NEED HEAT,ANY IDEAS

zlivewire · 10-27-2008, 07:02 PM

i called rec direct about a suburban nt16 furnance they told me that its not for van,is that just for liability.figured could mount in little cabinet,maybe mount a propane tank underneth,where does sportsmobile mount it,and how big,30lb....isnt this the safest way to go about heating,need something this weekend,i may resort to buddy heater,co2 detector and front windows open,am i going to get any sleep,or be worrying about not waking up.

oclv · 10-28-2008, 09:44 AM

For something quick and painless for this weekend, you can buy a Coleman Black Cat catalytic heater. My wife and I used one for two years in her Astro Van before we bought our Sportsmobile. It is small, runs on the 1 Lb green cylinders. We just cracked a window a couple inches and it did fine. It worked fine in temps down into the low 20's. They were not very expensive and will buy you some time until you do something permanent. oclv

wannaSMB · 10-29-2008, 05:07 PM

Mr. Heater vs. Coleman:

I think both now have models with oxygen depletion sensors. I would make sure you get one with this feature for piece of mind.

However, a heater with a ODS will not work at altitude (auto-shut-off triggers in the thinner air). I asked the mfr. (Mr. Heater) if it could be adjusted to work in the mtns, and he said no, they were prohibited from providing adjustability if they wanted to attain that indoor use certification.

zlivewire · 10-29-2008, 05:37 PM

got the mr heater single can,ran it for 3.5 hrs in my sunroom,just to see how it worked,burn off.and it smelled like propane,dont think ill be able to sleep in van with this thing,ill try the blackcat,if i can find it local

cobaum · 02-17-2009, 10:25 PM

I have used the Mr Heeater (not in the SMB) at my house at 6000' with no problem. Used in the mountains at 10,000 plus and it worked, but would go out and have to be restarted. Burns through a 1# pretty quick.

**daveb** · 02-17-2009, 11:02 PM

I also have a friend who uses the mr heater in a tent on as low as it can be set. It has worked well to 9000 feet.

louie · 02-10-2011, 12:52 AM

What about using an actual electric heater that plugs into the 110 outlet? Would it eat up my batteries pretty quick? Anyone tried it?

Nomadcat · 02-10-2011, 08:37 AM

you would need shore power or a decent sized generator. your batteries would go down faster than you would ever think. not viable at all on battery power alone.

louie · 02-10-2011, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomadcat

you would need shore power or a decent sized generator. your batteries would go down faster than you would ever think. not viable at all on battery power alone.

That's what I would think, but the owner of a van I'm looking at swears he can plug in an electric space heater and it runs all night off his aux batteries...
L

Ford_6L_E350 · 02-10-2011, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomadcat

you would need shore power or a decent sized generator. your batteries would go down faster than you would ever think. not viable at all on battery power alone.

That's what I would think, but the owner of a van I'm looking at swears he can plug in an electric space heater and it runs all night off his aux batteries...
L

Even on a low 600W setting, and electric heater draws 50+ amps from the batteries. For 8 hours, that will completely drain 2 4D batteries. Not many vans have that much battery. Electric heat and batteries are really not compatible.

Sounds to me like you can't trust what he says. That would make me very wary of dealing with him.

Mike