CheapHeat furnace conversion

I read in the paper about four days ago, Three lives lost in a trailer house from portable electrical heater fire. Please be safe this winter and have a Happy New Years!!!! Please if you are using portable heaters don't leave them unattended. Good luck to all.

Hi Paw Paw,

It isn't the wire size that is a concern. It is the outlets which often may be easily and inexpensively changed to much better ones. I would do this to any rv whether heaters are in use or not.

For the cost of the Cheap Heat System is worth the safe camping with out those portable electrical heaters that put extra strain on the under size wiring in most all RV's.I too think the name of this unit is the correct one and I'm enjoying my winter camping with it. if anybody is traveling thru Louisiana any time, please contact me and I will let them see for themselves why I'm so happy about this heating system!! Happy Holiday's to all!!!

I would say that the choice of "Cheap Heat" as a trade mark is an excellent choise from an advertising/marketing standpoint.
If one is not being charged for the power consumed then it is very cheap heat. Add to that the savings of not using LPG.

Hi Jcthorne,

At -31 C (-24 f) even a highly modified RV such as mine is going to use a LOT of watts. RV's are badly insulated. Now add a good stiff wind and the rate of heat loss will skyrocket.

I agree on the naming. It is an unfortunate choice.

Each leg is not 120v on its own. A wire can only carry a voltage when referenced to another wire. In this case, across the two power conductors of a 50A service connection is 240VAC. Granted that if you measure between either of the two power conductors to the neutral line it would measure 120v. BUT as the CH system and most 240V appliances does not use the neutral wire, there is no 120v circuit. The CH system uses 21.6A out of an available 50A on the service. The CH is a 3 wire 240VAC connection. 2 power conductors and a ground. No neutral.

My generator is an OEM installed Onan 5.5kw unit that powers all 120v users in my coach. There is no 240V output on this gen set. While there are 2 power legs, they are in phase and connected together inside the gen set. Voltage across the 2 power conductors is 0.

Cost of propane vs electric varies depending on rates in various parts of the country. If you used a heat pump on the electric it would be cheaper than propane in all known utility area in the lower 48. Natural gas as them both beat. Some folks have successfully converted RV propane furnaces to work correctly on natural gas. If you are using that much energy to heat, might be worth a look as well as better insulation. Our 3000 sq ft cabin in Durango never uses 100KWH per day. That is a lot of energy for an RV.

I have never liked the name of the CH system. Electric resistance heat is seldom the cheapest source of heat energy. Someone is paying for it. Convenient Safe Heat might be a better name.

Hi jcthorne,

Is the generator a portable one which you are using with an adapter to power a 50 amp rv?

Each leg of the fifty amp service is 120 volts. You have two legs. Some high end coaches do take advantage of the possibility of using 240 for such items as clothes driers or electric stoves. Thanks for telling us that that is how the "cheap heat" is wired.

Ask the company for directions on how to add switching/wiring to run part (1/2) of the heat module on 120 volts, if your generator is capable of doing say 30 amps @ 120 volts. Otherwise, you are hooped.

Where I live it is cheaper to use propane unless the electrical power is included in the site rental. It is much more inconvenient to do so. One day I used over 100 kwh of power.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi jcthorne,

21 amps per leg. Actually it is 21.6 amps per leg. If you read the thread carefully if might help.

I was running about 6500 watts @ 120 volts to warm the RV up.

It does not add up. The CH unit (version for 50A systems) uses 21.6A at 240VAC. Does not use 120V at all. In fact will not run off my gen set that is 120v only.

I live in NE North Dakota. I try to keep the motor home above freezing until we head south in January. We just went above zero for the first time in 2 weeks today. I have found that a 1,500 watt heater keeps the motor home 20 degrees F above ambient temperature. I set the propane furnace at 35 degrees F and leave the electric heater on all the time. The motor home is 38' with two slides.

Hi Paw Paw,

Well, thanks for the invite--but I have to maintain my addictions--such as eating and having a roof over my head--so I needs must work.