Heat

[rgrugg]

Headed to Texas a week ago in our all electric EggCamper. Stayed in motels the first three nights due to cold and hard to find open campgrounds. Even if open, the electric heater can't be run while on the road (no electric available except by a VERY LONG cord) so the trailer was frigid inside and the memory foam mattress like stone. We're probably going to get a furnace so the EC will be warm while on the road. Gotta get home first, though.

[Thomas G.]

It is pretty hard to compete with propane when it comes to providing heat.

[deryk]

Meaning no disrespect but imho all electric trailers are kind of a joke...its a neat idea that everywhere you go you can just plug in for power... but there are situations where its not availible for one reason or another so your now down to either a propane heater or a generator to keep a ceramic or oil filled radiator going all night. My concern is what if it was hot and no power means get a cooler and ice for your fridge.

Propane and electric make a nice pair... gives you more versatility.

deryk

[Steve Hammel]

What do you guys know about those Blue Flame heaters? There was an old post from Gina "bad mommy" talking about how great they were and I tried resurrecting the post but never got an answer back. They sounded really good with thermostats and all, I just wanted to know if they still felt they were good.

[Steve Hammel]

Originally Posted by deryk

Meaning no disrespect but imho all electric trailers are kind of a joke...its a neat idea that everywhere you go you can just plug in for power... but there are situations where its not availible for one reason or another so your now down to either a propane heater or a generator to keep a ceramic or oil filled radiator going all night. My concern is what if it was hot and no power means get a cooler and ice for your fridge.

Propane and electric make a nice pair... gives you more versatility.

deryk

I totally agree on propane for heat and cooking, however if you've ever had a 12v fridge it's hard to go back to propane for cooling. Yes propane works adequately but 12v is far superior.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

I totally agree on propane for heat and cooking, however if you've ever had a 12v fridge it's hard to go back to propane for cooling. Yes propane works adequately but 12v is far superior.

I think you are right. When the price drops on 12 volt refrigerators, especially with the drop in solar panel prices, electric refrigerators will be the new norm. I don't fully understand why a 110 volt dorm refrigerator is less than $100 and 12 volts models are $500 +. Of course production volume is a factor, but it is still a huge difference.

[deryk]

Probably Steve, I haven't heard much about them working to improve the propane design thats been pretty much the same since the early 1900's. Im a custodian in a high school and one of the students was telling me this week he just came back from a 2week trip to mexico where his grandparents live... and even though they have electricity they still use propane fridges... I stayed in a cabin on friends property years back and in 1 of the cabins was an old servel from the 40's... took a little cleaning and a part repalcement but got it running and I had cold beer lol.

I prefer camping in the shade, so it will limit the use of solar besides traveling. I do want to add a small panel on my roof between the 2 ceiling hatches to try to keep my battery topped off from fan use and such but Im stuck with propane and Im ok with it. In 20 years when I can full time I might switch out to electic fridge and more panels... but right now Im happy. Just hate the drain my heater pulls out of the batteries lol.

I would be very careful about unvented heaters. Yes people use them, but people do die from them as well. Do the reading, and think it through but your better off with something vented.

deryk

[jack maloney]

Originally Posted by rgrugg

We're probably going to get a furnace so the EC will be warm while on the road. Gotta get home first, though.

Please, NEVER, EVER run propane equipment in your camper while driving!

I personally experienced a disastrous fire while driving a fiberglass pickup camper with a propane fridge operating. Apparently road vibration caused a propane leak which built up unnoticed; the gas was touched off by the fridge pilot. Fortunately, no one was riding back in the camper - they would have been toast. Both camper and pickup were totaled. Incidentally, the fridge had just been installed and checked by the dealer.

A cold bed is better than a hot flaming camper.

[Bob Miller]

Certainly having had the experience would make someone a bit apprehensive, but I can't say that I agree with your concern about not running a LP refrigerator while traveling.

Running the refrigerator didn't cause the line to come leak and the alternative is to have a leak happen and it not be discovered until someone is inside the rig and lighting the stove or refrigerator or, perhaps, asleep.

In some 40+ years of RV'ing I have never had an lp leak, it sounds like the one you experienced was due to improper service rather than a design or operating issue, something that we can't always have control over.

But, I agree to not run the furnace, while driving, but primarily because the air intake and exhaust systems are not designed for use while the rig is moving. Most will heat up a FGRV in less than 10 minutes anyway.

[Steve Hammel]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I think you are right. When the price drops on 12 volt refrigerators, especially with the drop in solar panel prices, electric refrigerators will be the new norm. I don't fully understand why a 110 volt dorm refrigerator is less than $100 and 12 volts models are $500 +. Of course production volume is a factor, but it is still a huge difference.

They are so expensive that I thought about taking a nice 2 door 110 dorm fridge/freezer in and have a 12v danfoss compressor put on it. I really don't see why it wouldn't work. The only reason for the price difference is the linited production.

[Jim Bennett]

I too have run the fridge while travelling most of the time. If it is just for a couple hours, I might not bother. I have never had a problem, and don't foresee one. I have never traveled with the furnace on though, and never would.

Jack, yours is a very isolated and unfortunate incident, and like Bob said, it is better to happen where you can get out easily, than when you were inside sleeping. Because, if the leak was created while driving, it surely would not stop when parked.

BTW, there was discussion on the Escape forum a few years back on whether it was legal or not. I wrote to all the Provincial and Territorial Departments of Transport in Canada, and every one of them said it was legal to do, with exception of where posting say otherwise (like ferries).

[jack maloney]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I have never had a problem, and don't foresee one.

Prior to the propane explosion that totalled my camper and truck, I would have said the same.

Our little eggs get a lot of flexing, bounce and vibration on the road. Gas connections, with or without stresses, can leak. That's why they put an odor in gas, so that people can smell a leak before it becomes dangerous. But there's nobody in your little egg to sniff a gas leak when you're driving. My first clue was seeing billowing black smoke and bright flames in my rearview mirror.

We all take calculated risks every day, at home or on the road, balancing risk against benefit - that's life. If warming your foam mattress or cooling your sixpack is worth the very small risk of torching your egg, that's a choice you make. For me, it ain't worth it. As they say, "once burned..."

[Gina D.]

I am still happy with the heater, and I posted on the old thread.

[rgrugg]

My fridge is 12 volt but it's a compressor fridge. We've run heat in several trailers while on the road. But the cold bed isn't the only issue. There are water lines to keep unfrozen. I'm debating on either a furnace or a catalytic heater and, yes, I know you have to have ventilation with a cat heater.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by jack maloney

We all take calculated risks every day, at home or on the road, balancing risk against benefit - that's life.

Calculating risk is a part of everyday life, to be certain.

[robn]

Keep the beer cold at all cost :-)

[Daniel A.]

Buy an electric blanket they do come in 12volt.

[honda03842]

As a safety measure part of our hitch up sequence is to turn off the propane. Though system failures are rare this simply eliminates the possibility of a failure like Jack's.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by Daniel A.

Buy an electric blanket they do come in 12volt.

Now that's a legitimate solution, 12v heat to the bed while driving to keep the mattress foam warm. But instead of an electric blanket, I'd suggest an electric mattress pad from ElectroWarmth. I grew up with a 115v version on my bed, my parents used 'em for years on all the beds (6 kids). My trailer has a 12v outlet right by the bed, so I bought one too in 12v.

[Jim Bennett]

We just cozy up in as many blankets and duvets as req'd to keep warm. I much prefer snuggling to draining my battery.