Electric heater vs using furnace in fall?

DutchmenSport wrote:
"The KEY in an RV is too make sure you keep the cold air OUT."

The problem with sealing up the inside of your RV without some kind of continuous air flow is the fact condensation will form if it's really chilly outside. People have posted on these forums the condensation is so bad in their campers, they've even had drops of water falling from their vents over their bed.

You have to maintain a supply of fresh air in and old out of the camper to keep the condensation away. So this means cold air is coming in, which also means an electric heater by itself may not keep up if your camper is fairly large. And remember, when your slides are out, you have more square footage to heat.

There's a fine balance between keeping a good supply of air breathing through any camper to prevent condensation forming on windows, roof, walls, and keeping it comfortably warm and a heat source that can produce more heat than cold coming in.

My heating scheme is different but I've cut down on condensation a lot! In fact, on all but the coldest days it is almost unnoticeable.

First, I've insulated all of the TT with foam and a vapor barrier. Second, I have triple pane residential windows. Third, I replaced the original furnace with a vented Sportsman heater (gas ring in a can). The 20K BTU heater uses no electricity. The exhaust is vented through a Class B vent stack. Both the combustion air and the stack make-up air are supplied from the exterior via pipes.

If I'm not alone in the rig or have done some cooking, I'll crack a roof vent open. The heated interior air and small leakage from the door serves to expel almost all the condensation.

While in storage, at home, I use electric heaters to heat the interior if I plan to be out there. I use mostly conventional 120V 1500W radiant heaters. They have tip-over devices but I guess if a guy was wary, you could stand them on a cookie sheet or other metal containment. I don't bother.

It was interesting to see that if a trailer is built correctly and insulated, condensation isn't an issue.