Heater

[mikent]

Hi all. I'm brand new here and don't have a FWC, yet. Dreaming of a Hawk for our new Tundra. Never had a pop-up and admittedly know next to nothing. Deciding on options and have so many questions. But here, I'll limit it to one. (Gotta start somewhere). I've read that the standard furnace heater is noisy and uses a lot of power. True? Also read where a guy just ordered the shell, and put in his own heater, a wave radiant heater. The sales pitch makes this sound like a good alternative, but I have my doubts. If this is all true, wouldn't that be the standard option on a new FWC?

Appreciate all thoughts and I'll have a lot more questions in the future.

Mike

 

[Espresso]

The standard forced-air is noisy, it uses a lot of power and it takes up valuable space in the camper. But the heat is nice! and you don't have to worry about consuming oxygen, CO, or a red hot device inside the camper. I've never used a Wave heater, but being able to run it all night and not use any power is appealing. I just don't think I'd be able to sleep well knowing it is using oxygen and producing CO. I think it would be on the back of my mind. Has anyone used one with a CO detector?

 

[LuckyDan]

The Atwood, Suburban, Hydroflame or whatever is now installed both exhaust and pull their intake air from outside and of course use electricity to run their forced air fan. While I usually vent my camper a little when using heat it's not required and I don't typically get the heavy condensation inside others report. Mine is relatively quiet but my camper is older so I'll assume the fan is well broken in. The Wave, Buddy, Platcat and the like both exhaust and pull intake air from inside but are radiant, thus use no electricity but require active venting and usually condensation management. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that those who regularly use their FWC as a 4 season camper have a radiant heater as either their primary heat or to supplement their forced air unit mainly due to the power use. You don't have to go back too far in the history of campers to a time when radiant heaters were the norm. One just needs to keep the safety issues in mind and understand that a radiant unit is not going to heat the whole unit as quickly or evenly as a forced air unit.

Whatever to decide, welcome to this site and good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Mike, we've got a Granby on order, and we went with the furnace. We've had multiple RVs, and have always gone with a furnace. A bit noisy, but they do the job. Lots of our friends use catalytic/radiant heaters, but I don't trust them. As I often have photo gear in the RV, I don't want the humidity issue either.

As far as the power issue goes, solar usually takes care of it. We run two group 24s and a good sized solar panel. On the trailer, it's a 150 watt panel. The Granby will have a 90 watt panel. I often drag a Yamaha 1000 generator if the weather is bad and we are base camped for a while.

There are also diesel heater stoves like the Wallas. Low power consumption, especially if you use something like an Ecofan to move the air. Very easy on fuel too.

 

[Lighthawk]

We use a Wave 3 without moisture issues with two adults and a dog in our Hawk. We have the (2008) factory heater, but avoid it due to the noise and power consumption. We vent properly and have camped down to 12F using the Wave and reflectix thermo head liner.

There are times the quick heat (and blower) of the furnace is welcome, but hour for hour, I prefer our radiant heater. On multi-day camps it's nice to know there's zero battery consumption while heating. When paired with LED lighting, we find we can go three or four days on one Sears Platinum deep cell battery.

 

[Riverrunner]

I like the furnace for the quick heat....takes about 6 or 7 mins to warm the camper up. After that we use a Buddy heater (already had it). The Buddy is nice as it keeps a better constant temp and as already been said, it uses no power. We don't leave it on at night however since we are not camping in temps less that 25f. Only bad thing about the Buddy is a one pound bottle of propane lasts about 3 hours so on a multiple night trip, you need a few of them. Some how it would be nice to plumb another fitting/hose into the camper tank.

 

[Smokecreek1]

It seems like we have lot's of questions here about out heaters ! Me, I have been using the stock furn for the last seven years and have thought about getting a Wave--and I'm still thinking about it. I like like the quick warm up of the issue heater and put up with the noise, and there have only been a few times that I have let the thermostat keep the FWC warm all night; I usually crank it up before I hit the rack at night or when it starts to get cold inside (love my arctic blanket)----then open the flap, crawl into my bag and go to sleep-like someone said in an earlier thread about heaters, need my head cold so I can smell the air and my feet hot and I'm happy ! So as these many posts point out, what you need depends on how and why you use it! Go ahead and go with the issue heater and if you need more and different heat-you can always change to something else---or be like me, keep thinking about it-keeps the mind active!

Smoke

 

[billharr]

Ok you guy are going to make me do more work. When I do my inside build on my new to me Hawk I will put in a "T" with a plug on the propane line. If I add a wave I will not have to tear everything apart. The way the wife and I camp the factory heater has worked fine. I think the new one is quieter than the one I had in the 2002 Hawk.

