mfoster711
College Station Tx
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I had my heater break in the camper this past week and decided I was going to add a couple of simple, small electric space heaters to the camper for future use in case it happens again. What general guidelines should I follow in buying a new space heater to make sure I am not overloading circuits and causing fuses to blow or breakers to flip?
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kcgaz
Scottsdale, Arizona
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We just bought a Lasko 1500W tower heater from Target with remote and like it very much. We used it last weekend and it kept us very warm and cozy!
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smkettner
Southern California
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I went with 1200w Pelonis radiator style. Bought from Costco but I don't see it on the website now. I like the lower 10a draw. My previous heater was 1500w and I tended to run it at just 1000 to go easier on the electric load.
If you run multiple heaters you need to find circuits on separate breakers. And it cannot share with a coffee maker or toaster etc.
BTW is that a 30a or 50a trailer? Two heaters on 30a service would be max. And you may need to shut one off to use another high draw item. 50a you could run two with no real trouble.
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mfoster711
College Station Tx
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smkettner wrote:BTW is that a 30a or 50a trailer? Two heaters on 30a service would be max. And you may need to shut one off to use another high draw item. 50a you could run two with no real trouble. 30a trailer and I would mainly be using them at night when everything else is off. I would not run a coffee maker or the microwave with them on.
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2oldman
Moses Lake
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mfoster711 wrote:mainly be using them at night when everything else is off. Better turn off your converter and hot water too.
Two heaters (of any decent wattage) is pretty much maxing out a 30a service.
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ernie1
Sacramento,California,USA
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My problem with the electrically operated space heaters is that most of them have lousy thermostats and one has to periodically get out of bed and adjust them or you either freeze or roast. Before you settle on one, make sure you're happy with the performance and it's ability to regulate temperature.
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smkettner
Southern California
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2oldman wrote:Better turn off your converter and hot water too. Converter should have only a minimal draw once the battery is charged, especially overnight.
I agree water heater and fridge should be on propane.
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Golden_HVAC
Fulltime, CA, USA
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Hi,
I have a couple of Wal Mart $18 heaters. They are all "100%" efficient, so don't pay extra thinking one is actually better than another. Just find one with a thermostat and quiet fan.
I also like the low, med and hi heat settings, and usually run mine on low heat, as it puts less than 12 amps load on the electric circuit. You can run 2 heaters on high, only 25 amps total, and still run the converter, TV set, charge a laptop, ect. Yet understand that the microwave is close to 12.5 amps as well, so is a coffee maker, while a toaster can be 8 - 15 amps, depending on it's rating that is stamped into the product.
Running 2 heaters on low heat (800 watts) is fine while using either the microwave or toaster or coffee pot, unless both are on a 20 amp circuit breaker within the RV.
WIth a 50 amp service, this is limited to about 9,000 watts before you have to be concerned about overloading the 50 amp input cord and circuit breaker. It would be nearly impossible to delicately balance all the power used between the two phases at 9,000 watts draw and not exceed 50 amps on one phase. Yet that is a lot of power, so it is unlikely you will trip the input power circuit breaker with a 50 amp service.
Fred.
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christopherglenn
a little over an hour from Yosemite
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The three types are radiant, fan, and oil. The radiant act like a flashlight, whatever they are pointed at gets heated, the air and the rest of the trailer gets nothing. The fan style are like a large hair drier - most have thermostats, these heat the air fastest, and tend to alternate from chill to broil. The oil ones are oil filled, and take some time to heat up (lots of mass), but once set tend to have VERY steady temps in the area. unless you have 50 amps, plan on power management (turning stuff off) to run the heaters, or shutting the heaters down to make coffee / toast.
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n7bsn
Yes
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Yup, you could max out the circuit if you tried to run two 1500 watt heaters (about 13 amps each), plus the water-heater, plus lighting, plus refer, plus...
That being said. I find that a 1500 watt heater is all I need.
This past week, I was camping with highs in the upper 40s (F) and lows running just above freezing (one night it did hit 32). Using one quality space heater I was keeping the entire rig (32 ft over-all, 2 slide-outs) at 70 in the day, turned down to 65 at night. The heater cycle time have about 50%
I find I like the heat-control on a space heater better then propane, this is because the hysteresis better, the propane has a swing of about 2to4 F, while the electric is less then 1-F.
I would only recommend a good, quality space heater, with a tip-over switch. I still sometimes see heaters without these, so watch closely.
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