Very sleek heater with no fan to make noise....

[john madill]

I saw this heater in a magazine ad in Family Handyman.

Looks like it hugs the wall and makes no noise as there's no fan:\
Wall Mounted Electric Heating | Best Electric Heaters Energy Efficient | Envi High-Efficiency Whole Room Electric Panel Heater

I searched on this website and didn't see any previous posts for Envi heaters.

Looks like it sells for $140 and has a plug-in model and a hardwired model.

Any one here tried one?

[gordon2]

Its 475 watts.. thats not much heat.

And at $140 it is 29 cents a watt (of heating ability).

My ceramic heater is 1500 watts and cost $25.. thats 1.7 cents a watt.

But it does have a nice appearance!

[Glenn Baglo]

Not sure how you make a 'high efficiency' electric heater. Electricity goes in, heats a coil, heat comes out.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by john madill

I saw this heater in a magazine ad in Family Handyman.

Looks like it hugs the wall and makes no noise as there's no fan:\
Wall Mounted Electric Heating | Best Electric Heaters Energy Efficient | Envi High-Efficiency Whole Room Electric Panel Heater

I searched on this website and didn't see any previous posts for Envi heaters.

Looks like it sells for $140 and has a plug-in model and a hardwired model.

Any one here tried one?

It's a little expensive. But should heat a 13' or 16' without much trouble. 475 Watt is probably more than I ever use in my ceramic heater. (I only use while my trailer is at home) It does require an electrical connection.

In way of comparison a lot of heating has and is done with a 100 Watt incandescent light bulb. In fact a child's oven used a 100 watt incandescent light bulb for heat and provided enough to bake small items. This little heater will supply almost 5 times the heat of a single 100 Watt incandescent light bulb.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

It's a little expensive. But should heat a 13' or 16' without much trouble. 475 Watt is probably more than I ever use in my ceramic heater. ..

Well everyone's comfort level is different. I almost always use my heater on the low setting, which is still a little over 1,000 watts (as measured with test equipment). That is still more than twice the rating of the Envi heater.

I find that the low setting is neither too much no too little for most camping in my 16 footer (down to 45 F or so). It cycles in a way to keep the camper comfortable. When first bringing the camper up to temp from lower temps is when I use the high (1500 watt) setting. Or when the wind is blowing. A strong cold wind will cut through the camper's windows such they you think they are open.

For comparison, the typical heat strip addition to a RV roof A/C unit is also 1500 watts, and many people say that it is not enough to keep them warm by itself. Of course it has the handicap of adding heat at the roof, whereas the little ceramic heater on the floor results in more even heating of the interior (at least at the end of the camper where it is used).

The ceramic heater does make some noise. That is about the only con I can think of. Another advantage however is that it is in my living room here at home now, supplementing my heat pump on a very cold morning.

I would bet that if you put the Envi heater in a 16 foot Scamp, then sooner or later you will spend another $25 for a small portable "cube" heater to supplement it.

[Donna D.]

I've been an all-molded trailer owner for 14 years. During that time I've purchased three different electric heaters. The first one because I liked the shape... It looked like an egg. It was not efficient and very loud. The second one, the cord got hot! Not safe. I finally bit the bullet and bought a whole room Vornado. It wasn't cheap, but I've had it now for nearly three years. Because it runs on a thermostat, there is no cycling on and off. The quiet fan runs continuously and the heat comes on when it needs to (2 degree swing), so it doesn't wake me up at night and I don't notice it at all during the day. I can run it at 1500 or 750 watts and I couldn't be happier. YMMV

[John Linck]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Not sure how you make a 'high efficiency' electric heater. Electricity goes in, heats a coil, heat comes out.

Agreed Glenn. All electric resistance heaters put out about 3 BTU's per watt and are nearly 100% efficient (though the power plants supplying the electricity are about 30%). So pick a shape, price and color and don't worry about relative efficiency.

Catalytic heaters are also very efficient. But their need for ventilation to keep mammals alive and dry reduces their efficiency substantially. Is there a safe level of CO in your blood?

