Running 2 space heaters

[Riwright]

Space heaters pull a lot of current (mine pulls about 11 amps), you can only run one per circuit.

This normally means you can only run one space heater in the camper.

Some people run a second cord out to the power pole and into the 15A plug, but the place that I camp has 30A service only for a lot of spots.

The trailmanor has a 30 amp plug. The incoming power is split into two circuits. One circuit runs the air conditioner and the other circuit runs everything else.

As I was looking at the wiring diagram it occurred to me that you could make a small modification that would let you run two space heaters in the camper.

I plan to simply reroute the never-used outdoor plug to the same circuit as the air conditioner. I can run the plug for the second space heater through the flap and into the outside plug. As long as I don't run the air conditioner and the space heater at the same I'll be in good shape.

[Padgett]

Most space heaters also have a lower (typ 800W) setting. That is all I have needed in my RV down to freezing. Mine also has a fan inside so I place it low and position so air is circulating but not on me.

If you need more, why not use the propane furnace ? Is that an option ?

[Bill]

It should work quite well. And if you do try to run the air conditioner and a heater at the same time, the worst that will happen is that you will pop the breaker for the "air conditioner". HOWEVER, you should replace the unused outdoor outlet with a GFI outlet. At present, it is part of a GFI circuit; when you rewire it, it won't be.

Bill

[Riwright]

Thanks Bill, I hadn't thought of that.

The propane furnace wakes us up as it cycles on and off all night. Other than that, it's fine, puts out lots of heat.

[BTBlazer]

if you have a microwave outlet across the hall from bathroom it has its own 20amp breaker easy fix. micro 8 amps heater 11 amps or dont use at same time

[tgpmd1]

I posted this info a while back on how I keep the TM warm and use two space heaters.

"We have only camped a few times in the cold, but mid November in the low 30's was the coldest. We used air conditioning foam (gray from hardware store) under all the flaps. For the large flap up near the front, we used leftover pink foam cut out of two large pieces to insulate that area. It's hard and we cut to fit in the space. We a 1500W twin ceramic heaters we use for heat in the main area. I also have two 200W small space heaters we use for the bedroom areas. When taking a shower, the 200W is nice to heat up the bathroom. Remember that there will be quite a bit of condensation each day to deal with. Mostly in the windows. We haven't been braved a trip longer than 3 days in cold weather. We did not have hook ups, so didn't need to worry about a hose line freezing. Good luck!"

Since I posted this, we just upped the 1500W heater to this model http://costcocouple.com/bionaire-dig...-tower-heater/ which works even better than the twin heater we had before. We put on the counter above the fridge and let run all night long and it is programmable, oscillates and worked great. We still use the 200W in the bedroom on the TV shelf that came with our TM.

Has anyone tried one of those canister dehumidifiers CW and other RV places sell? Would it be effective in the above situation?

[tentcamper]

We went camping for the first time with the TM a few weeks back. Each night it dropped into the low 40's. We only brought one 1500 w heater and it did great. It only ran about 20% of the time and keep the camper at a nice 70 degrees.

Base on its performance I would think one heater is good for us until about 30 degrees. When its going to drop below 30, we will bring our second heater and run it on the 800 W setting. We never had an issue running the two heater one on 1500W and the second on 800W, with our previous campers on a 15 amp breaker.

For dry camping we bring our 8K BTU wave heater, I still need to plum in a quick disconnect on the Low pressure line. With this camper and the performance of the 1500 w elec heater. I think the 8K BTU heater should be good to about 30 degrees before the furnace kicks in.

[rickst29]

Originally Posted by tentcamper

For dry camping we bring our 8K BTU wave heater....

Don't forget: Catalytic heaters avoid creating as much CO as flame heaters, but they still consume lots of oxygen. You need ventilation from outside in order to use one safely!

[tentcamper]

Very true. You need to leave the vent open a 1/2 to 1 inch.

In theory cat heater don't create any CO or HC. They create CO2 and H2O. But if the oxygen get to low they create lots of CO.