Ditching the propane heater for an electric

[Stuka]

I picked up a 30 Springdale to use as a temp home while my house is being built. I pulled out the wall between the dining area and the queen bedroom, removed the bed and small couch, to make an open living area. There was a propane furnace on the floor, pretty much right in the way, so I removed that too and covered the holes, then tiled over it. I put in a simple 1500 watt electric floor heater and after a couple nights of 38 degrees, it seems to do the trick. Why do trailers use the propane heaters? Is it in case there is no electricity available and they can heat off the propane bottles? It seems like a lot of complication (blowers, vents, ducting) when a single electric heater does the job as well.

[pnichols]

MrWizard wrote:
Radiant heat is good for directional heat in a local area, convection heat will heat a larger area, but you won't feel it as quickly.

We have a brand new experience going on with radiant heat that is awesome:

We just had installed a propane fireplace (from Canada) in the large living room area of our stick house that is specifically designed to put out radiant heat only - no blower fan for it required or available.

It is controlled by a small remote with a room air temperature gauge on the remote. With the room starting out at, say, 65 degrees air temperature as indicated by the gauge on the remote, we can turn on the fireplace initially at maximum flame and after maybe 1/2 to 1 hour the air temperature gauge might reach 72-73 degrees. This all happens because radiant heat from the fireplace is heating objects (which includes us) and it's the objects in the room that as they warm up slowly heat the air in the room.

However, IMMEDIATELY after turning on the fireplace our whole bodies (anywhere in the room - up to 20 feet away) begin to feel drenched in soothing warmth - what a feeling on a chilly evening! There is no substitute for this type of warming comfort, IMHO. That's why in an earlier post I talked jokingly about "not all BTU's being the same".

This is the 1500 watt infrared quartz tower heater that we use in our RV that heats probably at least 80% as radiant with maybe only 20% as convection. This heater immediately gives us the same warm feeling in the motorhome as the fireplace does in the stick house:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/holmes-infrared-quartz-tower-heater-white/3845025.p?id=1219093975213&sku...

[MrWizard]

pnichols wrote:

KA4EBU wrote:
My rear furnace is 42,000 btu's. A gallon of propane will run the heater continuosly for 2.1 hours.

Hmmm ... did you mean a gallon of propane or a pound of propane? A gallon every 2.1 hours seems awfully high.

He got the numbers right...Notice the word continuously
He means total run time to use all the BTUs in one gallon
It's got to be desperately cold for the furnace to run non stop
Normal use they cycle on off, so that run time is spread over a larger time span, and many of us the furnace is a bit smaller and uses less lp

no body is talking about a 5000 BTU FORCED air furnace
Which is a ridiculous idea
The comparison is the removal of the RV l.p. FORCED air and a 5100 BTU electric

Radiant heat is good for directional heat in a local area, convection heat will heat a larger area, but you won't feel it as quickly

[Airstreamer67]

One thing to keep in mind is that propane heaters lose perhaps 35-40% of their heat while exhausting noxioux combustion gas to the outside. An exception would be the nonvented catalytic type heaters or the Buddy heaters.

So, a 5000 btu electric heater will issue 5000 btu of heat into the coach, whereas 5000 btu of central gas heat will issue a fraction of that. Comparing btu to btu can be misleading.

[pnichols]

Not all 1500 watt heaters feel the same on warmth.

We sometimes use a 1500 watt convection electric heater in our RV, and other times use a 1500 watt radiant electric heater in our RV. The radiant heater feels vastly more comfortable than the convection heater.

ALL BTU's are not the same ... it can depend upon how the BTU's are delivered, technology-wise.

[pnichols]

KA4EBU wrote:
My rear furnace is 42,000 btu's. A gallon of propane will run the heater continuosly for 2.1 hours.

Hmmm ... did you mean a gallon of propane or a pound of propane? A gallon every 2.1 hours seems awfully high.

[kennethwooster]

Not sure where you are located in Texas. Probably along the border and you are fine. I'm in the Panhandle and we are very cold. I know for a fact I must have the propane heat to stay warm. We use a space heater with it. I do worry about the lines under the floor. They must have the propane heat to keep from freezing.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

I've had about 20 nights below freezing in the last 65 days in the TT hosting at a Texas SP. Down to 19 four times, one period of 60 hours below freezing (40 below 25).

The propane furnace heats around the water tanks and the below floor water lines.

We mostly use the electric fireplace and a small electric space heater - but I want a furnace putting hot air into the area below the floor.

[tpi]

Why do trailers use the propane heaters?

I doubt I would even own an RV if I didn't use it off the grid. I find the built in propane furnace very usable if a bit noisy. Certainly combined with solar, 300 AH batterys, LED lighting, and low draw electronics, there is plenty of battery power for cold nights. At least for the couple nights here, couple nights there camping I usually do.

