Forum Discussion

brulaz's avatar
brulaz
Explorer
Sep 25, 2016

BTU versus watts, Propane versus electrical heaters

We've got a 1500 W electric heater that works pretty well.
I guess that's the MAX wattage, and we often run it at a lower rating.

Would like to get a propane heater that would heat similarly.
Little confused about conversions here. One place advertises a 3000 BTU unit as BTU/hr, but BTU's alone should convert to watt-hours?

Anyway, 3000 BTU unit = 879 watt-hours, and it can run as low as 469 watt-hours. The 6000 BTU unit goes from 1758 down to 937 watt-hours.

I'm guessing the 6000 BTU unit is closest to our electrical heater in terms of max heat output? But the 3000 BTU unit might be best when a lower heat is wanted.
  • brulaz wrote:
    The catalytic Olympia heaters are apparently more efficient with less moisture released than the others,
    Someone has been lying to you. Burning propane is burning propane. It may be efficient in terms of complete/safe combustion, but it's going to produce water (and carbon dioxide) according to the same chemistry as the others - C3H8 + 5O2 = 3CO2 + 4H2O.
  • brulaz wrote:
    We've got a 1500 W electric heater that works pretty well. I guess that's the MAX wattage, and we often run it at a lower rating.


    Yeah, you're guessing alright. :W Rarely does any so-called electric heater labeled as "1500 watts" ever come close to drawing that much power ... the only way to know is to measure it. Every homeowner, every RV owner would do well to own a Kill-a-Watt Meter that will give them that answer. Difficult to make comparisons when you have no idea what you're comparing against. :R
  • We were looking for a small, movable, propane radiative heater to supplement the furnace which heats up the whole trailer as well as the basement, and is noisy to boot.

    Coming from a house heated primarily by a wood stove, we much prefer high temperature local radiative heat to lower temperature heated air/surfaces.

    So the idea is to keep the furnace, but reduce it's frequency of operation.

    The catalytic Olympia heaters are apparently more efficient with less moisture released than the others, although susceptible to dust poisoning of the catalytic surface.

    Ideally we would want the heater to be small and movable eliminating the vented option. We would crack a window just like we do when using the propane stove and range.

    But there may be enough space to put a small vented catalytic heater close to our sitting area. The side of the sink cabinet in our Timber Ridge 240RKS might work, and 3000 BTU would probably be sufficient. I'll keep looking.

    Another possibility is to pump hot water from the water heater through some heating coils near the sitting area. Not as hot as a direct propane radiative
    heater though. But the plumbing would be relatively simple in our 240RKS with the hot water tank under the sink.

    Thanks for the BTU info.
  • Hi,

    There are plenty of through the wall propane heaters that use no electricity and don't have you breathing their combustion products.

    I will NEVER use a unvented combustion heater inside my RV when I am also inside it.
  • I'll add that if you're looking to get one of the ventless propane heaters (which Searching_Ut mentioned), be aware that they add a LOT of moisture to the air, so expect lots of condensation in cold weather.

    Your profile says you have a 2014 Timber Ridge 240RKS, I assume it has a furnace. What the issue with that? The increased efficiency of a ventless is not worth having everything damp with condensation.
  • Other than maybe the noise, I can't understand why not just use the furnace. I traded my Timber Ridge 240RKS in last year, and find I miss it for camping in the colder winter. It was reasonably well insulated, and the furnace, although loud seemed fairly efficient as we only went through a couple tanks or so a year mostly dry camping, 45-60 nights a year. We used the rig down several times in below zero temps. I understand the electric heater when in a campground with hookups, but not sure of the why the gas given the downsides of ventless heaters.

    It's definitely time to start sorting out the heating though. On this weekends trip for us, the nights were well below freezing and we got a little snow as well. Another month or so and it will be time to head south for any camping we might do.
  • BTU is the old measure of energy. Joule is the comparable SI unit. Watts are the SI unit for the rate energy is delivered, joules/second. BTU/hr is the comparable British measure.

    When they say a heater is "x BTU," they really mean BTU/hr. Saying a heater is "x BTU" really makes no sense, since it depends on how long you run it.

    1 watt is ~3.4 BTU/hr.
  • Sounds good?

    Downside to burning something for heat, it needs some form of fresh air, it's competing for the same oxygen you are.

About Technical Issues

Having RV issues? Connect with others who have been in your shoes.24,195 PostsLatest Activity: Feb 05, 2025