That said I suspect my Suburban furnace is only about 20% efficient. It does have the advantages of keeping the nasty gases safely outside and working well when away from shore power.

[Wayne Collins]

Yes, we have one. Got it to heat our three season room. It has to be mounted on a wall. I think it would be too large for any small FGRV. It seemed to make the wall too warm, so I made a deflector shield from galvanized sheet steel, to direct the heat into the room. It is absolutely quiet. Has an on/off switch, indicator light, and thermosatic control.
For our small trailer we have a "cube" ceramic heater, with a fan. I think the fan helps to circulate the heat, otherwise it depends on convection only.

[lrb945]

Yes to what Wayne said. i bought 2 of them and installed one in my unheated garage--a fairly small one-car, but a larger area than a trailer due to the 9' ceiling. the heat is all but undetectable. it is for a very small room with flat walls--bathroom, tiny bedroom, etc.

[stevebaz]

My concern is finding 2 square feet of wall space. I am not sure if the heat output is greater than the heat loss through the shell and windows of my Scamp. You would probably need a small cube heater to do the initial heating and then switch to Envi to maintain the heat. Since it uses the wall as ducting to make the heat circulate the only place in my 13 Scamp Might be the face of the fridge door which wont help the fridge do its job or maybe hung on the closet door. Might be a great heater to use when the trailer is stored to keep it from freezing inside the trailer. We use a cube heater when on electricity but I hate the thing its loud and I feel its a dangerous option in such a small confined space in my Scamp. I much prefer my propane furnace.

[cpaharley2008]

I installed one in my Lance 1575, it took up about 5" of wall space and kept the trailer comfortable, still used the furnace to warm thing before bed but it kept the trailer around 50 at night. Finding a flat wall in an Egg is hard...plus the mounting system requires special mounts which the unit will not operate if not mounted correctly.

[steve dunham]

1 watt = 3.414 BTU'S
I have a manual /charts for calculating heat loss and electric heat requirements for single and multi family dwelling units from an electric heat class I taught . A fiberglass trailer has a low
R / U factor in the walls , ceiling , floor ., the windows have practically zero R factor and the infiltration rate is terrible.
I tried to calculate the heat loss in my Casita but the trailer did not meet even the minimum criteria for calculating the loss.
The furnace in my Casita has an imput of 16,000 BTU'S which leads me to believe they just threw a bunch of heat at the problem

[cpaharley2008]

Yes, I had the same issue with my EggCamper, I had installed a propane furnace and looked into double pane windows and was told that with the single wall I'm wasting my time. That is when I decided to buy a Lance which had a winter package and this heater worked fine in it.

[k corbin]

The Envi heater has been popular with the Tiny Home buildings crowds. However they put a lot of insulation in those tiny homes compared to the amount we have in the walls of the travel trailers. So while they can use that lower wattage to accomplish heating in moderate winter temperature that lower wattage might not be sufficient to bring and maintain comformatable temperatures in a less well insulated space. I think a better option is to purchase a heater that allows you to select for different wattages.

I had considered the Envi heater but then thought it through and decided I needed to be able to heat for comfort in freezing temperatures even in the Southwest on those really cold nights they do sometimes get when severe storms come through. Of course I also plan to have a propane heater since it is good to have a backup plan B for times when I want to be off grid or during power outages.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

... Might be a great heater to use when the trailer is stored to keep it from freezing inside the trailer. ...

This question might come off as flippant but I really do wonder why you would care if it’s below freezing in the camper when it is stored. Of course storage implies winterization. Is there something I am missing; some reason I should worry about sub-freezing temps in my now winterized and stored Scamp? This is a good time to ask, it’s going to be 18 F here overnight which is about as cold as it ever gets here.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by gordon2

This question might come off as flippant but I really do wonder why you would care if it’s below freezing in the camper when it is stored. Of course storage implies winterization. Is there something I am missing; some reason I should worry about sub-freezing temps in my now winterized and stored Scamp? This is a good time to ask, it’s going to be 18 F here overnight which is about as cold as it ever gets here.

