Electric Heaters

[archer]

Has anyone used a portable electric heater in their pup? Pros and Cons please.

[wavery]

Has anyone used a portable electric heater in their pup? Pros and Cons please.

We have a small "Cube" electric heater. We don't use it much because we mostly dry-camp. When we have used it, it works great. It seems safe enough for kids (I'd be very careful with babies, with any heater) because the front doesn't get all that hot.......hot enough to get your attention but not serious burn. It also shuts off if it over-turns (which is pretty hard to do).

Having said all that, we are in SoCal and heating really isn't a serious issue. It seldom gets below 40 (unless you got to the mountains :eyecrazy: ) but we have seen it in the high 20's.

[Mike Up]

I don't think electric heaters are worth their cost but for a mild cold area that doesn't get below 50 degrees, they should work.
 
Just remember any electric heater will not put over 5100 BTUs. The different designs are for better heat distributing.
 
I have 2 oscilating Honeywell 1500 watt electric heaters that are ceramic and have digital controls and a digital thermostat. They can be operated manually also.
 
I found one pretty much useless for heating the PUP. For comparison, a heat strip in an AC uses higher amps and puts out 5600 BTUs. Those heat strips aren't meant for heating, but only to take the chill off.
 
Remember one 1500 watt heater will use 12.5 amps. Usually PUPs have a 15 amp circuit for everything except the AC and a separate AC 20 amp circuit. You'll only be able to use one electric heater per circuit unless you only have one circuit, which will most likely be a 15 amp circuit. Then you'll be limited to 1 heater.
 
I found the Mr. Heater Big buddy the best, it outputs 4000 BTUs for 12 hours, 9000 BTUs for 6 hours, and 18,000 BTUs for 3 hours, all using two 1# propane tanks. With optional hose, it can be connected to a 20# tank. It also has a fan that uses 4 D batteries. However this heater doesn't need to operate the fan if not needed and needs no power other than for the fan. So it's great for use when there's no electric. The furnace in a camper needs electric for the high amp pulling fan, ignition, and thermostat. The battery will likely only last 1 night powering the furnace where the heater comes in nicely.
 
The Mr. Heater buddy is safe using a tip over switch and a low oxygen shutoff in the pilot system. This safeguards against carbon monoxide poisioning (produces when incomplete combustion happens from not enough oxygen in the air) and simply against suffication from low oxygen.
 
The low output propane Catalytic heaters are dangerous because they don't have tip over protection or low O2 shutoff. The low 3000 BTU output of these is also a joke.
 
For any propane heater, you must leave a window/vent open to provide the needed oxygen for combustion.
 
I originally bought a portable buddy Mr. Heater and found what a gem it was and quickly exchanged up to the Big Buddy.
 
I just don't find electric to be up to the job of heating a camper. Perhaps in conjuction with the furnace to save propane, but not alone.
 
Have a good one.

[vjm1639]

we have the Pelonis Safe-T-furnace ceramic heater...it is an oscillating heater that doesn't get too hot to touch and will shut off if tipped over.  I love it ...when we are at a full hook up site we keep the camper's furnace on low and keep the ceremac heater on higher.   Pro's...it works great and it's using the campground's electricity.....Con's...it doesn't work worth a darn if you don't have electric hookups.   ;>       Seriously, if you have electric...it's great since you aren't paying any extra for the power!

[archer]

We are in Florida and just looking to take the chill out and dont want all the heat the gas furnace produces.....Thanks for all your replies.
Happy Camping

[dee106]

we used a box heater , on the stove , and it works fine, and we have bought in a second line from the pole, with a added extention cord, when the second heater is needed on a very cold night.  or pluging in a electric blanket!

[haroldPE]

As long as you use electric hookups, ceramic heaters absolutely worth the cost.  ours has been paid for many times over in saved propane.  first couple seasons camping we spent over $50 in propane.  since we started using the ceramic heater, our tank lasts 2 seasons.

con is it takes up floor space.

[fallsrider]

I can't really think of any cons to using a small ceramic heater. You've already paid for the electric, so you don't spend $ on propane, they are safe, the 2 I have are very quiet, and they are very small, so they use up very little space, etc.

I don't have a furnace, but I hear they are noisy, and you have to buy the propane.

On colder nights, say mid-40's and lower, we run the heat strip in our A/C unit and one additional ceramic heater on low. Keeps us comfy.

[tlhdoc]

I use electric heat all of the time during our winter camping trips.  I run the AC heat which many have said doesn't do much good, but they do.  The air doesn't feel that warm coming out of the AC unit because it is moving so fast.  The AC unit also circulates the warm air that collects near the ceiling into the bunkends, that often stay colder than the box of the camper.  The AC heating element is all that we need down to the low 40's.  The AC unit raises the temperature in the PU 30 degrees or more.  When the temperature is colder I also use a ceramic disk heater.  We put it where it will not get knocked over.  In really cold weather, we plug a heavy duty extension cord into the power box and run a second cube heater from that extension cord.  On a windy cold, 9 degrees over night trip using the AC heat, and 2 electric heaters my PU was close to 80 degrees.