 

[ski3pin]

When I do my inside build on my new to me Hawk I will put in a "T" with a plug on the propane line. If I add a wave I will not have to tear everything apart.

Bill, that's what I am doing right now.

 

[SunMan]

When paired with LED lighting, we find we can go three or four days on one Sears Platinum deep cell battery. [/size]

We get similar results Andy, including running the ARB fridge. Not to mention the Waves sip propane. My propane lasts forever even when running our Wave 3 ten or more hours per night. Every time I think it surely must be empty it usually only takes a couple of gallons.

 

[ski3pin]

There are times the quick heat (and blower) of the furnace is welcome, but hour for hour, I prefer our radiant heater. On multi-day camps it's nice to know there's zero battery consumption while heating. When paired with LED lighting, we find we can go three or four days on one Sears Platinum deep cell battery.

We get similar results Andy, including running the ARB fridge. Not to mention the Waves sip propane. My propane lasts forever even when running our Wave 3 ten or more hours per night. Every time I think it surely must be empty it usually only takes a couple of gallons.

And we get similar results as Light and Sun. We use the furnace for quick warm up and use the wave 3 for those times we are spending time in the camper - long cold winter nights. We also power our DC compressor truckfridge. After 5 cold nights last Fall prior to solar install and with no charge from the truck - faulty connection, the platinum deep cell was 12.2V when we returned home.

 

[Captm]

We have a Propex heater (http://westyventures.com/propex.html) in our Flippac and will be moving it to our Fleet Shell. It was pricey but we really like it - quiet, low power draw, sips the propane, and safe. The standard thermostat works fine but we're going to upgrade to the programmable digital thermostat on the new build.
I replaced the Attwood in our pop-up trailer with a Wave 6 and was very happy with it. With 2 large dogs we did not experience any issues with burned fur even though it seamed that they would brush it as they walked by.
Cheers

 

[Taku]

We have a Wave 3 in our ATC Ocelot and at this point no thermal pack (will sew one up this winter). the 3 does ok in cold temps without the thermal pack (mid to high teens) and we don't run it at night since we both like to sleep without heat on. It is nice to have the extra space and no battery draw, but we may look at a Wave 6 in the future since we do a fair bit of cold weather trips.

 

[Oryguntroutbum]

I asked to hear the stock furnace at the FWC showroom last week. I can't remember which model it was but it was quiet. Way more quiet than my travel trailer. I don't believe I would have any issues sleeping with it cycling on and off throughout the night.

Chris

 

[jha6av8r]

I asked to hear the stock furnace at the FWC showroom last week. I can't remember which model it was but it was quiet. Way more quiet than my travel trailer. I don't believe I would have any issues sleeping with it cycling on and off throughout the night.

Chris

Ours cycling on and off during the night has never bothered us.

 

[takingatrip1]

Question for you guys that use your furnace, I've never really felt comfortable running it because I just don't know the safe way to operate it. I've searched the web and mostly come up with "trouble shooting" info.

Power draw and noise notwithstanding. Is it safe to run the atwood furnace without having a window or vent open ?

I've read where people prop a turnbuckle port open a little and a window open a little to provide cross ventilation. The few times i've used the heater I've found this to be counter productive. I've got the heat on becuase its cold....i dont want a window open.

I'd really like your input thanks in advance

 

[billharr]

Question for you guys that use your furnace, I've never really felt comfortable running it because I just don't know the safe way to operate it. I've searched the web and mostly come up with "trouble shooting" info.

Power draw and noise notwithstanding. Is it safe to run the atwood furnace without having a window or vent open ?

I've read where people prop a turnbuckle port open a little and a window open a little to provide cross ventilation. The few times i've used the heater I've found this to be counter productive. I've got the heat on becuase its cold....i dont want a window open.

I'd really like your input thanks in advance

Totally safe to run the heater at night. Exhaust fumes vent out side. Most people who have a vent or window open do it for the moisture. Or if you have a catalytic heater you need the fresh air.

 

[takingatrip1]

Good news Thanks

 

[DEnd]

It's not totally necessary, but the best practice if you are opening a window is to open one at least 6 feet from where the furnace exhaust exits. This gives the best chance for the exhaust air to mix well with the outdoor air in almost all conditions ensuring you get minimal combustion by products entering the camper. I say its not totally necessary as most of your incoming air will likely enter from the truck bed and back door, any window you open during heater use will likely work to exfiltrate hot air (and thus moisture) from the camper.

 

[DanoT]

Soft side walls, even with an arctic package are notorious for allowing sound to easily pass through the walls, so I often wear ear plugs and they also work to limit furnace fan noise.