Portable heater recommendations?

twertsch

Advanced Member
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
59
Location
Denver
I finally figured out the reason I wasn't sleeping through the night camping was each time the furnace kicked on, it woke me up. About every 2-3 hours here in the mountains. A friend recommended trying a small portable heater, electric plug in type that would keep our small camper (its only a 17ft-er) warm enough to offset the furnace kicking on so often.
I was thinking that was brilliant! The best would be one that you could set the exact template on instead of low medium high, and maybe a USB plug in? Since the camper's battery will power USB and recharge via solar the next day.
Anyone have experience with portable heaters like these? Any recommendations?
 
I finally figured out the reason I wasn't sleeping through the night camping was each time the furnace kicked on, it woke me up. About every 2-3 hours here in the mountains. A friend recommended trying a small portable heater, electric plug in type that would keep our small camper (its only a 17ft-er) warm enough to offset the furnace kicking on so often.
I was thinking that was brilliant! The best would be one that you could set the exact template on instead of low medium high, and maybe a USB plug in? Since the camper's battery will power USB and recharge via solar the next day.
Anyone have experience with portable heaters like these? Any recommendations?
Using a small portable electric heater is a good idea. They are cheap and widely available. They are all 120 volt.

I use one in my Kodiak Cub day and night when shore power is available and outside temperature will be above freezing. There are an endless array of temperature controls on portable heaters.

There is no way to power a heater from a USB port.

There is no practical way to power an electric heater from a Kodiak Cub battery bank. It would need an 800 amp hour battery bank and a huge solar array. It is not going to fit.
 
Generating heat requires lots of energy. As Persistent said, a USB port will not have adequate power and you will likely need to use AC power. In theory, you could use an inverter plugged into a 12 receptacle and then use a portable heater but I doubt you will find an inverter that has enough power and/or doesn't drain your battery immediately.

You won't be able to use an electric blanket for the same reason.

You mentioned you are in the mountains but it sounds like you are not on shore power so the above will not work. If you are on shore power then there are many plug in heaters but they will draw close to 10 amps and might trip your breakers. I have tried the approach to heat my garage in toy hauler and I have to plug directly into the power pedestal with an extension cord because the circuits in my RV do not have enough amperage.

BTW, they do make small propane heaters that are rated to be used indoors but they are not that efficient and will probably go through an entire small green propane canister each night. They will be quiet, although very expensive to use.

Maybe instead of an electric blanket just use thicker or more blankets?

Good luck.
 
Generating heat requires lots of energy. As Persistent said, a USB port will not have adequate power and you will likely need to use AC power. In theory, you could use an inverter plugged into a 12 receptacle and then use a portable heater but I doubt you will find an inverter that has enough power and/or doesn't drain your battery immediately.

You won't be able to use an electric blanket for the same reason.

You mentioned you are in the mountains but it sounds like you are not on shore power so the above will not work. If you are on shore power then there are many plug in heaters but they will draw close to 10 amps and might trip your breakers. I have tried the approach to heat my garage in toy hauler and I have to plug directly into the power pedestal with an extension cord because the circuits in my RV do not have enough amperage.

BTW, they do make small propane heaters that are rated to be used indoors but they are not that efficient and will probably go through an entire small green propane canister each night. They will be quiet, although very expensive to use.

Maybe instead of an electric blanket just use thicker or more blankets?

Good luck.

Cuddle :D
 
Oh you guys are great, as always! My takeaways are that a USB plug in heater is a no-go fantasy of mine. Propane really is not practical - I have one I used in my VW bus in the winter driving as they don't have heat. Yes they go thru propane like crazy. I hadn't thought of an electric blanket in lieu of a heater, though my dogs might object to lack of heat in the trailer over night; and 2 45 lb dogs in a queen with me and hubby takes cuddling to extremes.
We have lately been plugging in to shore power. It drives me nuts that we go thru so much propane for the heater while we are hocked up to power we are paying for at the site. We are off grid more in the summer when the nights are warm and no worries over needing a heater at night. And then the heater kicking on is so loud it wakes me up. So I'll give a small electric heater a try.
 
The hot water heater is one we can chose yo heat via electric or gas. When we are plugged in, wevgo electric. When not, we go gas.
 
I always thought it was a better practice to leave the heaters turned off when not using the hot water in general. Its just seems wasteful. We also leave the breaker flipped off for the electric just in case there isn't water in the pump and we accidentally flip the switch in the camper. We don't need hot water from the camper itself unless we are showering.
 
One of you guys recommended a digital Honeywell thermostat to replace the crappy one that came with the trailer. It was like $30. That Honeywell thermostat is awesome. It really cut down on how much the heater in general runs. Best $30 ever!
 

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