Electric heaters are a very useful supplement when plugged in. One 5K BTU unit running will usually keep me comfortable for sleeping under covers in outside air temp of mid to high 20s. If just a bit chilly it can do the entire job. The furnace can make up any needed extra heat when plugged in.

[KA4EBU]

Info from notes only.
Gallon of propane 91,000 btu's.
Gallon of propane weighs about 4.25 pounds.
1 KW = 3412.14 btu's
.293 watts = 1 btu
Propane at the flying J in Olive Branch id 3.29 a gallon.
My rear furnace is 42,000 btu's. A gallon of propane will run the heater continuosly for 2.1 hours.

[wbwood]

Most campers are made to be self contained, therefore not needing hookups. Although running a propane heater will just about kill a battery overnight (if it actually doesn't), it's more likely to be able to run it than an electric heater without electricity coming into the camper. Yes you can get around it with a beefed up system.

[Atlee]

Well, you gave the answer. RV's have propane heating systems in order to go off grid, ie boon dock. If you're only going to travel from camp ground to camp ground, you're fine. Or if you're going to deploy generators everywhere you stop, you're fine.

You turned your TT into a room to live in while your house was being built. It's a single purpose unit now, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, do you every plan to sell it? For me, it's now unbuyable. I wouldn't even look at a RV that didn't have a propane system in it.

Stuka wrote:
I picked up a 30 Springdale to use as a temp home while my house is being built. I pulled out the wall between the dining area and the queen bedroom, removed the bed and small couch, to make an open living area. There was a propane furnace on the floor, pretty much right in the way, so I removed that too and covered the holes, then tiled over it. I put in a simple 1500 watt electric floor heater and after a couple nights of 38 degrees, it seems to do the trick. Why do trailers use the propane heaters? Is it in case there is no electricity available and they can heat off the propane bottles? It seems like a lot of complication (blowers, vents, ducting) when a single electric heater does the job as well.

[wa8yxm]

Stuka wrote:
Why do trailers use the propane heaters? Is it in case there is no electricity available and they can heat off the propane bottles? It seems like a lot of complication (blowers, vents, ducting) when a single electric heater does the job as well.

Well,,, you are right, it is more complicated, but ... I have spent some nights without electricity, both in my house when I had one and in my motor home And that 12 volt powered, propane burning RV furnace kept me nice and comfy (In the motor home, at the sticks and bricks it was a bit chilly).

Some have put in the "Cheep Heat" system which uses the Propane furnace burner and duct work but an electric heat element (Kind of like the dual power water heaters).

Some RV's today are "All Electric" do not even have a propane tank.
(Would hate to boondock on a cold night in one of those).

I use electric space heaters (up to four) most of the time, plus added heat (electric) in the wet bays to prevent freezing when needed.

[turbojimmy]

The original question has already been answered...RV furnace has 12V operation, more efficient, portable (self-contained), etc. The design is meant to provide comfort where you normally wouldn't have it (i.e., where the draw of multiple electric heaters would be impractical).

My M31 Allegro has a 35,000 BTU and a 15,000 BTU furnace (propane fired; 12V). In sub-freezing temps, they will bring the RV up to 70 degrees in less than half-an-hour. It makes camping a lot more comfortable. In a pinch I can use the RV's generator to run the natural gas, hot-air furnace in my house but it's a waste to use it for electric space heaters.

I use a 1500 watt electric heater to exercise the generator (AC units don't run when it's cold). Yesterday, I let the 1500 watt heater load the generator for 30 minutes. It's in the high-20s (F) outside. It was only warm inside within 6-inches of the electric heater. The forced-air, ducted furnaces provide even heat throughout the RV.

Converting a travel trailer to a specific purpose seems to have worked for the OP's specific use, but to call into question RV furnaces versus electric space heaters based on this specific use case seems a bit troll-ish.

[RoyB]

There is another 'PLUS' for those of us that has a RV TRAILER around. Here where we live sometimes have our power grid gets knocked out usually with Hurricane or Heavy Icing periods.

Since my RV TRAILER is equipped with BATTERY OPERATIONS it sure is nice to run a couple of 120VAC Extension cords into the house to run our home electronics, run a few lights, keep the fridge going etc... Or we move temporarily to the RV Trailer and live in it for a couple of days when we are without county power.

Then I can run my small 2KW Generator for three hours each day to re-charge my batteries to be able to do all of this all over again for the next day/night run off the RV Trailer batteries.

During the past few years I have had to do a couple of these week long periods running off my RV Batteries...

We had PATIO PARTIES every night including cook-outs letting the neighbors catch up with their HDTV shows etc...

Roy Ken