Heater for dry camping/boondocking?

[Bjkj Mason]

We don’t have a furnace in our Older Scamp but we do have an electric heater when we are at RV parks with electricity.
But if we do dry camp we would be interested in hearing what type of heater people are using? We have a Buddy heater we
have used but we go through propane bottles at a ridiculous rate with them. Has anyone tried the small diesel truck cab heaters? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by Bjkj Mason

We don’t have a furnace in our Older Scamp but we do have an electric heater when we are at RV parks with electricity.
But if we do dry camp we would be interested in hearing what type of heater people are using? We have a Buddy heater we
have used but we go through propane bottles at a ridiculous rate with them. Has anyone tried the small diesel truck cab heaters? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Search them on Youtube and you will find a lot of interest.

The only one I've watched is from Slim Potato head. (part one)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrdvasG7WLI

[Perryb67]

Originally Posted by Bjkj Mason

We don’t have a furnace in our Older Scamp but we do have an electric heater when we are at RV parks with electricity.
But if we do dry camp we would be interested in hearing what type of heater people are using? We have a Buddy heater we
have used but we go through propane bottles at a ridiculous rate with them. Has anyone tried the small diesel truck cab heaters? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

First of all buy Flame King refillable 1# propane bottles. We have six refillable 1# tanks we use all the time.

Second our Buddy heater at 4,000 but's on low is way too warm for our larger Escape camper and can't imagine how warm it can heat your Scamp. We use a Weber catalytic heater (seem to be sold out everywhere) that can be set below 1,500 btu's, so a .8# Flame King tank will last about 9 hours.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Timber Wolf]

I removed the factory heater out of my old Scamp and replaced it with the smaller Propex under the front curbside bunk. The Propex was not cheap, but I am very, very happy with it. I too used a small electric heater when we had hook ups, and a Buddy (with 20 pound bottle conversion hose run outside under the door to the big bottle) when not on power. I also found the Buddy even on low to be more heater than I needed for the Scamp. The Propex cycles on and off as required and seems to be pretty economical on gas. In case I was not clear, I am very happy with the Propex!

[Fredomatic]

I second the use of the Buddy heater with the 20’ propane tank. I run it to get the egg warm then turn it off until morning. Use an extension hose or two to pipe the gas into the trailer or around the campsite. Buddy makes an in-line filter to keep the fuel hose clean from whatever smootz might be inside an older 20’ tank.

Regarding the issue of the Buddy being over powered for a small trailer, I wonder if the heater power can be reduced by closing the tank valve part way to reduce the gas volume. I’ll have to test this. It may just extinguish the heater if it requires a minimum volume to operate. Hmm?

[Dwayne Domi]

Hey, my first post here, long time lurker.

I have a 21' fiberglass class A motorhome. Vixen RV.

I have both a hydronic (coolant) diesel heater, and a common diesel air cabin heater. The cabin heater is by far my favorite utility. Last night I boondocked in Western New Mexico at an abandoned rest stop. It dropped to 22 degrees, but my cabin heater kept me warm and toasty all night.

I have the 5kw model, but a 2kw may be enough for the Scamp. Diesel heaters produce an awesome type it heat. It's not a dry heat, nor does it make moisture, just a nice moderate heat.

I haven't measured fuel consumption but when I'm in cold weather for a week, it will use about 2 gallons of diesel fuel (not running all of the time).

Lastly, diesel is the most safe of any liquid/gas fuels.

Hope this helps.

-Dwayne Domi (google me)

[Bjkj Mason]

Originally Posted by Dwayne Domi

Hey, my first post here, long time lurker.



I have a 21' fiberglass class A motorhome. Vixen RV.



I have both a hydronic (coolant) diesel heater, and a common diesel air cabin heater. The cabin heater is by far my favorite utility. Last night I boondocked in Western New Mexico at an abandoned rest stop. It dropped to 22 degrees, but my cabin heater kept me warm and toasty all night.



I have the 5kw model, but a 2kw may be enough for the Scamp. Diesel heaters produce an awesome type it heat. It's not a dry heat, nor does it make moisture, just a nice moderate heat.



I haven't measured fuel consumption but when I'm in cold weather for a week, it will use about 2 gallons of diesel fuel (not running all of the time).



Lastly, diesel is the most safe of any liquid/gas fuels.



Hope this helps.



-Dwayne Domi (google me)

Thank you for all of the ideas.

[kip22]

I picked up a suburban Nt 16 seq. Says only 2.8 amp draw when running but my clamp meter shows 2.5 amps. It only runs about 5 minutes to heat my whole boler up at 0 celcius and then cycles off. With a 50 watt solar panel and a half decent battery you could run forever (assuming u don't run out of propane) I'll usually only boondock 4 days max in the cold and never run out of power or propane.



I've installed it in the original spot between the fridge and sink.
My LIFEPO4 battery is installed beside that just below the sink. The fresh air supply for the heater is on the back of the unit so it draws the heated air back into the cabinet cavity thus keeping the lithium battery warm which they like.





https://www.scamptrailers.com/produc...-16seq-furnace