Freezin our butts off!!
Hello all, spending our first winter in our 36' Damon pusher. Our furnace is busted and I'm trying to heat with space heaters. The heater in the bedroom works great but I can't seem to warm the living...
Forum Discussion
First, try not to be rude.
2nd 1800 watts only yields about 6141 btu's. Not nearly enough to keep warm in serious cold. It is only 1023 btu's better than a 1500 watt heater from Walmart which costs $9.99. Or you could use one 1500 watt and add a 1000 watt heater. That yields 8530 btu's, and leaves enough head room to run the fridge on the electric setting.
3rd the 3750 watt only does 12795 btu's. That's a little better but still not what I'd call wonderful.
4th the 5000 watt only does 17060 btu's. It is unclear to me whether they wire this as a balanced load. Perhaps you could enlighten us?
5th if the voltage sags (and it will), you won't get nearly the same amount of heat.
6th, in order to successfully heat my RV at -27 c (-16.6 f) I require up to 7000 watts of electricity (peak load 23884 btu's). I do use a sola basic autoformer to keep the voltage up on the OEM 30 amp service, and have added 20 amp and 15 amp auxiliary shore power cords which I run from a 50 amp "break out box".
So the Cheap Heat is not terrible useful to anyone who lives where there is serious cold, partly because it may not be run in parallel with the propane furnace. Nor does it fail over to propane heating if the power goes off.
BTW where I live it gets to -40. That means I've added extra insulation, Insulbright covers for all windows, vents, skylights and doors. Other cold weather modifications include adding insulated pillows for vents and skylights. I've also added an Insulbright divider to eliminate heating the cab on my class C.
2nd 1800 watts only yields about 6141 btu's. Not nearly enough to keep warm in serious cold. It is only 1023 btu's better than a 1500 watt heater from Walmart which costs $9.99. Or you could use one 1500 watt and add a 1000 watt heater. That yields 8530 btu's, and leaves enough head room to run the fridge on the electric setting.
3rd the 3750 watt only does 12795 btu's. That's a little better but still not what I'd call wonderful.
4th the 5000 watt only does 17060 btu's. It is unclear to me whether they wire this as a balanced load. Perhaps you could enlighten us?
5th if the voltage sags (and it will), you won't get nearly the same amount of heat.
6th, in order to successfully heat my RV at -27 c (-16.6 f) I require up to 7000 watts of electricity (peak load 23884 btu's). I do use a sola basic autoformer to keep the voltage up on the OEM 30 amp service, and have added 20 amp and 15 amp auxiliary shore power cords which I run from a 50 amp "break out box".
So the Cheap Heat is not terrible useful to anyone who lives where there is serious cold, partly because it may not be run in parallel with the propane furnace. Nor does it fail over to propane heating if the power goes off.
BTW where I live it gets to -40. That means I've added extra insulation, Insulbright covers for all windows, vents, skylights and doors. Other cold weather modifications include adding insulated pillows for vents and skylights. I've also added an Insulbright divider to eliminate heating the cab on my class C.
rhagfo wrote:
If you don’t know what you are talking about, you should stay out of the discussion!
#1. It DOESN'T require a 50 amp service to operate, on the 1,800 watt setting it works on a 30 amp service, through a 20 amp breaker.
#2. On the 5,000 watt setting, yes a 50 amp 208 volt service is required, but the system runs on a 30 amp 208 volt breaker.
We have a 32’ 5er the we heated to 70 degrees easly with outside temperatures in the low forty’s on the 1,800 watt setting on a 30 amp service used other electrical device without issues.
Currently on a 50 amp service, and the 5,000 watt setting and will heat us down in to the teens.
