Heater?

[bhh]

Anyone used one of these for a heater when hooked to shore power? It would seem to be quiet, compact, and at 425 watts, plug friendly.


Envi Heater

[gotsmart]

bhh wrote:
I resumed my search this fall and found what I think meets all my requirements:
....

Crane convection heater

This has two switches, each for a 750W coil, you can turn or either or both. You can turn the fan on (for quick heat up) or off (for overnight quiet). Also has a timer and thermostat. It's the size of an attache case, so it fits neatly in the storage area and the heater elements are protected as they're not exposed. Available in white, red, or black exterior

It's available at Amazon, Lowe's, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, Sears, Walmart, Walgreens and a number of other places if you want one too.

🙂 Happy

The heater does not have a GFI plug. If you're not going to plug it into a GFI outlet I recommend getting one of these. I found it for much less $$ at walmart.


You wrote:

bhh wrote:
19' travel trailer, non-hybrid, no slide outs.

I have a few smaller heaters, ceramic box, parabolic reflector, and forced air. Concerns are
* something falling on it during the night and either overheating or shutting down <=== then a heater that also has an anti-tipping switch that shuts it off should it fall over would be recommended.
....

[bhh]

I resumed my search this fall and found what I think meets all my requirements:
- small and lightweight
- low and high levels of power, up to 1500 watts (~12 A)
- no fan noise
- not radiant dish heater that makes hot spots
- not too expensive
- decent reviews

Crane convection heater

This has two switches, each for a 750W coil, you can turn or either or both. You can turn the fan on (for quick heat up) or off (for overnight quiet). Also has a timer and thermostat. It's the size of an attache case, so it fits neatly in the storage area and the heater elements are protected as they're not exposed. Available in white, red, or black exterior

It's available at Amazon, Lowe's, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, Sears, Walmart, Walgreens and a number of other places if you want one too.

🙂 Happy

[RoyB]

We use these two items in our parked at home 5th wheel and OFF-ROAD POPUP camper for heat when the temp gets down. Both trailers are winterized using the BLOW OUT METHOD.

This is a THERMO CUBE that has three or four different temp models. We use the 35 DEGREE MODEL. Also have a 45 DEGREE MODEL as well... This comes on when the temp drops to 35 degrees inside the trailer. When it warms up in the day it turns off. You can use 100WATT lights bulbs or plug-in a heater into the 15AMP socket. Work great for us


This is the low profile oil filled heater we use set to a #3 setting with one heat zone selected. NO NOISE-NO OPEN FLAME-NO BURNT DUST SMELL... Very safe for us to use in an unoccupied situation.. Don't have to worry about setting a run-about mouse on fire or burn up a blowing curtain...


Both items available from AMAZON

Roy Ken

[bhh]

Thanks for all the thoughtful comments. Opened up my options.

[K3WE]

smkettner wrote:

bhh wrote:
So, no one has ever tried or had one?

Wattage between heaters all do the same BTU output.
Same wattage = same heat.

I have run my heater on low (400w) and it does about nothing.

While I absolutely would not buy a 400 Watt heater, I have used the low (500 watt) setting on some of my heaters and it does a great job keeping things warm...

But I definately want to be able to switch it to "high" (1200 to 1500 watts)for when you are first warming up a cold space or for really cold weather.

[mlts22]

Cheap Heat systems are the best option for electric heating.

I used to swear by Vornado heaters until they seemed to have moved their production to China. Chinese junk is Chinese junk, so I find a heater that blows warm (not hot) air and is cool to the touch on the case.

With two of these, I leave one at 750 watts (RV wiring is generally substandard, so I don't want to risk full wattage), and the other gets powered by a heavy duty extension cord routed through the mouse hole, so I can use its full 1450-1500 watt capacity safely.

When I boondock, I use the heaters to get the trailer heated, then come 8:30-9, I power them (and the generator) off and let the RV furnace do its job.

[Paw_Paw_John]

I'm very happy with my choice of going with the cheap heat system. Please look into it. It's sold by rvcomfortsystem.com, check it out. This system hooks up to your gas heater unit and gives it the option to heat electric or gas. All the portable electric heaters don't heat the under belly of your camper. I have been using my camper for three years with the cheap heat system and been very happy with it. I no longer use the gas side of my heater to heat my camper. This system works just like the dealer claims. I can tell you that this system works and I. For one would not go back to using portable electric heaters. Please keep an open mind and look into this system.

