Need an electric space heater recommendation

winnielife · 10-19-2022, 04:51 AM

My Dometic furnace won't kick on, not even the fan. While I work the issue, I need to get an electric tower heater for a camp next weekend. I bought a Lasko from walmart on the last camp, it's getting returned. Temp outside was 33, after running all night the inside didn't get warmer than 54.

Thanks!

Bones2003 · 10-19-2022, 09:59 AM

Since campers are not really insulated that well, keep in mind that not only are you trying to heat up the inside of the camper but also some portion of North America as well. Your Lasko heater may be bad but you might just need a second electric heater. A typical 1400 watt electric heater is about 4,800 BTU. For comparison, you probably have a 30,000 BTU furnace in your RV (that I see from your other post is not working).

I don't really have an opinion on the best electric heater but we use a small Pelonis ceramic heater. I mainly like it because of the small size but it also puts out the standard 1400 watts. We complement that with a small electric fan that helps to circulate the air throughout our RV. I am sure others will chime in that they like the oil filled radiant heaters which I have never used. The oil filled heaters are silent so that is a plus but they are larger and heavier.

powercat_ras · 10-19-2022, 10:28 AM

The most heat from a 120 volt heater can output is about 4,000 BTU. The furnace in your Vista has a burner of 40,000 BTU and is about 60 % efficient, so it is capable of putting out 6 times more heat than the heater.

You have 2 120 volt branch circuits feeding outlets in your RV, so you can use 2 space heaters IF you put each one on an outlet on different branch circuits.

The risk is that the branch circuit outlets rarely if ever get used to provide that many amps for long periods of time and something may overheat and cause damage or worst case a fire. If you have a volt meter you can set it to AC volts and measure AC volts in the other half of the outlet you are plugging the heater into, with heater off and again with heater on. For every drop of 1 volt, there is 12 watts of heat being generated somewhere. The maximum safe voltage drop according to the National Electric Code is 3% or about 3.5 volts.

RV outlets use insulation displacement connections to the cabling and sometimes times those connections will overheat and fail when the outlet is fully loaded for long periods of time AKA space heater, if the IDC connection is not as good is it is supposed to be.

**Eagle5** · 10-19-2022, 01:48 PM

Hi Winnie Life,
I see that your trailer was built either with 30 amp 120 VAC service or twin 50 amp 120 VAC / 240 VAC service. The 30 amp service can deliver 3,600 watts and the 50 amp service can deliver 12,000 watts. If your unit was built before December 13th, 2021, then you have the 30 amp service. If that is the case, you will use-up most of your power budget with two 1,500 watt 120 VAC heaters.
I see some folks use floor rugs and vent insulators to help reduce the heat loss.
Eagle5

TravatoJohn · 10-19-2022, 06:47 PM

If you decide to run a second heater consider plugging into your microwave plug if it is accessible. Then put the heater on the sink nearby. This is a 20 amp breaker. Then put your other heater on the wall 15 amp service. I would only run it on the medium setting as the high setting may heat up the wiring overnight. Not sure if you have a trailer or M/H but be sure you do the extra precautions as stated before to minimize heat loss. Electric heat is better as you create less moisture inside your rig. Travato John

Morich · 10-19-2022, 06:53 PM

We've never found an electric heater that would carry the full load for all season use but we have found some things to make it a bit better.
Once we found the cold was a limiting factor on using the Rv, we shopped with that in mind, buying types with better windows and designs like not sticking the bed outside on a slideout!
But we have often used the small 1500 watt heaters and find it is not a brand name thing but just shopping for the highest wattage for the most heat and then using it to avoid the main furnace as much as possible.
We tend to like cool for sleeping but the furnaces have always been a problem for me as it makes a lot of noise when the blower runs.
We like steady temps and one way to extend the season use is to add the electric heater but also add better controls, so it doesn't allow such a wide temperature swing.
I've wired up several different temp control systems and none seemed to have a great advantage over the other until the last one!

