Heating a camper

[JoHo]

What kind of electric heater do y’all use to heat your campers?

[Wildfowler]

Does it have to be electric? What about a “Mr. buddy” propane heater?

[dukluk]

What size camper???

[JoHo]

32 foot camper.

I was thinking an electric one would be safer and don’t have to buy the tanks.

[missed mallards]

I'm not much help on a solution.

BUT, make sure ya'll have replaced your cabonmonxide(sp) alarms!

[Seymore]

One thing to consider is whether you want it to heat quickly. Something like a My Buddy is a radiant heat in that it heats object and not the air. Convection heats the air by moving air across the element via a fan. Radiant heat will last longer as it will heat objects that will then radiate heat after the heater is shut off. Convection will not last as long as the air itself will cool much more quickly.

[DanP]

I have a 34 ft and I heat it with 2-3 "good Walmart heaters" if that makes sense. Really only need 3 going when it's in the teens. 1 would heat living area and bedroom but we keep a second one going in back for the kids. Much cheaper than propane. Downside is all 3 going will eat up some amps so we only do that at night when nothing else is running.

[7ducks]

I have a 34 ft and I heat it with 2-3 "good Walmart heaters" if that makes sense. Really only need 3 going when it's in the teens. 1 would heat living area and bedroom but we keep a second one going in back for the kids. Much cheaper than propane. Downside is all 3 going will eat up some amps so we only do that at night when nothing else is running.

This....we also started using these in living area.....Honeywell 1500-Watt Oil-Filled Radiant Portable Heater with EnergySmart Electric Radiator...you can set temp and has a timer.

[JoHo]

I saw some at walmart but they were infared, any thoughts on those?

[JoHo]

I'm not much help on a solution.

BUT, make sure ya'll have replaced your cabonmonxide(sp) alarms!

I’ve done that. Great advice!

[Wildfowler]

You can get a fuel line that will connect to a 5 gallon propane bottle to run to Mr. buddy. You have a larger propane tank you or a plumber could easily connect a dedicated line to the heater.

I think we can run the larger buddy heater off a 5 gallon propane bottle for about a weeks worth of morning duck hunts. Probably 20-30 hours. Maybe more, I really don’t know.

I’m sure electric heaters have the same feature but I don’t know this. The Mr. buddy heater will shut off automatically if it’s bumped her knocked over or dropped.

But I’m not trying to talk you out of an electric heater.

[DuckBoat]

I used a single electric radiator type heater that worked well. Only on the coldest days of the year would I have to run the campers gas furnace. Two should work perfect but my camper would trip the breaker with two running. So you may need a separate circuit to run 2.

[7ducks]

I saw some at walmart but they were infared, any thoughts on those?

Infrared heaters will only warm areas directly in front of it.

[JoHo]

Thanks for the replies!

[bucks n beaks]

When I travelled for work and lived in my 26' Jayco, I had 2 electric Delonghi heaters from Home Depot ($50/each). Auto shutoff if tipped over. Thermostat controlled, set to particular temp and shuts off. 1 in the living area and 1 in the bedroom area. Kept my camper quite toasty, even in the coldest MS Delta months. Only time I ever ran my gas heat was when the power went out one February night (it was about 20 deg. F outside). Went to sleep in a tee shirt and shorts and woke up freezing my tail off. When power came back on, the heaters did not. I turned on the electric heaters, gas heat, gas stove, took a hot shower and put on every long john I had. It was about 2 hours before I got back right again. That was the only issue I ever had. Running gas heat is expensive. My camper would go through 2 bottles in a little over a week if I ran it during the winter.