Electric Heater, BE CAREFUL

[supercub]

It got down to 28 degrees here last night. I had my little electric heater set up to help with the propane heaters I have. I never run the thing unless I'm sitting here. Anyway, I turned it off a few hours ago........I still had it plugged in, but was turned off. I was just changing batteries in a flashlight, and heard something, and then looked over at the electric heater and it began to smoke. I unplugged it and took it outside. It actually melted some of the plastic. Again, it was off, just sitting there. Sooooooooo, please be careful. I usually don't even leave it plugged in when not in use...but today I did, and......who knows what might have happened it I was sitting here.
Brian

[Pangaea_Ron]

kevden wrote:

Pangaea Ron wrote:
My insurance agent said to put an electric heater on the open oven door for a bit more protection.

I would need insurance to pay for the ER visit after I fall from walking into the open oven door.:S
I bought a couple electric heaters for use in the camper a couple years ago, but immediately returned them for a refund after reading many online reviews complaining of smoke and fire from the units. Two different brands, one was a pelonis oil filled, and I cannot remember the brand of the other ceramic unit. So for now, we just use the rv furnace. I looked into the permanent baseboard units, but the kids are still too young to keep their toys and blankets away from it. I think that I could get away with one in the bathroom, though, where there is no heat duct from the furnace.

Oh please. . . is that smoke that I smell?

[kevden]

Pangaea Ron wrote:
My insurance agent said to put an electric heater on the open oven door for a bit more protection.

I would need insurance to pay for the ER visit after I fall from walking into the open oven door.:S
I bought a couple electric heaters for use in the camper a couple years ago, but immediately returned them for a refund after reading many online reviews complaining of smoke and fire from the units. Two different brands, one was a pelonis oil filled, and I cannot remember the brand of the other ceramic unit. So for now, we just use the rv furnace. I looked into the permanent baseboard units, but the kids are still too young to keep their toys and blankets away from it. I think that I could get away with one in the bathroom, though, where there is no heat duct from the furnace.

[Daveinet]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

GFI is not going to do anything for an overload.

clhamon wrote:
We only plug ours into GFI receptacles with the assumption the GFI will trip if anything happens and before a fire starts.

Typically the fire is not going to start from an overload or an electrical short. Most of the time, a fire is going to start from a poor internal connection. Heat causes poor connections, so the simple fact that the internal connections are in close proximity to heat, means they are much more susceptible to failure. That fact coupled with the fact that they operate at a high current means the are very prone to failure as they age.

The safer aspect of the big oil heaters is that the heat is dispersed over a large area, so the heat is less intense where the electrical connections are. That type of design is going to be less prone to fail.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

GFI is not going to do anything for an overload.

clhamon wrote:
We only plug ours into GFI receptacles with the assumption the GFI will trip if anything happens and before a fire starts.

[clhamon]

We only plug ours into GFI receptacles with the assumption the GFI will trip if anything happens and before a fire starts.

[John___Angela]

On edit. Just checked and Amazon seems to have several makes as well. Most if not all do not come with thermostat so don't forget to add it to the order. This is done because if you have a string of them you only need one thermostat. We didn't go that way and we put a thermostat on all of them. All ours are 500 watts or smaller depending on location.

[John___Angela]

BillyandKris wrote:
John & Angela, What is it and where did you buy them? I have never seen this type. Details please. Looks nice.

Good morning. They are just run of the mill baseboard heaters available widely. But you need to get the 120 volt units. Available from 300 watts to 1500 watts. Do some hunting around the web. Ours are made by Ouellete out of Quebec but there are a bunch of manufacturers out there.

If you have problems let me know and I'll find the place we bought ours from online.

Good luck.

[BillyandKris]

John & Angela, What is it and where did you buy them? I have never seen this type. Details please. Looks nice.

[John___Angela]

Thats why we went with a few of these permanently installed in several locations throughout the coach. No plastic, no electronics, manual thermostat, zero clearance. Paintable and they just kind of blend in.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I got my 1/2 size oil filled heaters at Walmart. They draw about 462 watts each and have a thermostat and one heat setting.

BillyandKris wrote:
For RoyB: You wrote: low profile ones in the POPUP trailer

We also use the oil-filled radiator type heaters. They are awesome. We do not use them when traveling because they are heavy and our camper is not that large, but we are stationery now so they work great. I once bought a really small one, but it was junk and didn't heat anything and broke immediately. Can you tell us what your low profile one is and where you got it? THANKS

[Snomas]

We aways shut down ours & unplug when not using it!

[BillyandKris]

For RoyB: You wrote: low profile ones in the POPUP trailer

We also use the oil-filled radiator type heaters. They are awesome. We do not use them when traveling because they are heavy and our camper is not that large, but we are stationery now so they work great. I once bought a really small one, but it was junk and didn't heat anything and broke immediately. Can you tell us what your low profile one is and where you got it? THANKS

[BobsYourUncle]

I have a Honeywell heater I run 24/7 in the winter weather. This thing runs non stop day and night for several months straight.
I also have the furnace set to cycle on and off when the electric heater won't keep up.
Although I am conscious of possible issues running a heater all the time, I don't have much of a choice. Fulltiming in a 3 season TT requires a lot of heat to keep it livable. Not too bad right now when the temperature is only a couple degrees below freezing but tougher when it gets minus 30C and more.

I do check my wiring periodically to make sure that things are not getting hot.

And one key thing that gets overlooked with a lot of folks is the 30 to 15A adapter used. I am plugged into a single 15A plug so have to use the adapter. The el-cheapos can actually melt and cause a problem. I know, I have one here that did that. I smelled it cooking last winter so changed it for a really good one.

It would cost me a lot more money for propane without the electric heater.

[Jagtech]

Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. I wouldn't leave a $18.00 heater from WalMart running unattended. That said, the better quality ones usually are safe, even after years of use. Many of the better ones have built-in protection from tipping, overheating, and blocked airflow.
The one I use in the RV had a smoke detector directly above it.