[Dakzuki]

One also needs to find a big space on the wall to mount it. I do not have 19x22+ vertical space on a wall to mount a device like this.

[beemerphile1]

bhh wrote:
So, no one has ever tried or had one?

Apparently not. I think most are trying to point out there are less expensive options and that the one you are interested will not provide much heat.

If you want something mounted rather than portable, you would do better with basic baseboard heaters like pointed out earlier.

[time2roll]

bhh wrote:
So, no one has ever tried or had one?

Wattage between heaters all do the same BTU output.
Same wattage = same heat.

I have run my heater on low (400w) and it does about nothing.

[Ron3rd]

A lot of RVers use the ceramic heaters.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Here's a thought:

If you're looking for something for permanent installation that is quiet, low wattage, and runs off 110/120:

You might take a look at King baseboard heaters. These are ceramic-filled baseboards- no water/oil for thermal storage. You can buy them in 120v and as little as 250 watts....length determines wattage in this case. I bought a 3-footer for use in my (very small) trailer. It's 500 watts and used under my dinette table it's sufficient to take the chill off.

A bigger space might call for the strategic placement of several of these, all running off a single circuit (depending on heater size). Certainly a good way to "distribute" the heat...

The price of the Envi you're looking at equals the cost of three of the 500 watt King I bought.

Proud Side Note:

King Manufacturing is based here in (King County) Washington, and- rarest of rare things- ALL of its heaters are made right here in the U.S.of A.!

[JoshInReno]

If we happen to be in an area with electrical hookups during colder weather we will run a small space heater hooked to a wall timer. Usually have it set to run a few hours before bed and then set it to turn on a couple of hours before we get up. Really easy and efficent.

We run something very similar to this:



It wouldn't be a great option to heat a large space in really cold weather - but for our fall hunts it works really well warming the trailer up before we get out of bed.

[webslave]

Nope, never owned one, but, have looked at their design in big box stores. I considered one to add some auxilliary heat to our bathroom in our sticks and bricks, but, decided to go with, even in the S&B, a bigger, higher output, fan forced unit. I use fan forced in the RV to bring it up to temp, but, then rely on oil filled radiator types to maintain the temperature while we relax and sleep for the quietness the oil filled type provide.

It would appear, after reading the specs, that it may be OK for maintaining a temperature, as long as there are no drafts (not likely in an RV), for a very small trailer. The specs say:

"Heats Room Size – 130 to 150 square feet"

That isn't much space and, I would imagine, toward the larger side, in a draftless room of 150 square feet, it would take quite a while for much of a temperature rise.

Given the "draftiness" of RV units with slides and roof vents, and the abundance of windows in a trailer, the unit will prove rather anemic for heating an RV. To heat a medium sized RV with drafts and windows, a fan powered unit of greater than 475 watts would do far better (temperature rise and distribution) and for much less cost. Its claim of heating for 50% less $$$ is based on the fact that it has 50% or less of most other electric heater's output (475 watts vs 1000 to 1500 watts) and not its build or efficiency. If you like it for "safety" reasons (i.e., anchored to a wall and low current draw), then a couple may suffice in a small trailer (with no slides and one roof vent) to maintain the heat overnight, but, IMHO, a bigger fan forced unit would be the better choice and those can be had that are equally safe, though, not attached to a wall.

Just my thoughts on this particular heater, which was the orignal question.

[wa8yxm]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
A minor nit, but electric heaters with fans are not quite "100% efficient". A small amount of the power drawn is converted to mechanical motion rather than heat.

You are quite mistaken.. Here is why.

While it is true that the motor that turns the fan (if it has one) is less than 100% efficient the difference is expressed as HEAT, and the conversion of the rotary motion of the fan blades to moving air is also less than 100% but again the difference is HEAT, and as the air moves around it rubs up on stuff slightly warming them due to friction (This continues till all the energy imparted by the fan is blead off) so once again we have HEAT.

So all that "Lost Energy" fed to the fan motor, Is recovered as HEAT.

And the heater is once agian 100% efficient.

You should know I have studied this kind of thing.