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Old 10-17-2008, 01:37 PM   #1
jaleepadgett
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Best Portable Heater for Monty

We are newbies, started last April with our 2955 RL.

Me, the DW and Shi Tzu are headed to the mountains in a couple of weeks and will need heat for the first time. Would prefer to minimize the runtime of the propane heating system. What is the best portable,(quiet) electric heater and where do I get it?
Thanks
James, Jan and Zoe
 
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Old 10-17-2008, 01:53 PM   #2
H. John Kohl
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Welcome to the forum. If it is above freezing any of the 1500 watt ceramic heaters will work. Make sure it is safety shut off if tipped over. If it is freezing out side you need to run the propane heater to help keep the lines from freezing.
I use one and the fire place. I plug the ceramic heater into one of the washer or dryer outlets. You will have to be a little more conscious on power management if you are on a 30 amp service.
Hope this helps.


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Old 10-17-2008, 02:17 PM   #3
sailer
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I got my portable heater at lowes 19.95 has a safty if tiped over ,, its a cermiac heater model #DQ720 it says feature comforts on the front ,, what is nice it has a built in thermostate for on and off as you will find the rite setting after a while,,, sailer
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Old 10-17-2008, 04:19 PM   #4
HughM
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I've always used a ceramic heater that had a digital temp setting. That way I knew exactly when it would turn off and no more guessing. I think I bought it at walmart (?)
Hugh
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Old 10-17-2008, 04:35 PM   #5
mail2us
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James, some good recommendations here for you on ceramic heaters. I also have noticed 1500W ceramic heaters at Walmart and as suggested at Lowe's as well.

If you have not used your propane heater much or not at all, I would consider using it to assure performance and getting use to its setup and cycling as well as how the propane tanks support the heater to include the newly purchased ceramic heater. Dennis
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Old 10-17-2008, 05:39 PM   #6
ols1932
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I like the little cube heaters sold by Camping World. Have two: one in the bedroom and one in the living room.

Orv
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Old 10-17-2008, 06:31 PM   #7
Driftwoodgal
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We use the fireplace to warm the Monty up in the mornings and use a ceramic heater in front of the steps to help heat the belly when we are in freezing weather. We also have kept the propane set on a lower temperature, but keep it set where it will kick on to keep things from freezing. Thankfully we aren't in below freezing temps very often. We have two of the ceramic heaters that shut off if they tip over. We have a cat so he could knock one over, thus the automatic shut off is a must for us.

We got our heaters at Walmart.

Colleen
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Old 10-18-2008, 04:22 AM   #8
ARJ
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For what its worth, I went to Walmart to replace our ceramic heater last winter and they were out of them-having only oil filled radiators left in stock. I wasn't too happy but wound up buying one because we needed heat.

It turns out that the oil filled thing is totally silent and seems to use a lot less electricity than the ceramic heater it replaced. It keeps the trailer nice and warm even when it is off because of convection and the heat is not localized to an area typical of ceramic heaters. We are very happy with it and we don't have to listen to the jet engine equipped, Surburban heater as often as before.

Down side-it's big!
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Old 10-18-2008, 04:36 AM   #9
DarMar
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Our vote is for the 1500 watt oil filled radiator type heaters as well. We have two, one for the living and one for the bedroom area. They are big and heavy but like ARJ stated they are silent and don't use as much electricity! The DW made two covers for them and we just lay them on their sides somewhere for transport.
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Old 10-18-2008, 08:45 AM   #10
TLightning
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We have a couple of Lasko towers...seven temp settings, a swivel mode, two power settings, even a remote control.
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Old 10-18-2008, 10:12 AM   #11
JimnJulie
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The fire place is our first line of defense. For cool mornings there is nothing like "lighting" the fire and sipping hot coffee in a recliner!!! After that we use the ceramic heaters with the turn off/tip over feature. We have used them in the mountains last fall and then all winter down in Florida. I don't think the brand matters a whole lot.
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Old 10-18-2008, 11:00 AM   #12
blamb
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I am going to 3rd the vote for the oil filled radiator heaters. They are the best heaters I have ever bought in my life for my stick/brick AND my current SOB RV. As mentioned, they are 100% silent, and do a MUCH better job of heating, and my favorite part is that they don't create such a "dry heat". I had a big problem with the heaters that blow air drying my eyes out, the radiator styles don't do that and allow humidity to remain in the room to make it much more comfortable and warm feeling. Unfortunately it is also true that they are large and heavy, but they are also much, much safer. There is nothing exposed that would catch anything on fire if it touched it - I did accidentally touch mine when it was at it's hottest once and it HURT - but no burn. After 30 minutes I forgot all about it. My heat-seeking dogs I've had over the years plaster themselves right up next to it, which says something about it's safety, even though it heats so well - they never plastered themselves that close to the air-blowing kind.