First go at better control was to repurpose a digital temp controller from E-bay that sells for around $15 and it worked okay.
But the second was a ready made, already wired unit, left over from fish breeding that was a nicer package and certain to be longer lasting.
Way overkill for the purpose as it had alarms and things we did not need for the RV.

I tried a battery operated house digital thermostat for controlling the heater and that was pretty decent but finding where to put the control to read the temp where we slept but keep the noise of the heater up front was a problem.
The final answer for us was a remote reading temp sender which we placed with us in back and it sent the signal to the front for the heater control. That was nice!
Cost was not high but I don't remember exactly but somewhere less than $20??

Something like this is what solved several problems for us:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16532140119....c101113.m2109

Marine359 · 10-20-2022, 10:55 AM

We ve got a much smaller trailer trailer than OP, hence much less air volume to heat. During shoulder season (Feb/Mar) when we had about 14 nights in AZ, NM and TX with nighttime temps in the 20’s we used a small cheap no-name 1,500w ceramic heater. Only costs $20 on Amazon, but it worked good enough (when we weren’t boondocking) that the furnace didn’t come on very much at all with thermostat set to 60 degrees. One of the best cheap product we’ve ever bought. We did use it a few times on inverter while boondocking to take the chill off for a few minutes. If OP has separate breakers for different outlets and 50amp service, two of these puppys running at the same time would keep him toasty.

Limited-time deal: Portable Electric Space Heater with Thermostat, 1500W/750W Safe and Quiet Ceramic Heater Fan, Heat Up 200 Square Feet for Office Room Desk Indoor Use https://a.co/d/9kqoQ38

dnta · 10-23-2022, 05:04 PM

I have used, and loved (for 3 years now) mini oil-filled radiator heaters I got on Amazon. I have two, and used to have one in bedroom and one in living area (28 ft Class C) and sometimes have both on if a really cold day - yet it's enough for me to have one on at night. They work surprising well, though I've only been in the Georgia/Virginia areas so pretty mild Winters. The one I got (I'm NOT plugging the heater or brand! Just sharing what I have and like): Costway Oil Filled Radiator Heater, 700W Portable Space Heater with Adjustable Thermostat, Overheat Protection, Electric Heater for Indoor use. Good luck.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...c=1&pldnSite=1

Bomba Bob · 10-23-2022, 06:10 PM

As others have noted, you probably need two small electric space heaters. What we do to avoid overloading the RV's AC capacity is to plug one heater into an outlet in the RV, and then the second one into a 25' heavy-duty extension cord (12 gauge) plugged into the 20 amp outlet in the campsite power pedestal. We actually run the extension cord into the Rv either under the driver's door or under the main coach door. It's snug but fits.

dickb46 · 10-23-2022, 07:25 PM

I'm thinking you aren't going to find a space heater that is going to help with outside temperatures down to freezing.
Your water lines are going to freeeeeze.
We stay in our coach down to around 45 degrees then drain everything and move inside.

Jakm · 10-23-2022, 09:25 PM

We’ve always used the oil filled radiator type for supplemental heat. If you decide to go with one choose the ones that have the double rocker switches for wattage settings. We had trouble with the rotary type switches failing.

rcorder · 10-24-2022, 03:44 AM

We have 2 of these and they work great!

They have 2 settings - 250 watt/ 500 watt

Wintered in the Northwest for the last 2 years and are again. No problem staying warm. I did insulate all the cabinets with reflectix though.

Infrared Quartz Heater - Portable... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7BMJMP3...p_mob_ap_share

cruizerEd · 10-24-2022, 07:06 AM

As others have mentioned the electric space heater are going to be very limited.

You could consider a Mr Heater Little Buddy, or Buddy heater. They are vent less space heaters that produce a lot of heat with very little propane.

You do need to make sure your ventilation is good.

I replumbed mine with a quick connect, added a T in the range supply, and run it off the coach propane. Much cheaper and more convenient than the bottles.