My first post, you have been warned.
I'm looking for a fulltime (or close to it) 5er and find Cheapheat interesting but it seems all the supporters are new posters which makes me suspicious.
A few points here.
1. 100% efficient
Sorry, but I don't think any system will be 100% efficient. Gotta be some loss somewhere even if it's only a few %. Some energy is used on the blower for example but that is with either system. Some energy may be turned into light rather than heat. Some energy is lost just traveling through wires in the RV. Sure the loss is a small amount but 100% certainly isn't true.
2. Green claim
How is getting your heat from a coal fired power plant somewhere else and transmitting it for miles in power lines (loosing some energy along the way) greener than burning propane locally?
This ranks up there with electric cars. It might cut down on smog in a city but until the original source is "green" there is no improvement as far as greenness goes. *Someday* that may be true but for now I'd call it marketing hype.
I suppose you could run the heater from batteries and recharge them from solar panels but just how long would batteries run this?
3. The website
This screams of being a 1 or 2 man operation. I'm all for entrepreneurship, been there done that. But what happens if the heating element dies? What kind of support will you get if the company goes under? But that could be said for the entire RV industry as of late. How about some photos?
Points in favor of such a device...
1. Not having to run to get propane in the middle of the night during a snowstorm would be priceless
2. ... as would not having angry family members complaining because someone didn't properly calculate how much propane they would need, and someone got too cold the last night of a camping trip.
With the total cost of the system I'd say it would take the expected life of the coach to pay for itself as far as $$$ goes... unless you negotiate it into the original purchase at the last minute. Then the dealer might split the cost to get the sale.
Still, I'm single and will probably just keep a BlueRhino (those tanks you just swap at Wal-Mart) tank in the basement as an emergency backup for a much cheaper price.
Once some manufacturer wises up and makes heaters gas/electric at the flip of a switch it will be a great option. But as an add on that may void the furnace warranty, with no photos of the device, no company background, and the only reviews seemingly lacking in first hand experience... I'll wait and see.
