Portable Heater ..elect (watts/amps) big buddy or catalitic?

This probably should be in a couple of posts but I think it may all be relivant. 07 Allegro Bay 35' chevy... brand new LCD 32" Samsung TV & Dish 211K reciever, sometimes Sony Blue Ray player.

I have in the past used my RV heater when plugged in. I boondocked (Quartzsite & BLM land)
a week and used it to knock off the chill before bed on generator and got up once in the night and ran it for 1/2 hr or so no generator. and then in the a.m. for 1/2 hr or so no generator 7 couple times during the day again no generator. I ran the generator every
evening for a 2-3 hours and watched TV and charged up batteries. I plan on doing more boondocking this next year... 2 wks at Q, 1 wk at SLABS, a week at a time here n there maybe 8-10 more weeks in between RV parks w/hookups)Wally world one niters traveling.

I know there are some plug in thing that tells me how my batteries
are but don't know what it is or what to buy.. it plugs into the dc outlet by tv(not the cig lighter by the steering wheel) (someone told me not to do that as I have a power antenna booster thing and it could effect it).

My monitor pannel has 6 lights up and down. In the morning I
checked it and it was 2 lights down so I had 4 lights left but don't know if that means 65% still left in batteries (I have 2 house 6v) again been told like holding tanks this is not reliable. I have never had more than one light down that I can remember.

What I use on boondocking... frig on propane. so not much there,
I have LED bulbs in the 3 lights I use and only use one of them at a time maybe 1/2 hr
after generator is off.

I wanted to find out what heaters you use when plugged in to a/c and when boondocking? the propane ones say you have to leave windows open.. how open and do they turn on/off. I do just fine at 50-55, but it droppped into the 35-40 range last year. What about those 12v lap blankets?

Also, thinking about adding some type of solar to cover the TV issue and charge up batteries. BUT. I can't climb up on roof to raise the pannels.. I also don't want to spend $2000-$3000. Oohh boyt That opens up a biggie question.

On elect heater in general.. they are 750/1500 watts low/high. Will my wiring and plugs in my RV handle the heater on high?

Also, told because I have 50 amps in RV.. some of my outlets are on one circuit and some are on the other circuit & I should get some tester to find out which are which...

Sorry I'm an old grandma and not to electrical savy. Although I'm a quick study.. sometimes.

Whew...Sorry for so long winded. but wanted to explain.

GrammaDy

14 Replies

Almot
Explorer III
Oct 27, 2013
My bad - it's a non-vented Olympian heater, not Olympic :)... Won't break any records, just your average Chinese stuff that works - more or less.

Here.. Yep, legs are optional.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Oct 27, 2013
First, for the battery indicator with the row of LED's.. That can plug in to the booster-power supply, socket with no problem, it sips power (Few mA) and will not even be noticed by the booster or it's power supply.. DO NOT, however, plug in a trouble light, inverter or anything drawing more than a few amps.

The 50 amps, reffers to yoru 120 volt service, 120/240 volt at 50 amps is POSSIBLE if the park provides it, that's 12000 watts of power. So I use up to four 1500 watt "Cube" heaters (These are what about six by 10 or inches or so)

NOTE: I put in heavy duty outlets for them however, I seriously do not trust what came with the RV for that kind of load save for the washer/dryer socket (Which I use for one of 'em)

If you want to know how much battery you have.. You are going to have to tell us

Size of battery
How many
Almot
Explorer III
Oct 27, 2013
Besides vented Vs non-vented, there is another difference between Platinum Cat and Olympic. The latter has (optional?) legs, and the former has to be installed on the wall or into the floor cabinet. It's possible to attach some legs - if my memory doesn't fail me, somebody attached Olympic legs to the Cat.
Platinum Cat
ktmrfs
Explorer III
Oct 27, 2013
Almot wrote:
Lights on the panel - battery indicator - very inaccurate. Trimetric monitor or a cheaper Victron BMW600 is the best. There are fans of either model.

Heater - go catalytic propane, it will save both energy and propane. Platinum Cat is the best, Olympic is the 2nd best - cheaper but not vented, if you paranoid about air quality and CO, get Platinum Cat.

Solar - a big question. Smkettner has 675W system, and it seems to cover all his needs in this location, including high-draw items like microwave. He published his installation with photos here. Without high-draw items like microwave, in SoCal you can live happily off 400-500W system and 500 AH battery bank (4 GC) without a generator. LCD TV draws very little, and catalytic heater also little, this won't be a problem with solar. The problem is high-draw 120V items other than electronics - MW, coffee-maker, hair dryer, toaster, vacuum. If you can live without those for 2 weeks, 500W solar is enough. Materials cost ~$1.50 per watt, including panels, controller, inverter and everything else. Labor may cost a couple grand on top of that.