[flyfisherman]

Admittedly I'm not the cold weather camper I use to be but still have been caught out in spring and late fall fishing trips where it has dropped down to freezing and a little below that. If I'm paying for an electric hook-up site, then it is the electric heater that gets used ... why pay for propane when your paying for the electric ...?

The secret to better heating, I've found, is to insulate the top of the canvas bunk ends. Here I've been using the Reflectix sheeting and covering that with a plastic tarp. I use a Pelonis ceramic heater that was bought new (I believe back in '01) ~ does a satisfactory job of keeping the little Starcraft comfortable. When I have come back to the PU and it's late the cook stove gets fired up to heat-up something, like maybe soup and tea, and that in itself will take the chill right out. Then turning on the heater keeps things warm and cozy.

Quite often I stay at National Forest C/G's and for the most part they do not have electrical hook-ups so that means it's Mr.Buddy Heater time. More BTU's for sure, but like I say, why burn the propane when you gots the electrictity.



Fly

[mouse]

We have a Coleman mini mach that has a heater strip attached in the air conditioner.  It keeps us warm and toasty in cold weather...a good investment

[archer]

We just returned from  camping and the weather was chilly. Lows in the upper 40's. We used a small ceramic heater and it kept the pup nice and toasty about 70 all night. We really thought it was so much easier than messing with the furnace and why not use their electric and save our propane. I think if it was chillier 2 heaters would keep it comfortable no problem. We will be testing it out in Jan planning on another camping trip probably temps in upper 30's. Happy Camping!

[Mike Up]

I guess it matter a lot in what type of fan your heater uses and how large your PUP is. My PUP has a ceiling length of 23'6" and a bed board to bed board length of 22'7" . The Honeywell, rotating 5100 BTU (1500 watt) doesn't heat my camper much do to the low air flow that the small fan puts out. The heater only heats up the area directly around it. In that area it can put out about 20 degrees in very cold. It was 35 degrees, it made that area 55 degrees.

 
The electric strip in the air conditioner is rated at 5600 BTU and in 50 degree weather, it will heat the entire camper to 70 degrees. Never used it in really cold but I doubt it will do as good as many have stated the colder it gets, the less efficient the heat strip becomes.
 
But as far as I know for experience, the electric ceramic heater did little in really cold. Using 2 would be better but not great and the use of electric will leave little for anything else.
 
As I said, the best combination is the heat strip to provide continuous campground paid heat, while the propane furnace makes up the difference. You pay some, the campground pays some, but your not paying as much on propane and your comfortable as can be.
 
Now if you camp without electric hookups, the Mr. Heater Big Buddy all the way. Just bought a nice carry case from Cabelas today for it.
 
Have a good one.

[wavery]

We have the Carrier AirV "Heat Pump" series AC.
http://www.airv.carrier.com/Files/AirV/Local/US-en/customer_service/62-11187.pdf

It puts out 11,600BTU of heat and it only consumes 1500w. It will run nicely off of our Honda 2000w generator. It will keep the PU toasty in most any weather. The nice thing is that it blows the heat directly into the bunks. It's well worth the couple extra bucks if you are purchasing AC anyway.

[The Tree Top Inn II]

Has anyone used a portable electric heater in their pup? Pros and Cons please.

Some folks would say that if you're not cold, then you're not camping.  I'm a little older and like a few creature comforts.
 
My wife and I typically only camp once late in fall and once early in spring when we really appreciate a little heat.  I've stapled in Reflectix brand thin insulation underneath each of our bunkend mattresses.  We use Pop Up Gizmos brand solar bunk end covers year-round.  
 
We have the usual pop up camper's built in ~17k BTU propane furnace and a ~5k BTU heat strip in the AC unit.  We only have one propane tank on the camper.  A furnace can really eat the propane in a night or two if it's really cold.  
 
If we have the good fortune of staying more than one or two nights in a campground with AC hookups (when it might dip down to freezing temps), we take along one of our new Vornado electric space heaters (we keep them in guest bedrooms in our home so guests can choose their temps).  ;-)  The elderly in-laws like it WARM.  ;-)  You may buy Vornados now at Wal-Mart and maybe Target, too.  Here's a URL:  http://www.vornado.com/heaters.htm  
 
If you really want to be toasty, use Reflectix under the bunks, use bunk end covers, the furnace, the heat strip, and a Vornado to circulate that warm air.  Some folks even cut Reflectix brand insulation to fit in the zip out windows of their bunkends.
 
And, you can get a mattress heater that's more effective than an electric blanket.  See this URL:  http://www.electrowarmth.com/
 
Just remember:  A cold day camping is better than a warm day at the office!