Electric heaters instead of Furnace for winter?

[mdamtaylor]

Hello! I am a first time RV owner and this will be my first winter living in one. I currently live in the Sisters/Bend Oregon area and temperatures can get below freezing in winter. I have a 2010 Heartland Elkridge 35dsrl that has an inclosed underbelly with heated tanks and I am going to skirt it as well and possibly heat lamps from what I have been reading but not sure if the lamps are necessary yet. I have been researching online about using electric heaters (ceramic, infrared, quartz etc.) and I wanted to see if anyone on this forum have used electric heating vs using furnace to save on propane. I was hoping to save the propane for just cooking. Did the electric heaters heat the trailer enough as in up to 67 to 72 degrees? What about condensation? Should I run an outside power supply specific for the heaters or is running electric heaters safe for the trailers electrical system as long as the circuits amps are not exceeded? I hope this is the right place to post this. Anyone on here have experience with this or can direct me to the right link on this topic?

Thanks!

 

[danemayer]

Hi mdamtaylor,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There's lots of useful information here along with a great bunch of friendly and helpful people.

If you have questions about your RV, sometimes the fastest way to get answers is to use the search function on the forum. You can also browse the sub-forums for the subject matter of interest. And of course you can always post a new thread in the relevant sub-forum.

On the electric heater question, there are a couple of things to consider:

First, you need to run the furnace to pump heat into the underbelly. If you don't, even though your tanks are protected by heating pads, your water lines and gate valves may freeze. Skirting will help prevent this depending on how cold it gets.

Second, if you add dedicated outlets, each on their own circuit breaker, you'll avoid the problem of tripping breakers while using other appliances.

Third, you might look for an electric fireplace that fits your floorplan. They're a bit more attractive than space heaters and aren't a trip hazard.

Fourth, make sure you get heaters that have key safety features along with a smart thermostat that varies power use. We use the Pelonis B6A1 model, although they have newer designs now.

You might want to take a look at our owner-written Water Systems Winter Usage Guide for more cold weather tips.

 

[Westwind]

You might want to talk to your local Propane Dealer about positioning a larger propane tank outside of your FW and connect it to the trailer propane lines. They might give you a better rate. I have been in campgrounds in Virginia where that was done. The folks lived in their FW all year round. Their are also heated fresh water hoses that help with extreme cold.

Keep asking questions on the forum you will get lots of help.

 

[TravelTiger]

Hello! I am a first time RV owner and this will be my first winter living in one. I currently live in the Sisters/Bend Oregon area and temperatures can get below freezing in winter. I have a 2010 Heartland Elkridge 35dsrl that has an inclosed underbelly with heated tanks and I am going to skirt it as well and possibly heat lamps from what I have been reading but not sure if the lamps are necessary yet. I have been researching online about using electric heaters (ceramic, infrared, quartz etc.) and I wanted to see if anyone on this forum have used electric heating vs using furnace to save on propane. I was hoping to save the propane for just cooking. Did the electric heaters heat the trailer enough as in up to 67 to 72 degrees? What about condensation? Should I run an outside power supply specific for the heaters or is running electric heaters safe for the trailers electrical system as long as the circuits amps are not exceeded? I hope this is the right place to post this. Anyone on here have experience with this or can direct me to the right link on this topic?

Thanks!

Mdamtaylor,

Were tank heaters added by you, or a previous owner? I don't think the ElkRidge in 2010 came with tank heaters. There should be a vent aimed into the underbelly from the furnace that blows some warm air into the area where tanks and valves are located, creating "enclosed and heated tanks".

In our 2010 ER 34QSRL, furnace alone was not quite enough to keep kitchen pipes from freezing up, especially since we had low point drains hanging below the underbelly. You will need to read the recommendations that Dan mentioned for the water system to find solutions for long term winter living.

As far as running electric heaters, yes you can run them to save on propane, but make sure the furnace runs, too to keep the underbelly warm. I would not count on electric heat exclusively to heat the whole trailer.

