Ceramic Heater Safety
Not sure where I should post this; please feel free to move it? I did a forum search for the subject, but couldn't find it. Basically, I'm looking for a supplemental space heater that's "safe" to u...
Forum Discussion
richardcoxid wrote:
Lwiddie
Please explained your comment “ Electric heaters are nice except you need to run the RV's propane heater to keep the tanks from freezing if it gets really cold.“
The freezing temp of Propane is a minus 306 degrees F!
As was said, the tanks in question are water (fresh and waste) tanks, which in many RVs are heated by having a dedicated little duct from the furnace going into the wet bay tank area. Using electric space heaters doesn't heat that wet bay well if at all.
It's perhaps worth noting that, while the freezing point of propane is very low indeed, in cold weather conditions (but within the range of temperatures you might be expected to encounter) the vapor pressure goes down, which particularly for high-pressure propane appliances like simple camp stoves can dramatically affect performance. It can also affect other appliances if the rate of propane use is sufficiently high to cool the propane in the tank (due to evaporation) enough to lower the vapor pressure below what the regulator needs. In short, in very cold weather, propane can fail to work well, particularly for things that need a relatively high flow of gas.
Even if propane were to freeze, I don't think it would pose a threat to the tanks as it probably doesn't expand when it freezes (most substances do not; water is the big exception).
