Connect portable propane heater to LP tank on board?

We've been in 20* weather in our Class C, unteathered. And last Saturday, it dipped to 35* at 10,000'. Both our old 2008 Atwood furnace and the new one on the Jayco made it thru the night.

Battery was low the next morning but not dead.

I could see using my Lil' Buddy heater to warm things up a bit. But then, as mentioned I wouldn't leave it on overnight.

I'd set the furnace at 65* or 62* and just blanket up.

A few weeks ago, it dropped to 30*F at elevation and I had forgotten to flip the thermostat to heat. Woke up to a 58* inside temp in the camper.

Now that made getting out of bed difficult. :)

These type of heaters run to hot to produce any CO. Moisture is the primary concern. They do produce some minor nitrogen compounds which are classified as an irritant.

I do a ton of reading and research. Based on that, AFAIR, our furnaces are near 50% efficient and are DC hungry. My camping style is off the grid boondocking. I am not tethered to a pedestal.

The buddy heaters are nearly 100% efficient and do not consume any of your precious DC AH. You can tap off of your main tank using a "extend a stay" adapter or via a bulk tap hose. Be sure to keep all tanks outdoors. I use mine to take off the morning chill and to do an evening warm up. It is quite effective.

Venting is needed to remove moisture which is the natural byproduct of combustion and to let in some O2.

I would never chance running it overnight though.

Thanks for the wealth of info! Moisture would be a concern given everyone's allergies... And I wouldn't want to take chances with CO.

The coach has a single 12v marine battery, 660 CCA. I don't mind draining it by morning with the furnace, as I can then use the generator and have the chassis battery to get rolling. The only thing left is to figure out where to pile all the extra blankets lol.

I have used a Big Buddy in my motorhome,it works well.I also have a Wave 8 that I used in my trailer and it seems to big for my little C so I am using the big Buddy but I have not plumbed it in yet.I use an external propane tank and hose and sometimes those portable canisters.

PartyOf Five wrote:
Thanks all. I'm concerned that we'll quickly drain the coach battery if we use the furnace. Also the thermostat is in rear bedroom, about five feet up on the wall, so some supplemental heat towards the cab over might be helpful.

It does turn into a project when you start digging into it. Just like other rv issues, it's not one size fits all. We had a TT with the furnace close to the bed and it woke me up all the time. At that point we tried a buddy and tried opening the windows various amounts for ventilation. It put too much moisture in the rig and messed up our sinuses. The next step above the buddy that some people go with is the Wave heater which is available in a couple different sizes. Another problem with those two brands is that they also do not have thermostats so temperature regulation becomes an issue.

The 3rd option that I looked at is the Cat Platinum vented heater. They are pricey but are vented with pvc pipe as they are efficient and have low exhaust temperatures. When I inquired about them they were not being produced but expected to resume.

One other option is the type of heater that is used to heat heavy duty truck sleepers. They are mounted outside under the cab and use diesel or gasoline if I remember correctly. They do use less amperage than an rv furnace so they are better that way yet very pricey. With all that said and our current rig having its furnace away from the bedroom I decided to address the core issue which to me is the DC consumption. Some people complain that the house furnace uses too much propane. I dont find that to be a problem and like the consistent digital thermostat control.

So, as you mentioned it becomes an issue of having enough battery capacity and a good method of recharging them. I'm running four 6 volts and 520 watts of solar. Like everything else it's always MORE money and more work to get to the core issue, but it's better in the end. tell us more about what you have for batteries and charging and we can give you more ideas.

Many moons ago I used a Colman catalytic heater inside a camping van. Front window cracked open and cover off the battery compartment to supply air flow.

It almost killed us. It is better to have a dead battery than dead people.

Thanks all. I'm concerned that we'll quickly drain the coach battery if we use the furnace. Also the thermostat is in rear bedroom, about five feet up on the wall, so some supplemental heat towards the cab over might be helpful.

You can't tap the line and run the buddy as it would be double regulating as Scott said. The buddy has its own regulator that the bottle screws into. With the proper hose and filter you can run it off a large tank. Overall. Other than obviously trying to stay warm what are you trying to accomplish. Battery or Propane savings?

It can and is done by many folks. Be aware that ventless propane heaters use oxygen and though they emit very small amounts of noxious gases including CO, they should probably be avoided by people with respiratory problems.

Here are a couple articles you might find interesting on the subject... Winter RV Camping Safety, and Ventless Propane Heaters