising around, and they are close so shipping shouldn't be much. I did a quick look around and that price is about half. No idea if any are left.
David