Heating a Class A

[Timsmith7 36]

So we will be at the Fort 12/13 thru 12/21. The RV is equipped with a propane heater and it does fine however I don't believe we would have enough gas to power it for a week.

I am thinking an electric heater, what are some of the solutions fellow fiends use at the Fort?

[dblr....Rennie 224]

We use a small ceramic heater works great but does tend to dry the air out, and we use this to winter camp in Pa. where is it is a lot colder then Fl

[Timsmith7 36]

I have a heater in the RV now seeing what it will do. Ours is a 32 foot and it is currently 28 degrees outside. If I can heat it up some I would imagine it will work at the Fort.

I've never had to use the lp heater and I am concerned about the odor. Anyone with experience using the lp heater?

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Never noticed an odor and if you try the small ceramic heaters I would put it on the floor as heat rises, do not be like a friend of ours who put it on the counter so his camper never really got warm enough, told him put it low and it worked much better. We also use the fireplace in our 5th wheel to get the chill out and it works great.

[Timsmith7 36]

Good advice on putting it on the floor. Our RV is an older entry level so we don't have a fireplace. Since we have our children with us we won't be heating up the preferred way ; )

[AuburnJen 777]

We have used a space heater when our propane ran out in the middle of the night before.  (Why does it always run out in the middle of the night?)  Anyway, depending on the size of your Class A, and how many people you have, two at the most would do.  Walmart is running a special on some that are pet and child friendly and cold to the touch and run on the floor for 90 something each.  We have one similar and it works fantastic.  In fact, sometimes we use it instead of the furnace because frankly, it will heat you right out of there if you are not careful.  (and suck up all the propane in the process too)  If there is just the two of us, we use one space heater and if we have people in the front, we use two.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Just be sure not to turn on the microwave, hair dryer, etc., while running the space heaters!  We did this last year at the fort and tripped the breaker on our inverter.  It cost us $150 for someone to come out and locate the inverter breaker for us.

 

Now we run the HydroHot.  We arrive at the fort with plenty of diesel fuel to get us through.

[DinDavie 37]

The LP furnaces are safe to use and they do not produce odors or fumes to be concerned about.  I camped in 20 degree weather in Vermont with a little electric heater and an electric blanket.  Cooking breakfast and making coffee usually brings the temp back to normal in the MH.  A little discomfort is what camping is all about.  I would just bite the bullet and top off the lp tank.  The hot water heater and the stove will also need the gas and I wouldn't want to do without them.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

We use an oil filled radiator and a small ceramic heater to heat our 40' 5'er. It will stay 70+ easily with just those. It is more even heat too, imo.

[caveat lector 181]

Use Disneys electricity where possible

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I rarely use my LP furnace....as they tend to drain your LP quickly.  Like mentioned above, use Disney's electricity instead.  Those little electric heaters work great.  

[caveat lector 181]

You can even use the ac fan to circulate some of that heat

[tim5055 120]

Use Disneys electricity where possible

X2

[AuburnJen 777]

Use Disneys electricity where possible

cuz at this time of the year, you are certainly paying for it!

[Classact....Mike 17]

I'll echo comments already posted.

 

We prefer to use the campground electricity instead of our LP whenever possible.  We use an oil filled radiator heater for the primary source of  heat - it does not dry out the air, it's safe, and even heat.  DW uses an electric blanket, but unless it gets brutally cold, the oil filled heater does quite well. 

 

I'm always paranoid about running out of LP gas, so we use it sparingly.  But I really shouldn't be so concerned - I'm amazed at how long a tank of propane lasts. We keep our water heater set to the electric mode most of the time, but even in the gas mode, and using the furnace nightly, you should have enough propane to last a week, maybe 2 weeks.  In our previous class C, we took a trip to Indiana for my Dad's funeral of all things, and stayed in the coach for 5 days with temps in the teens, with 25+ MPH winds, ice and snow.  Horrible conditions to "camp".  The oil filled heater did not keep up, and DW was coming down w/ the flu so I wanted it warm in the coach, and we ran the furnace - a lot.  I was amazed that after a week of heavy use, we still had about 1/2 tank of propane. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I bet it will last. We only fill ours 1-2 times a year. Although if I didn't have a little one it would make sense to use Disney power.

[devores 382]

We fulltime in a 40ft Fifth wheel. We have been through several "cold" times and have learned what to do to keep the temps comfortable.