Most RV solar systems on this forum are DIY

One drawback, or advantage of an unvented propane heater (depends on the climate) is that unvented propane heaters will put about 3 quarts of water vapor in the air for every gallon of propane burned.
Olympian, Big buddy and some others are unvented. If it's "portable" it's likely unvented.

(CxHy +02= heat +CO2 + H2O)

In a dry climate, nice, provides some additional humidity. In a wet climate, not as nice, certainly doesn't help get rid of condensation problems. So if humidity is an issue keeping several windows or vents cracked will often help.

BTW stove/oven is the same issue. VENTED propane heaters like the HW Heater and normal RV Furnace aren't an issue, the combustion air along with the water as a byproduct of combustion, all goes outside.

My understanding is the Platinum cat is a VENTED heater.
Almot
Explorer III
Oct 27, 2013
Lights on the panel - battery indicator - very inaccurate. Trimetric monitor or a cheaper Victron BMW600 is the best. There are fans of either model.

Heater - go catalytic propane, it will save both energy and propane. Platinum Cat is the best, Olympic is the 2nd best - cheaper but not vented, if you paranoid about air quality and CO, get Platinum Cat.

For a shore power get 120V heater under 1,000W, your outlets might not handle big 1,500W heater.

Solar - a big question. Smkettner has 675W system, and it seems to cover all his needs in SoCal, including high-draw items like microwave. He published his installation with photos here. Without high-draw items like microwave, in SoCal you can live happily off 400-500W system and 500 AH battery bank (4 GC) without a generator, or with very occasional genny run. LCD TV draws very little, sat receiver a little more, catalytic heater - depends on how cold but less than a furnace for sure, this won't be a problem with solar. The problem is high-draw 120V items other than electronics - MW, coffee-maker, hair dryer, toaster, vacuum. If you can live without those for 2 weeks, 500W solar is enough. Materials cost ~$1.50 per watt, including panels, controller, inverter and everything else. Labor may cost a couple grand on top of that.

Most RV solar systems on this forum are DIY
pianotuna
Nomad III
Oct 26, 2013
Hi Steve,

Unfortunately many RV's have plugs that don't have proper electric boxes behind them, so retro fitting is a bit more of a challenge. It is definitely worth doing.

SteveAE wrote:
you might want to replace the ones that would have the heater connected, with a regular household units (about $1.00 each) from Home Depot (or similar). This is something you can do yourself, just make sure to disconnect all electrical power and keep the wires to the same terminals on the new outlet as the original ones.

Steve
mlts22
Explorer II
Oct 26, 2013
You could see about a trailer that can have panels attached on the roof, as well as hinged on the sides which can fold out. I'm looking at doing this as an eventual project. It will be more than $1000, but it will provide me enough wattage to keep my batteries charged, as well as storage space for stuff while boondocking.
time2roll
Nomad
Oct 25, 2013
rvgrammady wrote:
Also, thinking about adding some type of solar to cover the TV issue and charge up batteries. BUT. I can't climb up on roof to raise the pannels.. I also don't want to spend $2000-$3000. Oohh boyt That opens up a biggie question.

Materials will be $500 to $1,000 and same again for installation depending on scope and conditions.
You could get some panels as a portable system but then you have to haul them out and make sure they do not walk away.
rvgrammady
Explorer
Oct 25, 2013
steveAE

very good info tks
SteveAE
Explorer
Oct 25, 2013
rvgrammady,

You have been getting some good answers, but I will toss my hat in the ring as well.

A nice way to monitor your batteries is via a battery monitor. I use this one, but there are others to choose from as well. It works like a gas gauge for your batteries, displaying a percentage of full charge. It will take someone with some understanding of RV electrical systems to install it however.

Good job on the LED lights. That will save you a lot of power.

Your wiring and outlets are "supposed" to handle that load, but you may find that the outlets (esp. if they are low cost) get hot. If they do, you might want to replace the ones that would have the heater connected, with a regular household units (about $1.00 each) from Home Depot (or similar). This is something you can do yourself, just make sure to disconnect all electrical power and keep the wires to the same terminals on the new outlet as the original ones.

If you are frugal, you don't need to spend that much on solar now days. As suggested by another, this topic would be better in a different thread. There will be no need to climb up on the roof once the panels are installed and there are companies to install them for you if you need.

When camping where there is 120 power (or generator) available, I like the oil filled radiator heaters.
When camping without power available, you will have to use your battery and propane. Your choices here are: The built in RV furnace (uses lots of battery power to run the fan), a catalytic heater (lots of folks use them, but there are safety concerns...i.e., they burn oxygen), or a hydronic (hot water) heating system (very nice, but expensive).

No need for a tester to find out which outlets are on which circuit. Just plug in a lamp and turn of the circuit breaker. When the light turns off, you got the right circuit. Repeat for each outlet.

Hope this helps,
Steve