How Do You Heat Your RV Whilst Boondocking?

[SWharton]

I have a few queston on the blue flame heaters. We currently have an Olympian 8 and like it very much but we know the pad needs to be replaced in a year or 2 and are thinking about switching to a blue flame.

 

My first question is cooling down. If we use it in the morning, prior to packing up do we need to let it cool down first before bringing in the slides(we have a 5th wheel)?

 

Second question is does it work about 5000'? The Olympians do but I think they are modified and only Camping World sells the high altitude model. Is there a high altitude blue flame?

 

Thanks

[Jack Mayer]

Our Blu flame works reliably at 5000'. At 8000' it is not reliable.

 

As far as cooldown goes, the answer depends on where and how you store it when moving. Ours we left just sitting on the floor against a cabinet where it could not turn over (unplugged from the propane line). Cooldown for that was negligible - 15 minutes was more than enough to touch it.

[SWharton]

Thanks.

 

Cooldown seems to be the same as our catalytic, big disappointment that it doesn't work above 5000'. I email them and see if they have a model that does, this is critical to us since we do cold weather camping at altitude.

[Jack Mayer]

Mine works reliably to 8000'. After that - iffy. I "think" my literature said 7000' max...but don't quote me on that....

[wa_desert_rat]

The catalytic mr buddy radiant heater are very efficient 99% + but they are direct vented meaning combustion by products go directly into the condioned space.

Catalytic heaters are not the same as infrared radiant heaters and the two types should not be confused. A catalytic heater produces heat without a flame through a catalytic reaction between the propane and oxygen. A catalytic heater is also not a ceramic heater.

 

This pdf explains it better than most: https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/103972/CO03.pdf.

 

There is a different pdf for infrared radiant heaters: https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/103975/CO02.pdf

 

The portable infrared radiant heaters are FAR MORE DANGEROUS than the portable catalytic heaters. Between 1996 and 2001 there was one death from using a catalytic heater in an enclosed space while there were 12 deaths from using a radiant heater in an enclosed space.

 

Again: A CATALYTIC HEATER IS NOT THE SAME AS A RADIANT HEATER. Knowing the difference between the two could save your life.

 

While the catalytic heaters produce water and do consume oxygen they do not emit anywhere close to the same amount of CO as an open-flame heater (such as a furnace or the burner on your stove or an infrared radiant heater). This is reduced by the catalytic process.

 

If you keep some ventilation open in your RV you should be ok with a catalytic; especially since most of them (including the Mr. Buddy) have an O2 sensor that will turn them off if the oxygen in the RV gets below the safe threshold.

 

So a catalytic heater like Mr. Buddy or the Olympians should be safe enough to use in an RV as long as the depleted oxygen can be renewed. But the air from outside must be moving into the RV; simply having a window open might not be enough if there is little air transfer. And when a catalytic heater begins to run low on oxygen it works less efficiently and can emit more CO. So even though I use a catalytic propane heater (and like it a lot) I think that a little fear of the device is a healthy thing. I don't run mine unattended. If it's too cold at night I'll either run the generator and the furnace or break out the down sleeping bags.

 

And you can also find vented catalytic heaters on line. http://ventedcatheater.com/

 

 

WDR

[Tom_M]

I use a Mr. Heater Buddy. This is the model that uses a single 1 lb. bottle and has no connector for low pressure use. I removed the regulator and plumbed the Buddy into the low pressure line that feeds my cook-top. I have been using the Buddy for five years and it works well and I have had no problems. When hooked up to low pressure, you do not need to use a filter. The filter is used only when an unmodified Buddy is hooked with a hose directly to the high pressure from a large propane tank. The filter traps out any oil that may have acummilated in the tank.

 

The Big Buddy does have a connector for low pressure so there is no need to remove the regulator.

[sushidog]

I heat mine with the furnace. It's safe, relatively quiet, doesnt put moisture into the rv, has a 60 pound fuel tank mounted outside and vented, distributes the heat well, keeps tanks warm, turns on with thermostat, nothing bad to breath, peace of mind and sleep well.

Cool. Do you have a solar system to recharge your batteries? If so, how many watts of solar do you have and what size/number of batteries do you have? If not, how long before your batteries reach around 50% charge and you must run your generator to recharge them?

 

I have seen some smaller (18k btu furnaces) that draw around 5.5 amps, but most bigger furnace blowers draw anywhere from 8 amps on up to around 15 amps (100-200 watts). So let's say you have a pair of 6 v golf-cart batteries giving you about 100 usable amp hours. Of course you have other things that use power like lights, water pump, fridge electronics, slides, etc. So let's say you have 1/2 of this available to run your furnace blower or 50ah. At a 5 amp draw (best case scenario for a 18k btu furnace) you could run your furnace for 20 hours (if using only a typical, single 12v group 27 battery you could barely make one night) before your batteries need recharging (assuming 50% cycling, which is probably optimistic with this small of a furnace). A more realistic run time between recharging for a 30k Btu furnace would be about 10 hours. It wouldn't even last a single cold night if using the typical marine battery most RVs come with.

 

Chip