Additional electric heater for motorhome

Basil Leslie replied on 06/09/2020 14:17

Posted on 06/09/2020 14:17

Hi there    just used our motor home for the first time a couple of weeks ago loved it.  We were wondering  about additional electric heater as not happy about leaving has heater on overnight. What voltage we can use when hooked up on site and can anyone recommend a electric heater we were looking at radiator type what would you recommend.  We were hoping to leave on overnight if really cold.  We need to keep van warn at night for our disabled daughter.  Does anyone have ideas please

Tinwheeler replied on 06/09/2020 14:24

Posted on 06/09/2020 14:24

We leave the heating on all night on electric if it's cold. Does you heating only run on gas or can you run it on electric?

I think you mean wattage, not voltage, and I can’t really help with suggesting how many kw would be adequate as the sole means of overnight heating yet be within the capacity of a 10/16 amp supply. The size of your MH needs to be taken into consideration.

JillwithaJay replied on 06/09/2020 14:30

Posted on 06/09/2020 14:30

We bought (from Dunelms) similar to what's in the picture which suits the size of our caravan.  We keep it in the lounge area and feel safe to leave it on overnight.

 

eurortraveller replied on 06/09/2020 14:58

Posted on 06/09/2020 14:58

We have used one like this in the caravan for the last 20 years and it seems indestructible.

Basil Leslie replied on 06/09/2020 18:14

Posted on 06/09/2020 18:14

Hi everyone  thank you so much for your replies.   Yes we only have gas heating.   Noted your comment regarding wattage not voltage Baz had a chuckle when he saw what I had put.

peedee replied on 07/09/2020 07:55

Posted on 07/09/2020 07:55

Have a look at >Dimplex products< and if you look under "support" there is a calculator for estimating what size heater you need. This is for a building but using it should give you a better idea of what would be suitable. I put in the size of a typical LV for a bedfoom and an outside temberature of 4C and it came up with 1.34Kw. I would buy a 1.5Kw heater.

peedee

peedee replied on 07/09/2020 08:15

Posted on 07/09/2020 08:15

Thinking about it a bit more, most vans have 2Kw electrical heating so I would consider a 2Kw heater with variable heat settings to give the capability of running it on lower Kw settings if required. 2kw draws about  8.5 amps and still leaves quite a bit left to run other things from a 16amp supply.

peedee

replied on 07/09/2020 08:49

Posted on 07/09/2020 08:15 by peedee

Thinking about it a bit more, most vans have 2Kw electrical heating so I would consider a 2Kw heater with variable heat settings to give the capability of running it on lower Kw settings if required. 2kw draws about  8.5 amps and still leaves quite a bit left to run other things from a 16amp supply.

peedee

Posted on 07/09/2020 08:49

Definitely need to be able to run on 1kw for times when on a 10amp site in UK in my opinion.

 

SteveL replied on 07/09/2020 09:08

Posted on 07/09/2020 09:08

The 2kw one we have got at home, for use when we don't want to light the solid fuel heating, has 500/ 1000 / 2000 settings, but is rather heavy. I wouldn't fancy carting it about. Depends I suppose if you want to fully heat or just take the chill off. The 600 watt one we use in our downstairs toilet would be adequate for that and is much lighter.

brue replied on 07/09/2020 09:19

Posted on 07/09/2020 09:19

We used to take a lightweight convector heater in our van conversion (the blown air system was too noisy.) A 2kw adjustable heat level and thermostat was fine. At present we carry a small fan heater just in case the heating system fails.

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