Portable electric heater

Yep, the hair dryer will do it every time. Also the coffee maker or any other heat generating source if the electric heater is on. We've been known to get lucky using our regular oscillating electric and a very small little electric cube heater near the rear bunk, but that's as good as you're going to get.

Last years FL spring training trip could not have been much colder....for FL in Mar. Down to the mid to upper 30's at night. We left home with both tanks full, ran with the propane for the frig on the road, used the stove and oven every day, ran the furnace every evening and overnight and the last night enroute home DH manually swapped tanks just so he didn't have to go out at 3:00 in the morning to do it. Found we still has a small amount in the starter tank. We were gone 10 days. So, yes, it does cost extra rather than using the campground electric, but it's not terrible and I'd much prefer to be comfortable rather than shivering for maybe $25 or less. BTW, don't know if all CWs do this, but we found one with propane fill ups for $1.99 per pound/gallon/whatever on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I believe....or maybe Wednesday/Thursday. Might be worth a check. Of course, we missed it by 1 day. Usually our local U-Haul is the best deal. Most of the places and our dreadful RV dealer charge a flat fee of $20something if it completely empty or you just need a top off, so check around.

bigtime_077 wrote:
I already checked and none of my 120 volt outlets in the camper run through the invertor only the shore power hook up. I am at a loss here and I am looking for a little guidance.

Thanks in advance, Jason

first, i think you mean CONVERTER, not inverter. unless you installed one. but i seriously doubt an inverter could run a heater unless you had a minimum of 4 batteries.
not sure if you know but your 120v outlets ONLY work on shore power or hooked up to a generator.
your trailer's CONVERTER only converts 120vAC power to 12vDC power and also recharges the battery. all RV's have converters but most don't have an inverter, which inverts 12vDC power to 120vAC power.
but this takes a lot of battery power for what you want to use one for.

when we have electric hookups, we use a simple ceramic heater.

1. As far as your basement is concerned, don't waste your money with an Edenpure. If you just must have that type of heater, then Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowes sell the same type cheaper.
2. You trailer does not have an inverter, it has a converter which changes 120 volts to 12 volts. An inverter changes 12 volts to 120 volts.
3. The only time your 120 volt outlets will work is when you are plugged into shore power or a generator.
4. Electric heaters work very well heating a trailer. They do draw a lot of amps, about 12.5 amps each, so with your 30 amp service, you are limited to 2 heaters and then turn one off when running the microwave, electric water heater, or hair dryer.
5. Distributing the heated air is as important as making heated air, so many people prefer the Vornado brand of heaters.
6. Heaters with digital thermostats will keep you more comfortable as they keep the temperature more uniform.
7. In very cold temperatures and depending on your trailer, using your propane furnace may be necessary to keep the holding tanks and water pipes from freezing.

if you have 120V hookups, any $17.00 ceramic cube from walmart will do. without hookups, forgetaboutit.
bumpy

We use an electric heater with a blower to supplement the gas furnace. 1500 watts ain't much heat but is a lot of electricity. We have one with a thermostat (and remote control) and another use is to keep the cabin above freezing in the fall and spring when the trailer isn't winterized. But it takes 120vAC power, not 12vDC.

1500 watts at 120 volts is 15 amps, half the trailer's electrical capacity. Thru an inverter at 12v that would be 150 amps (watts is watts) in a perfect-conversion world (that doesn't exist). You'll drain the trailer battery in a matter of minutes -- maybe 5 before the inverter shuts down from low voltage. Takes cable, not wire to handle that many amps. I tried running a simple hair dryer off a pair of Trojan T125 batteries and everything shut down in about 15 minutes.

With all the AC outlets in our Roo on the same 15a circuit my wife's hair dryer will trip the breaker if the space heater is on. Always surprises her!

-- Chuck

I have used Pelonis Ceramic Disc heater for 6 years works great. It has multiple settings my favorite is auto temp where the fan ramps up or down as needed. We turn both bunk fans on to circulate heat down to 45 degrees maintains 72 degrees. If in the 30's you must use additional support with the main heater and set it to 65..

We are using this as I type to heat the MH. About $18 at Walmart.

I borrowed the below heater to try last weekend in our hybrid to see what would happen. The temps got down to the low 50's/high 40's at night and it worked pretty well. It kept the chill away and us comfortable, but it certainly wouldn't cook us out and much colder weather it might not have been enough.

When I buy one I would I would probably try a different one as there are some that are better reviewed.

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Oscillating-Digital-Control-HZ-7200/dp/B000U666LG/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1377565923&sr=8-21&keywords=space+heater

Although electric heaters are used by many, I feel they don't heat the coach as well as the furnace does - lots of cold spots. Plus, the furnace is ducted into the basement to keep pipes from freezing.

Just fyi.

Welcome to the forum. We use an electric heater with built in fan to warm the front of the coach. We shut it off when we go to bed and use an electric baseboard heater to run at night in the bedroom. It has no fan so it is very quiet.