My Scamp and Casita have been stored outside or in a unheated pole barn since day one. My trailer is winterized and will not see heat until next May when Spring arrives . The concept of heating my trailer all winter to keep it above freezing is a physical and financial impossibility . If 18 deg is going to destroy your trailer than how can Scamp store new trailers outdoors at their factory where it gets 30 below zero.

In the fall I winterize my trailer , clean out the interior , install snow bracing , wash / wax the exterior , cover and take weight off the axle. .
Now all I can do is wait for spring.

By the way , our high today didn't get to 18 or even 8 for that matter and my trailer is just fine.

Happy Holidays

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

My Scamp and Casita have been stored outside or in a unheated pole barn since day one....
In the fall I winterize my trailer , clean out the interior , install snow bracing , wash / wax the exterior , cover and take weight off the axle. .
...
By the way , our high today didn't get to 18 or even 8 for that matter and my trailer is just fine.
...

Thats kinda what I thought.. but did want to see if I was missing something.

BTW, I do about the same things for winter storage, except we don't need to worry about snow load here, I also pull out the propane tank and battery as well as all the removable cushions or other mold attractants, and I do not cover it but I do maintain good air circulation. I wish I had a pole barn or car port, but in their absence, I have elected to forgo a fabric cover. But that is the subject for another thread, or perhaps a hundred threads that have already been.

[stude]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I've been an all-molded trailer owner for 14 years. During that time I've purchased three different electric heaters. The first one because I liked the shape... It looked like an egg. It was not efficient and very loud. The second one, the cord got hot! Not safe. I finally bit the bullet and bought a whole room Vornado. It wasn't cheap, but I've had it now for nearly three years. Because it runs on a thermostat, there is no cycling on and off. The quiet fan runs continuously and the heat comes on when it needs to (2 degree swing), so it doesn't wake me up at night and I don't notice it at all during the day. I can run it at 1500 or 750 watts and I couldn't be happier. YMMV

: we never plug in and a Fan uses up battery power pretty fast so now one has to run the noisy Gen Set to re-charge the batteries and run the heater if cold like now out. We hate paying more than $25 a night to camp so that means Propane is the only way to have forced air and warmth along with big down quilts.
Stude

[John Linck]

Way back in 1975 I bought a $75.00 RV furnace from a local dealer for my homebuilt "motorhome". It was a gravity type, with no fan, no electricity at all in fact and about half the size of my Scamp's Suburban furnace. Venting was thru the camper sidewall with concentric intake and exhaust tubes. It was dead quiet except for a small poof when the bulb thermostat called for heat. I wish I could buy one for my Scamp.

Its hard to understand that with the current interest in boondocking, that someone cannot make one to meet current safety standards. My $500 is ready and waiting. Some folks claim gravity furnaces are not safe. I am at a loss to understand why. Maybe the grill covering the indoor output got too hot, but no more than a catalytic heater today. And they are certainly safer than portable heaters with built-in propane canisters or worse long hoses. Go figure.

[stude]

Originally Posted by John Linck

Way back in 1975 I bought a $75.00 RV furnace from a local dealer for my homebuilt "motorhome". It was a gravity type, with no fan, no electricity at all in fact and about half the size of my Scamp's Suburban furnace. Venting was thru the camper sidewall with concentric intake and exhaust tubes. It was dead quiet except for a small poof when the bulb thermostat called for heat. I wish I could buy one for my Scamp.

Its hard to understand that with the current interest in boondocking, that someone cannot make one to meet current safety standards. My $500 is ready and waiting. Some folks claim gravity furnaces are not safe. I am at a loss to understand why. Maybe the grill covering the indoor output got too hot, but no more than a catalytic heater today. And they are certainly safer than portable heaters with built-in propane canisters or worse long hoses. Go figure.

:the reason yours worked and did not kill anyone is it was vented but I think a lot of these heaters your talking about are not vented?
Stude