Wave 3 heater and propane tank

[mkletka]

I'll be making a short weekend trip and will need heat for a couple of nights but won't have an electric power hookup or be able to use the generator. Was thinking about getting a Wave 3 heater and just hooking it up to a 20 lb propane tank inside the TC. All I should need is a low pressure regulator and hose to connect right? Any danger with using the propane tank inside the TC? I'll be sure to crack a window. If I had more time I'd pipe propane from the TC tanks. That will be a project for next year.

[Jfet]

RoyB wrote:
JFET - It is something like a propane smell - I'm sure my furnace is doing what it is suppose to do but I can always tell when I am near a propane furnace heat source.. I'm sure I am not describing it right...

I don't smell anything like this using the automobile hot water heaters...

Roy Ken

It might be that your furnace hasn't run long enough to burn off the manufacturing oil on the sheet metal it is made out of.

When we installed the Atwood furnace in our build, we had to run it for several hours with a fan blowing the furnace output toward the open door....it smelled horrible and set off the smoke detector. After a few hours everything had burned off and now the only way you can tell the furnace is on is the fan noise and the fact that the inside of the camper has gone up to 80 degrees in a matter of minutes.

[Kayteg1]

CptnBG wrote:
Since you have to crack a window anyway, why not get a longer hose and run it through a cracked window or door, leave the tank outside.

I think the main idea about small propane tanks in those heaters is that they will run out of propane before they kill you.
Nobody come with direct comparison thought.

[wvabeer]

I would get the small buddy heater, long hose and make sure you get the filter they recommend (been there had to buy an orifice) hook to your bottle that's outside or fix yourself a connection to you gas line inside. the small one will run you out of there on low. I have one and they work great.

[Raften]

We lived for years with a gas clothes dryer fed by portable tanks inside the house. Never a problem but always aware of having a bomb as a housemate. drill your hole and put the tank outside. When I first started using a Wave I ran it from a small tank inside a van overnighting in ski resort parking lots.

[jaycocreek]

This is the way I ran my wave 3 for extended stays.

[RoyB]

JFET - It is something like a propane smell - I'm sure my furnace is doing what it is suppose to do but I can always tell when I am near a propane furnace heat source.. I'm sure I am not describing it right...

I don't smell anything like this using the automobile hot water heaters...

Roy Ken

[bigfootford]

A wave3 is an excellent alternative for heat.

Here is how long it will run on propane.

1 lb of propane is 21,000 btu's


A wave3 running on high = 3200btu's/hr
A Wave3 running on low= 1600btu's/hr

A 20lb propane bottle = 92,000btu's...

You can do the math.

Jim

[narcodog]

When I bought my Wave 3 I bought the complete kit. Which included the heater, feet and a hose with regulator. The first time I used it I placed the heater with legs on the closed cover of stove top and the tank on the floor. Worked very well. Now I hang the heater from a cabinet with a hose which is connected to an outside BBQ connection. I ran the hose through the LP tank bay into a small cabinet under the fridge.. If one reads the instruction manual you'll see that it only takes a few sq inches of ventilation to satisfy the requirements.

Instead of a large 20 lb tank you can get a 5lb tank if you wanted to go that direction.

[Reddog1]

mkletka wrote:
... Since my TC is mounted on a flatbed truck, ...

You were withholding information, not fair. :B

If you have the door that usually opens to the wheel well, you could do the milk crate and run the the door. Pretty easy to seal the door, and a little leakage would be a good thing.

[jimh406]

I'm not sure about the safety of it, but I know people who have done it including myself when the batteries are gone or the furnace won't run. Buy a small cast iron pot or skillet. Open the roof vent. Place it on your stove and put the burner on it's lowest setting. Of course, there is no thermostat, so you could just preheat before sleep, turn it off, and turn it back on when you get up.

I think the best option is the Buddy series that has a thermostat.

Of course, you could always just add more blankets.

[Jfet]

RoyB wrote:


I hate the burned PROPANE smell that comes off these type of heaters as well as the trailer built-in PROPANE furnace... Certainly is NOT clean heat like being developed from a HOT WATER based car heater haha...

Just me yaking

Roy Ken

If you are getting a propane smell from a built in traditional furnace, something is wrong. The burning propane is in a separate chamber vented and oxygenated from the outside. This is why it doesn't add humidity to the inside of the RV like a Wave 3 heater will.

[mkletka]

After reading some of the reviews on Amazon I have another idea. Since my TC is mounted on a flatbed truck, I could just put the propane tank in a milk crate on the flatbed next to the access panel. I'll drill a small hole just large enough for the hose to go through the bed access panel and stuff a rag around the opening. When done, I'll figure out a way to close up the opening. Maybe a large fender washer with round head carriage bolt and nut on the inside.

[Reddog1]

A good idea, but the hose can get very pricey. I have a 12-foot hose I think cost me about $40. I think going from the ground through a window to the floor of the RC would require at least a 12-foot hose.

Wayne

[RoyB]

I don't think I would like doing that... The fumes (if any) will be drawn right into the WAVE 3 open flame/red hot core for sure.

I also would not like the idea of portable hoses laying on the floors or running through the windows etc taking all of the abuse that will come from that.

Sounds like an overall bad idea all the way around to me.

The MR BUDDY type heater (LOWES-Camp stores) that runs off of screw-on 1LB propane canisters to me might be alot safer with everything self contained... We used these all the time when tent camping and this is also our heat back-up plan for our off-road POPUP camper. Have used the MR BUDDY in the POPUP TRAILER with cracked open windows a few times...

I hate the burned PROPANE smell that comes off these type of heaters as well as the trailer built-in PROPANE furnace... Certainly is NOT clean heat like being developed from a HOT WATER based car heater haha...

Just me yaking

Roy Ken