Looking to heat our travel trailer for fall and early winter camping. It's a 30 ft trailer it says it's insulated. But looking for good ceramic or other safe heaters for camping so I don't burn up all the propane. Also don't want to blow fuse all the time what works best for you pros

We use a Lasko, 1500w ceramic tower heater.Supposedly the oil filled heaters are better, but we don't have the space to store one, and they are heavy.We have been using the Lasko heaters for the last 20 years, and they work great.

Ceramic heaterThey all are 1,500 watts and put out the same amount of heat. IMHO I think the ceramic heaters are the 'safest' and put out the most constant heat. Others have their favorite heaters.From experience here is what I found:The small square ones fit nicely and safely on the counter or table.The thin tower ones do not sit safely on carpet leaving you usually only the kitchen floor to place it. If you have kids or pets these get knocked over easily. I think they are all show and no go you get the same amount of heat from one of the square ones. The oscillating one tends to feel like it cools the air with its movement instead of heating it.I used one of those enclosed oil heaters for one very cold winter in Florida and it sucked.*If you can find a ceramic heater with a ""tip-over switch", buy it!They are IMHO much safer to use especially in an RV. They are very hard to find since UL approved they no longer are required to have one.I.E. 1. Tip over switch - when it tips over it immediately shuts off.2. New method is when it tips over it 'waits' until it has reached a certain temperature before it shuts off. Can you spell fire if it falls against furniture, drapes etc.? :RIMHO, JMHO :C

Any of the 1500 watt ceramic heaters will do fine. On 30 amps I could run one on high and another on medium without tripping a breaker. If I needed the microwave I turned the one on high off long enough to use it. I have in a pinch ran both on high for short periods.Do remember that if weather is below freezing use only one so that the furnace will cycle and keep the pipes and plumbing bays warm to prevent freezing.While I am not an expert on winter camping, I did full time in northern Kentucky for 4 winters with some days below zero and did it without freezing up.There are plenty of things to do to save propane, close all blinds or drapes after the sun drops, that will keep the cold transfer from the cold windows.Learn to bake in the oven the warmth from that will provide extra heat.Orient the trailer so the sides with the most windows faces south/southeast so that the sun will track from end to end on sunny days. I actually had inside temps exceed 85 degrees on an 18 degree day from solar gain. Come dark it got cold in a hurry.It can be done with planning and not break the bank. I averaged a gallon of propane per day the last two winters I had to do this.

the best most uniform heat are put out by the oil filled radiator types. I use one in my bath room and bedroom in S&IB. a nice constant heat. takes a while to warm up but doesn't cycle on and off like the ceramics. I used to have a smaller version of the radiator type which would be more RV sized. can't beat the ceramics for small source of heat however.bumpy

I'm with Bumpy. Oil filled is the safest and has the lowest surface temperature. Some times you can find them in the 400 to 500 watt size which is much easier to tuck into a corner.I have burned one out.

Ceramic heater | Good Sam Community

31 Replies

pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 30, 2016
It is four years since I purchased them.

They were not cheap but because they don't have internal wires can have holes cut into them (for the dinette table legs). They are intended to be used with a thermostat. I wrote about them in the full time forums under winter camping. I think they have an "underlay" product as well.

There are other heated carpets, too.

dewey02 wrote:

That website is pretty cryptic.
Can you say exactly which product you purchased. There is a link for radiant heat systems, but they all seem to be for gutters, roofs, sidewalks, etc. Is that what you used? Do you put something over the top like a carpet? What size did you get and how much did it cost you. Sorry for all the questions, but this sounds like a pretty neat way to heat floors! Thanks.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Aug 30, 2016
Ceramic heater

rockhillmanor wrote:
They all are 1,500 watts and put out the same amount of heat.

While many if not most electric heaters may be labeled as "1500 watts" rarely if ever does any one of them actually draw that much. I have a gaggle of heaters I've collected over the years and power draw on the highest heat setting ranges from ~ 900 watts to a little over 1400 watts, as measured with my Kill-a-Watt meter. The fan on most of them is quite noisy, irritatingly so during the middle of the night, but I have this Bionaire ceramic heater I bought years ago that has a fan that is almost completely silent in operation.

