Adding electric heat to coleman Mach3+

[Tyandkate]

Any one ever added electric heat to there rooftop unit? curious as a option to heat up the camper a bit with out the need of gas. Just curious if anyone uses it and the results.

[gmw_photos]

Tyandkate wrote:
So to reference the electric heater to plug in to the wall. I purchased one plugged it in to a surge protector for the breaker protection. It popped in ten mins the cord was very warm to touch and the prongs were so hot you could barely touch them. Moved it to a gfi plug same results. I returned it. I don’t want to lose my trailer over a heater. I got the idea for the add on heat strip because the service wire to the unit is larger than the wire used to the outlets.

See my above post

[Tyandkate]

So to reference the electric heater to plug in to the wall. I purchased one plugged it in to a surge protector for the breaker protection. It popped in ten mins the cord was very warm to touch and the prongs were so hot you could barely touch them. Moved it to a gfi plug same results. I returned it. I don’t want to lose my trailer over a heater. I got the idea for the add on heat strip because the service wire to the unit is larger than the wire used to the outlets.

[ScottG]

rhagfo wrote:

ScottG wrote:
A simple heat strip (5600 btu's) is a nice addition to your other heat sources and is only about $50 rather than the $1k+ the Cheap Heat goes for.
For what it is, the heat strip is a decent value.

I wish mine had it in the main AC (so it would come out the ducts) but the wall stat isn't wired for it.

Scott, seems like you are quoting a DYI price for the heat strip, and a full professional install for the Cheap Heat system.
We have been using our Cheap Heat system for over seven months of use, installed for over a year. We have full timed since June and have no complaints. DYI install cost were about $600 complete including the furnace unit.
The Cheap Heat system has the advantage of heating the basement of a 5er, heat strip doesn’t do.

You're right, it looks like the Cheap Heat is now $587 to $748. That's still a lot more than a heat strip.
Still, if money is no object (and you have room for it on your furnace) or you're going to be using electric heat a lot, the CH might be worth it to some.
If they could get it down to about $250, I would probably go for it.

[gmw_photos]

I agree with Chris that I don't trust the cheap standard outlets to run my small cube heater. What I did was to install two new outlets in my trailer.

One is in the slide out, so it's wired to the outside, with a male plug that I can plug into a good ( yellowjacket ) short extension cord to the 20A outlet at the CG power pedestal. As such, it completely bypasses the trailer wiring system.

The second outlet comes off a newly added breaker in the load center. I use it for times like right now, where I am camped, the CG power ped only has a 30A plug.

I use a small "cube" heater ( 700W/1400W ) and can meet most all my heating needs on the low setting.

[ktmrfs]

MKirkland wrote:
We like our heat strip. It has directional fins that pushes the heat anywhere we want.I'm a light sleeper and it is a constant white noise so I won't be bothered by the people in the next campsite that either stay up way past my bedtime or get up at sunrise and start talking loudly. We have a 22ft trailer so the heat strip is perfect.

similar for us. one thing to be aware of, it is around 1500 Watts/4500BTU so it isn't likely to warm up the trailer, but will keep it warm in many cases. Nice thing for us is it keeps the living AND bedroom warm. It's easy to install.

I have one in my MachIII in the big trailer and one in the polar cub in our smaller trailer.

[goducks10]

Why not install one of these?
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=toe+kick+heater&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=24193523...
I'm thinking seriously about installing one under my 1st step in our 5th wheel.

[pianotuna]

If you are concerned about fire, then use an oil filled heater. Their surface temperature never approaches 451 F.

[rhagfo]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
Why not just buy a $20 portable heater and be done with it. The ceramic heaters put out significant heat for their size and installation amounts to just plugging it in!

Well as stated many times before safety! My dad was a Firefighter and saw way too many fires started by portable electric heaters. Yes most have good safety systems, but they still have a greater fire possibility than you furnace using gas or electric. Second is space, small ceramic heaters don’t take a ton of space, but you also have the operating space around them. Many use the oil filled units, which take a good size foot print, even in our 32’ 5er we don’t have that space to spare. Yes the Cheap Heat adds 6” to the length of the the furnace which could not work for all. My install actually added 9” to the length as it is under the sink peninsula and the heating element wiring box ended up behind a cabinet panel, I added a 3” duct extension to the furnace to access to the wiring box.

I am one to admit that the Cheap Heat unit and install is not cheap, but the unit is UL labeled and installed correctly all wiring is correctly sized for the draw place on it. Which makes it far safer than portables.

Cost of operations should be the same as using portables or maybe slightly less based on thermostatic control of the heat.

[Chris_Bryant]

I installed one and used the same thermostat, just added a toggle between gas and electric heat. FWIW, I would never use an electric heater in an RV without installing a high quality outlet- those "self contained device" outlets are not safe with a long term high wattage load, in my opinion.

[DownTheAvenue]

Why not just buy a $20 portable heater and be done with it. The ceramic heaters put out significant heat for their size and installation amounts to just plugging it in!

[MKirkland]

We like our heat strip. It has directional fins that pushes the heat anywhere we want.I'm a light sleeper and it is a constant white noise so I won't be bothered by the people in the next campsite that either stay up way past my bedtime or get up at sunrise and start talking loudly. We have a 22ft trailer so the heat strip is perfect.

[SoundGuy]

Tyandkate wrote:
Any one ever added electric heat to there rooftop unit? curious as a option to heat up the camper a bit with out the need of gas. Just curious if anyone uses it and the results.

Aside from having to listen to all the racket any A/C produces the other drawback to a heat strip is the A/C is pushing warm air out exactly where it's not needed, up at the ceiling. 😞 Warm air rises so you'd enjoy far better results with a simple ceramic electric heater sitting on the floor.

[Tyandkate]

Thanks for the view points y’all. We don’t full time in our TT. I was a little set back with the “cheap heat” not very cheap at all. I’m going to install the strip heat in the rooftop. Wire in a new T-stat to control it and go from there.

[pianotuna]

I love my heat strip which took all of five minutes to install.

I use it in parallel with the furnace. Cheap Heat can NOT do that.

[rhagfo]

ScottG wrote:
A simple heat strip (5600 btu's) is a nice addition to your other heat sources and is only about $50 rather than the $1k+ the Cheap Heat goes for.
For what it is, the heat strip is a decent value.

I wish mine had it in the main AC (so it would come out the ducts) but the wall stat isn't wired for it.

Scott, seems like you are quoting a DYI price for the heat strip, and a full professional install for the Cheap Heat system.
We have been using our Cheap Heat system for over seven months of use, installed for over a year. We have full timed since June and have no complaints. DYI install cost were about $600 complete including the furnace unit.
The Cheap Heat system has the advantage of heating the basement of a 5er, heat strip doesn’t do.