 

Our rig stays warm to begin with. Usually 5 to 10 dgs above the outside temp. This is due to the extra insulation and double pane windows. We also use the skylight insulation to keep the warm air from escaping through those flimsy plastic covers.  Keep your shades down. This will keep the cold of the windows from radiating into the living area and keep you from using valuable heat to heat up the glass. If you have day night shades, you can still let the light in and keep the cold out. If you have a ceiling fan, reverse the rotation. This will force the heated air down into the living area helping heat the area. Run it at a lower speed though to prevent cooling the air in the process.

 

We use the electric fireplace and a small portable electric heater. We do not set our sites high. We keep the living area at a comfortable 75. The only time we use the LP is when are going to be gone for an extended period of time. I do not trust electric heaters when Im not around. When using the LP, we set it to 60. Then when we get back, we just kick on the electric to get it back up to the 70-75. 

 

If using the LP furnace, make sure your LP detector is in good working order. Also something to note when camping in cold weather is the build up of moisture in the coach. Simple things like cooking on the stove or breathing will add moisture. Too much and you could develop mold. We use a dehumidifier to maintain our humidity at around 45.  

[caveat lector 181]

Another thing I thought of which you probably don't have to deal with a class A. I have the artic package on my TT. So the heat going via duct work under the floors, in the enclosed underbelly, actually keep plumbing from freezing.

It helped me sleep a couple of years ago, while at the Fort over Christmas. Sub freezing temps

[devores 382]

Another thing I thought of which you probably don't have to deal with a class A. I have the artic package on my TT. So the heat going via duct work under the floors, in the enclosed underbelly, actually keep plumbing from freezing.

It helped me sleep a couple of years ago, while at the Fort over Christmas. Sub freezing temps

We too have the heated underbelly and basement storage areas. Helps allot when using the LP furnace.

 

But even if you do not have heat in your basement area, a simple lamp with a standard bulb will keep the area just above freezing.

[Timsmith7 36]

Well my little heater kept the RV at about 60 when it was 28 out. Not to bad. We have the heated duct work in the floors also, I did not think it would keep the basement that warm, of course I never have had to try it out.

I looked at the 10 day forecast for Florida and it did not appear it is going to cold at all with lows listed in the 60s. So I may be overthinking the issue....

However I did get some good advice for when the weather turns really cold on some options to get out a couple more times.

Thanks

[tim5055 120]

Well, upt to this point we have always been in a pop up.  The canvas walls didn't keep a lot of heat in :)

 

We just traded up to a 35 ft Coachment trailer.  It has an electric fireplace and I plan on bringing our ceramic heater to FW for our December trip.  We do have an LP furncae, but I want to try to avoid using it.  With a little luck December will be warm.  I have been at FW in December that I needed shorts and went swimming at midnight to cool off!

 

This will be the maiden voyage of the new camper.  I have my site sign ready to go!!!

[Timsmith7 36]

Oh crap! I totally forgot to get our FF sign for this trip.

[jjbescher 17]

Tim, when I first used our furnance (brand new) it had an odor along with setting off our smoke detector.  We had to run it with the windows open for a few hours to get it to run without the smell and setting off the smoke detector.  We try not to run our LP furnace.  We will have the Ceramic Heater on and set the LP furnace to a lower temperature than the ceramic heater.  This way if the ceramic heater can not keep up or lose power, we still have heat.

[devores 382]

Tim, when I first used our furnance (brand new) it had an odor along with setting off our smoke detector.  We had to run it with the windows open for a few hours to get it to run without the smell and setting off the smoke detector.  We try not to run our LP furnace.  We will have the Ceramic Heater on and set the LP furnace to a lower temperature than the ceramic heater.  This way if the ceramic heater can not keep up or lose power, we still have heat.

That's normal for a brand new LP furnace. The grease and oils they use to put things together burn off with the first use. Run it a few hours with all windows open BEFORE you need it to prep it for use. You should not have any odors or smoke after that. If you do, there is a problem with it.

[arthuruscg 34]

One thing I have never figured out is, why are the manafactures not installing Heatpumps (aka AC that can run in reverse).

 

Majority of the time trailers/ 5er/ MH are used at sites with power and using the sites power is cheaper then spending your money on propane and the Heatpump noise gives you the white background noise for the noisy campgrounds.