Heater installation

[Greg Ellis]

We went camping up in Missouri last week, and the days were great but the nights were colder than a ......well you know...I realized my newly purchased used Jayco doesnt have a heater.  What would you guru's suggest about have a heater installed?  Or should I just get a MR Buddy heater and forget it?  Which would be more effective?  My wife says I have to do something about the heater problem so I am open to suggestions.  If I decide to have one installed, would it be easy enough to do it myself, or should I have it done by the dealer?  the Heat strip on the AC unit didn't work, I don't know how much help that would have been, but I guess I need to figure out whats wrong with that too...thanks in advance....

[wavery]

We went camping up in Missouri last week, and the days were great but the nights were colder than a ......well you know...I realized my newly purchased used Jayco doesnt have a heater.  What would you guru's suggest about have a heater installed?  Or should I just get a MR Buddy heater and forget it?  Which would be more effective?  My wife says I have to do something about the heater problem so I am open to suggestions.  If I decide to have one installed, would it be easy enough to do it myself, or should I have it done by the dealer?  the Heat strip on the AC unit didn't work, I don't know how much help that would have been, but I guess I need to figure out whats wrong with that too...thanks in advance....

My PU has a furnace but it is so noisy and uses SO much propane that I use a Mr Buddy instead. It uses half the fuel and makes zero noise.

Drawbacks......it takes up floor space and you must be careful that nothing falls on it and catches fire.

[AustinBoston]

Drawbacks......it takes up floor space and you must be careful that nothing falls on it and catches fire.

And they produce significant amounts of condensation, especially in humid areas.

Austin

[flyfisherman]

And they produce significant amounts of condensation, especially in humid areas.

Austin

I've not experienced that with my MrBuddy heater. To be sure, one of the burning by-products, as it were, of the propane is water vapor. But I think with proper ventilation, will take care of most of that problem. Obviously, the more moisture there is in the air, the more likely it is there will be condensation problems. But as everybody knows, warm air will support more moisture in it then will cold air. My point being, the heater is more subject to be used in the dryer, colder weather.

It has been my experience, too, that there are other causes of condensation which are more obvious. Venting, of course, already mentioned, but puting an insulation between the warm inside of the canvas and the cold outside does wonders in itself. In my case, I use Reflectex and a plastic tarp outside over the camper. This has done so much to help condensation that just about everything else pales in comparison.

The other "major" cause of condensation is people breathing. The only cure here is to make them sleep outside ... or hold a pillow over their face until they ... naw, that's not a good idea!

A real tough case of major condensation is when the air is full as it can be of moisture, like during one of those cold, damp, near freezing rains. In my case, with the plastic tarp over the camper and I can open each end of the camper a bit (and the Reflectex is over the bunk ends), I run a 12V automotive oscilating fan that sweeps the ceiling of the camper, fore to aft, and with the vented ends, keeps that moisture laden air moving before it has a chance to plate out on something. Does not cure ALL the condensation, but sure cuts it down considerably.

All this free information comes from sunny North Carolina, where we sure could use some rain!



Fly

[wavery]

We've never experienced (unusual) condensation problems while running Mr Buddy either.

We usually leave the panel on our front door opened a notch.