During the colder camping months we use it as our primary source of heat and I set the furnace thermostat to 65F so when exterior temps drop below 40F the furnace kicks in the help support the ceramic heater. The only downside is I've not been able to find a replacement that is just as quiet, should this one ever fail.
dewey02
Explorer II
Aug 30, 2016
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

This is what I chose to use because it has no wires and can be pressure washed if you pick indoor/outdoor type:

http://www.tempurtechmanufacturing.com/

myredracer wrote:
pianotuna wrote:
Hi myredracer,

I solved the cold floors by purchasing electric heated carpets.

Interesting, have you got a link for one?

That website is pretty cryptic.
Can you say exactly which product you purchased. There is a link for radiant heat systems, but they all seem to be for gutters, roofs, sidewalks, etc. Is that what you used? Do you put something over the top like a carpet? What size did you get and how much did it cost you. Sorry for all the questions, but this sounds like a pretty neat way to heat floors! Thanks.
austinjenna
Explorer
Aug 30, 2016
I use 2 cheap electric ones we bought at a garage sale. For one I run a heavy duty cord out through the slide right to the pedestal so it doesnt take away from my 30 amps and I dont need to be so careful then watching the power. The other is usually on low/med and I just plug it in. No need to spend a lot on heaters when I see them all the time at garage sales for a few bucks
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 30, 2016
Hi,

This is what I chose to use because it has no wires and can be pressure washed if you pick indoor/outdoor type:

http://www.tempurtechmanufacturing.com/

myredracer wrote:
pianotuna wrote:
Hi myredracer,

I solved the cold floors by purchasing electric heated carpets.

Interesting, have you got a link for one?
dewey02
Explorer II
Aug 30, 2016
We have this mounted on the wall in our open front bedroom. It is a Delonghi Micathermic heater. It can be mounted on the wall or on its wheeled stand.

It does not give instant heat like a vornado will, but if you turn it on and let it heat for an hour or two, it will keep a constant temperature. It has an adjustable thermostat and several settings. We generally use it on the lower settings.

It is totally silent and has no fan which is very nice in the bedroom. The unit does not get hot on the wall side, even though it is only about 2 inches thick. We have used this for 3 years now and it works very well for keeping our sleeping area warm.

We have it mounted where our TV would normally mount in the bedroom, and it plugs into the TV 120 volt outlet on the upper wall.

This likely is not sufficient to heat your entire trailer, but it has worked very well for keeping our bedroom comfortable. It is $50 on Amazon, Amazon link but we bought two at an outlet store for $19 each. We've been very pleased with them. I use the other one in my garage at home.

Just another alternative to the usual fan heaters, ceramic heaters, and oil radiator heaters...all of which are also good.
gmw_photos
Explorer
Aug 30, 2016
I use two small electric heaters ( both with tip over switches ), on low setting. I like using these on low because I am guessing they might last longer and be safer on low rather than high, but that's just a wild guess.
They run on a dedicated circuit I ran that connects to the CG pedestal 20A outlet, on a 10 gauge extension cord, so they are separate from the trailers normal 30A power cord. The two of them running on low pull right at 13A according to my kill-a-watt device.

At night, I found a full bed electric blanket to be too hot, so I got a electric "throw" at walmart. It is approx half the size of the queen bed, so it's nice in that it just puts heat on my legs and feet. It does an auto off after two or three hours, which works well for me.
T-tom
Explorer
Aug 29, 2016
I also use the oil type heater easy to store and safe to the touch and you can adjust them for just about any amount of heat you want.
myredracer
Explorer II
Aug 25, 2016
pianotuna wrote:
Hi myredracer,

I solved the cold floors by purchasing electric heated carpets.

Interesting, have you got a link for one?
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Aug 25, 2016
Thank you for explaining it.:C