We have a countertop Vornado heater in the bedroom, and run our electric fireplace in the living room. Before we had the fireplace we had a freestanding electric fireplace heater: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009PNV2IM/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?qid=1416835638&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

You do have to be careful of the wattage used.

As far as condensation, yes we have some on the inside of the windows. I have not worried about it too much.


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[wdk450]

MDAMTAYLOR:

Hi!!! Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum!

A BIG question to answer is if the RV site you are at has a 30 amp or 50 amp (actually 100 amps) supply. Things are VERY limited on 30 amps, the OLD RV Park standard. Some parks for extended stays have electric metering which is an additional charge above and beyond the space rental charge. That being said, I think that the nature of massively generated electrical distributed power would still make it cheaper than the energy cost of propane (especially seeing propane prices have not followed the downward plunge of petro fuel prices). I try to use electrical heaters as much as possible and run my furnace rarely, although I stay winters in more warmer Southern/Northern California.

If you feel handy enough and safe around electrical wiring, I would replace 1 outlet where you plan to use the electric heater with a REGULAR home-style outlet with connector screws. RVs use outlets that are friendly to mass production techniques, but don't have the larger surface area of a screw-copper wire connection. The high amp draws of an electric heater can cause heating in a regular RV outlet Insulation Displacement wire connection.

Last of all, if you are really serious about electric heating long term, there is a company that sells an electric preheater system for RV furnaces so that they mainly use electric power for heating. See: http://www.rvcomfortsystems.com

 

[mdamtaylor]

Thank you all for your great tips and ideas. I'm have been trying to research as much ideas, opinions, experiences and concerns as possible on the internet and manual and I really appreciate it. All of your replies are very informative. Thanks again for your kind replies to this new RV owner.

 

[mobilcastle]

If you are going to be metered where you pay the electric bill, then find out what the kwh cost is. You may find it to be very expensive if the heater needs to run all the time. Good luck.

 

[dave10a]

If one gallon of propane is equal to 27 kWh of electricity, then we can compare the costs of these fuels directly by looking at the price per unit (propane gallons or kilowatt hours) and finding the price difference. This can easily be done by looking at your electric bill and multiplying the price per kWh by 27. The resulting number will be a dollar figure that will be either greater than or less than the price of a gallon of propane. For example, if you are paying 12¢ per kWh, the electrical cost comparison figure to a gallon of propane will be $3.24 (.12 x 27 = 3.24). Electricity is cheaper than propane if propane is selling for $3.24 per gallon and propane is cheaper than electricity if it is selling for less than $3.24 per gallon.
The question of efficiency come into play and as near as I can tell RV electric portable heaters may be slightly more efficient that can vary significantly. However the BTU values provide a starting point.

 

[branson4020]

Dave,

Good number crunching but I think it would be wise to factor in the relative efficiency (how much of the energy in the fuel ends up as heat in the trailer.) Electric resistance heating can be considered essentially 100% efficient while the typical RV furnace is something like 65%.

 

[mobilcastle]

I am sure your numbers are correct. What bothered me was many heaters run 1500 watts per hr. So that is 1.5 kwh x 24hrs x .12 kwh x30 days = $129.60 per month. If you run two of them it would be $259.20 per month. You then need to add in the cost of your electric hot water, frig,hair dryer,dryer,toaster etc. Now the bill would be much higher. I also know propane is not cheap and rv furnaces are not very efficient. Feel free to correct my numbers if they are wrong.

 

[pegmikef]

I am sure your numbers are correct. What bothered me was many heaters run 1500 watts per hr. So that is 1.5 kwh x 24hrs x .12 kwh x30 days = $129.60 per month. If you run two of them it would be $259.20 per month. You then need to add in the cost of your electric hot water, frig,hair dryer,dryer,toaster etc. Now the bill would be much higher. I also know propane is not cheap and rv furnaces are not very efficient. Feel free to correct my numbers if they are wrong.

We run our heater and fireplace at 750 watts each and they only run about fifty percent of the time when it is really cold (we try to keep it between 68 and 72). They are supplemented by the furnace if we drop to 65 or lower so I can pump warm air into the under belly.