rbp111
Citrus Heights, CA
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Joined: 08/16/2006
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Amazon is advertising they have an Optimus mini oil filled heater for $29.99. I am thinking about getting one for the bedroom, but have several questions. The advantage would be, no noise at all. And, depending on the answers, the heating would be a small amount, just enough to take off the chill.
1. It advertises that it uses 500 watts of power. Is that enough to feel it in the bedroom?
2. Does it get hot enough that placement is critical? In other words, if it is placed in the middle of the walkway to avoid being to close to the cabinet or bed, then will it be in the way (you know, in the middle of the night trips to the loo). Or does it not get hot enough that you can place it close to the cabinet (not the bedding).
3. Is that a good price? (no tax and no shipping)
4. I have not heard of Optimus before, is that a reliable manufacurer?
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Homer
Northeast Indiana
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Joined: 11/23/2000
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I can't comment on Optimus, actually there is nothing new in space heaters, it is the same old same old year after year. 500 W is not much heat power. I think I would go for a electric blankets, or a electric bottom sheet. Actually a Pelonis ceramic will do the job safely, is thermostatically controlled, small, and has two settings. It is quiet, has a tip over switch
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sunkatcher
Fulltimer
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The amount of heat that it will give is not alot. Think of it as the same as 5 one hundred watt light bulbs. It is the same amount of heat. I would think you may be better off with a combo 1000 and 1500 watt unit so you have a control for those cooler nights and then over to 1000 watt for the others.
Ron
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi,
I use two, and love them. Because I was concerned about the heater drying out the material in the RV wall I lined the wall with large tin foil oven bottom protectors. It had the side benefit of increasing the effectiveness of the heaters. It also got them out of the "walk way" and into otherwise unused space in the bedroom.
I bought mine at Walmart for $29.00 Canadian. They are different makes but both draw 462 watts. I'll be adding a "thin wall" one to the wall under the dinette which should help to make that high use area quite cosy and warm.
Whether there is enough wattage to keep the bedroom warm depends on ambient temperature and to some extent the design and size of the RV. I can get a delta T of about 18 C (32 F) so if it is 0 C (32 f) outside, the bedroom is at 18 C (64 f). If it gets colder outside I can close the sliding door and still keep the bedroom warm with a delta T of about 23 C (42 f). This keeps the bedroom at 18 C (64 f) when the outdoor temperature is -5 C (23 f)
Some folks have mentioned that the thermostats may be not allowing these small oil filled units to run "flat out" and causing them to cycle. I have one that does and one that doesn't. I suspect it is the "luck of the draw", but I'll probably over Christmas take the one that cycles apart to see if I can adjust that.
See my "real world" testing here:
It's Cold Out There
* This post was
edited 12/07/11 08:37am by pianotuna *
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts solar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries 2500 watt inverter.
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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500 watts is 1/3 the power of most electric space heaters. I have 2 heaters that are 600W on low, 900 watts on medium and 1500 watts on high. Once the 5er is up to the temp we want we usually turn the one in the bedroom to low or medium depending how cold it is outside. Mentioned my experience just for a reference.
Papa Bob
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John & Angela
Full Timers in Canada, USA and Mexico
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Well, we do it with a 300 watt baseboard heater with thermostat. Like this.
300 watt baseboard heater.
We use to have a wall mounted 500 watt forced air in the bedroom but it cycled on and off a lot as we don't like it too warm. The baseboard heater is obviously convection only, is mounted on a wall and is zero clearance. Paintable to match decor. We have 3 of these in the coach. One in the bedroom, one at the front door area and one in the basement. We also have a 1000 watt wall mounted forced air unit installed in the middle of the coach. These units are extremely quiet if you get the 1000 watt or below models. The whole effect is extremely even heat with the furnaces not having to come on unless it gets really freakin cold.
You will need about 23 inches of wall to mount it on. And about 3.3 spare amps of capacity on a circuit.
Just a few alternatives for you.
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DRSmart
Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 03/12/2004
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We have two of those heaters and have used one in the bedroom often during cold nights. We too used aluminum foil to cover the surface directly behind the unit. If the unit was set to high so that it would be on almost continuously, the fins would be very warm but wouldn't burn if touched. We found that setting it on half kept the room warm enough for sleeping.
We eventually went with a Sunbeam mattress pad heater and comforter and don't use a bedroom heater any more. It draws 160 watts max with both sides on. We only have to set it to 2 or 3 on a cold night so it actually is cycled off most of the time and draws very little power. A cold mattress being so thick never seems to warm up from body heat so the pad heater creates a warm surface to lay on and warms the blankets before you get in. Just turn it on about 20 minutes before.
This is great if traveling and stopping at night for stopovers in cold weather. The whole trailer can be cold and the first thing we do after connecting park power is turn on the pad heater. The rest of the trailer can take a while to heat up but the bed will be warm as toast. Another bonus is a generator on eco mode will run on minimum to power the pad. That way the genny can run for the maximum run time.
Dave
2004 Dodge 3500, Cummins HO QC SB
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RoyB
King George, VA
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We use the oil-filled radiator looking type electric heaters here. To me they are probably the safest to use unattended "over night" with small kids or pets etc... ALot of folks like to get their heat going quicker but if you can wait a few minutes for the oil to warm these units are great.
They have no visible flame, no visible red hot heat core, no noise (mine goes click every now and then), no burnt dust smell, has different heat modes and thermostat. ($40 lowes-Walmart)
A 1500WATT heater is a 1500Watt heater whether you pay $10 or $400. When we want to move some air around a littl better we just place a 10-inch fan blade O2-Cool ac/dc fan behind one.
Its works great for us and we dont have to worry about the dog knocking it over or a window curtain getting blown into one...
I normally use the standard height model in my fifth wheel and the 15-inch low profile model in my POPUP. Alot of folks dont like the tall version heaters and the low profile one works just great. Runs us out...
  
Amazon.com also carries these two heaters and the O2 Cool fan (mine is white color).
The oil-filled heaters have been my choice for many years now mainly for the no visible flame or red hot cores... We also love to use the electric heating blankets for sitting around watching HDTV and on the beds when sleeping..
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM/EMAIL me
Roy and Carolyn
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hitchup
Fulltiming and on the Road.
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Joined: 02/17/2005
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I always read the Amazon reviews before buying. Looks like most low ratings suggest getting the larger one.
We've always used oil heaters, even in our residential home. Now we have a Honeywell that has a digital readout. I keep it at the low-med setting and it gives off a steady heat with zero noise. Gave away the non-digital to our son, because I prefer knowing what temp it's set at.
For days with no sun, when I need quick heat right where we sit, we also have a LASKO ceramic heater. It can stand against a wall and doesn't make much noise on AUTO. It's also digital and I sometimes set the timer for 2-4 hr depending on the time of day.
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B.O. Plenty
Minnesota
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All electric heaters produce the same amount of heat per watt no matter what design they are. You will get 1,750 BTUs for every 500 watts. In comparison your propane RV furnace probably has a rating of 35,000 BTUs. However that is the input side of the furnace. It probably runs at 70% efficiency so it pumps 24,500 BTUs into your trailer when it's running. The rest of the 35,000 BTUs goes out your chimney. The electric heater is 100% efficient. Anyway you will need to run 14 of those little 500 watt heaters to get the same amount of heat as your propane furnace pumps out. That should help put it into perspective for you.
B.O.
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