Olympian Wave heater

[PamfromVA]

We do alot of boondocking in the fall/winter. I would like one of these heaters intalled in our fifth wheel for mornings when you aren't worried about your tanks freezing but want to take the chill out of the air. Our stove sits right next to a large pantry and my husband thinks he can tap into the propane line that is there for the stove and run a pipe out the side of the pantry with a cut off switch and quick disconnect for a hose to hook to the heater. The hose would fit under the pantry door so the door would not have to remain open when we were using the heater. Please let me know what you think about this plan.

thanks,
Pam

[PamfromVA]

It's installed and working great. Tapped into the propane behind the stove and ran the hose out the bottom of the pantry. We have a shut off valve with quick disconnect in the bottom of the pantry. Sorry no pics...

[Almot]

Yes it will work.

Hard to visualize how exactly you will tap into stove line, but I have done a similar thing. I ran soft copper tubing from inside the trailer, into the floor, to the Tee where water heater was connected to black propane pipe. Under the frame try keeping the soft tubing run to minimum, and cover it with 1/2" split-tubing sold in electrical isle of Home Depot.

Before soft copper pipe goes into the floor, it goes under the dinette bench - and here I installed shut-off valve and Excess Flow Auto-Disconnect Valve. The latter would shut the propane to heater if things go bad.

I installed Oly-6 permanently on the wall, you might consider the same. I like it very much and rarely use furnace anymore. Most of the time I run it a few hours before bed time, and occasionally through the night. It is "unvented" - no exhaust, so you must have 2 ventilation openings: slightly open one window and another one across, or one window and ceiling hatch. With these precautions, you will get less CO than in your home when living near a highway or a busy street.

Make sure your CO detector works, preferably install one detector in the room with heater and another one - in your bedroom.

It comes in a clear plastic bag - keep it, and cover your Oly when not in use. Catalytic pad should not be exposed to dust too much.

My biggest gripe with Oly-6 is that it has no thermostat - only 3 modes High, Med, Low. Sometimes it's warm before bedtime and then it gets cold at dawn. Starting this thing is not something you can do with your eyes closed - it takes 2 hands (2 switches), and certain succession of steps.

[drsteve]

mike-uswest wrote:
I also rode in the back of pickups when I was a kid, a very long time ago.

Mike

People say "I did X and I'm alive" like that makes it 100% safe.

I had a friend who fell from the back of a pickup going less than 5 mph. Hit his head, and died before they could get him to a hospital. Pete left a wife and two young kids.

As to the question at hand, I have used a catalytic heater--a Buddy heater with a low oxygen sensor and tip over protection--in my old, somewhat drafty popup and left the roof vent open, with good results. Would I use it in a more tightly sealed RV? Yes, but I'd leave a roof vent and a window cracked, and make sure my CO detector was working.

[ktmrfs]

In rather dry climates the wave seems to work ok in a trailer. If it is in a humid climate, it can push moisture buildup over the edge. For every gallon of propane you burn, you get almost 1 gallon of water in the air. No issue for vented heaters, but our experience in our trailer in oregon winter humidity is it pushed over the edge for humidity and condensation problems with the wave, even with windows cracked. But then outside air was near 100% RH also.

If your in a dry climate, then it may actually help getting the humidity up.

[Happy_Prospecto]

We've been using our Wave for 7+ years with no problems, but we leave a widow cracked a bit and use carbon monoxide detectors. It works great down here in the Great American Southwest.

[memtb]

How do you all survive! Your parents should be in jail for allowing such behavior! :B

[rickeoni]

We used our buddy heater for those days when the furnace is not needed to heat the underbelly. The nice thing about this type of heater is the low noise level and way it heats everything, not just the air. I also rode in the back of pickups, drank from a green garden hose and I also swim in the ocean.

[mike-uswest]

That's alright, we spent over two months here with the smoke in our valley in the unhealthy area from forest fires. I think our trailer is much safer. I also rode in the back of pickups when I was a kid, a very long time ago.

Mike

[memtb]

The primary byproducts are CO2 and water. You will get a small amount of CO...as it is “not” complete, perfect combustion. You will also get infinitely small amounts of NOx, and formaldehyde and other organic compounds. If you vent your RV....You will likely get more in your system living in a city!

[goducks10]

Lantley wrote:
THe issue with any non venting heater is not just CO. It's breathing in the combustion air period.
The fire consumes whatever is in the air and produces new unknown by products that are transferred back into the air. We than breath in these by products which are generally unknown but often harmful.
Does that mean Wave heaters are dangerous? I'm no expert but I see them as being as dangerous as the by products they produce.
The problem is we don't truly know what by products they produce. The by products produced are as different as the air used to create the combustion in the first place.

:E We don't know what we don't know.

[Lantley]

THe issue with any non venting heater is not just CO. It's breathing in the combustion air period.
The fire consumes whatever is in the air and produces new unknown by products that are transferred back into the air. We than breath in these by products which are generally unknown but often harmful.
Does that mean Wave heaters are dangerous? I'm no expert but I see them as being as dangerous as the by products they produce.
The problem is we don't truly know what by products they produce. The by products produced are as different as the air used to create the combustion in the first place.

[mike-uswest]

I have used the wave heaters from way before they were called wave heaters with no problem, as long as you vent, they are great. The one that I have now is hooked up just the way you are talking about, coming off the stove line, a shut off valve, and a quick disconnect junction, and a indoor 6' line to the heater. When not in use the heater is put under the bed, and when traveling when we are using it, we put it under the table that is in the slide out. Works great, and you can direct it to where you want the heat.

Mike

[pinesman]

Have you considered a "Buddy" heater? We have been using ours dry camping this fall and it does exactly what you are asking for.

[memtb]

Sounds like it should work fine. A lot easier than the way I did mine.....dropped about 20+ feet of underbelly, starting in the “utility area” of the basement, then snaked”, “fished”, “cussed” the gas line thru the frame crossmembers and 6 to 8 inches of “dirty” fiberglass insulation, came up thru the floor at the island , and mounted the heater on the island end. Then, had the “opportunity” to put the underbelly back together!

We already had one CO detector, but added another as a “ffailsafe” system! Unlikely that both would fail at the same time!