One VERY chilly night in the SOB RV, the furnace wasn't working at all. I plopped the radiator heater in the living room and left all the interior doors open hoping it'd reach the bathroom and bedroom areas, and left it running at it's highest. I slept comfortably all night and when I woke up in the morning I found that the chill was tolerable. I was impressed. It kept a much larger area tolerable than it was intended to, it was cool, but not COLD, in the RV. It had dropped to about the 40's that night, and the SOB is not very well insulated at all.

Tip: Don't buy the kind with digital thermostats and buttons - I had 2 of those and both of them would not stay on when they were suppsoed to or go off when they were supposed to and I would often wake up in the night freezing because they went off all on their own. Very annoying. I finally gave up on them and got a (much cheaper!) kind with just the dial and a couple of watt setting buttons. It stays on, and works better than the others. If you get the kind with a thermostat, what you do is you turn it on full blast until the room is comfy and then you turn the dial down slowly until you hear a "click" - that's how you "set it" so that it comes back on to keep the room like you like it, but not overheat. It works pretty well.
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Old 10-18-2008, 03:10 PM   #13
Illini Trekker
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I've been work camping in our 2955 for the last 9 months and like to use electric baseboard heaters. We have one in the bedroom 48" and a 72" behind the two recliners in the living room. this link will show you them http://www.cadetco.com/show_product.php?prodid=1004
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Old 10-18-2008, 06:34 PM   #14
Okie Guy
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I run the fire place and a milk house heater. If it is below freezing I keep the thermostat set around 72 so the heater kicks on every hour or so. I like it a little warmer though.
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Old 10-25-2008, 02:57 PM   #15
stelrfan
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I'm also interested in buying a portable heater for the Mountaineer. My question is can you find one that's NOT made in China or is that the dumbest question ever asked??
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Old 10-25-2008, 04:30 PM   #16
Waynem
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I have to agree that the radiant oil filled heaters are probably the most efficient.

Delonghi makes all kinds of heaters, including the radiant oil filled ones. I remember having one of their oil filled ones in a warehouse lab back in the mid '80's so they have been around a long time.
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Old 10-25-2008, 07:17 PM   #17
bsmeaton
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Ok Okie Guy - from a guy that thinks milk comes from King Soopers, what is a "milk house heater"?
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Old 10-26-2008, 04:41 AM   #18
Allen in MT
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Here is a site with a bunch of milk house heaters, once you see it you will remember seeing them before. We have a couple hear at home and they are great
Allen
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_6hkafjxrxh_e
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Old 10-26-2008, 05:00 AM   #19
bsmeaton
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Ah - Thanks Allen.
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Old 10-26-2008, 11:48 AM   #20
Allen in MT
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We do alot of dry camping early spring into late fall. Even tho we have an on board generator in our 3400rl, we don't run it much or our heater. I went into the hot water tank area and plumbed a tee into the propane line and run a hose out the cupboard door so that we could hook up a ProCom ventless propane heater shown here.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...2737_200332737
With a window cracked and set on low it is nice and toasty in the mornings. Turned on high it heats up quick. We usually just hook it up and set in front of the fireplace. I think it uses less propane than the monty heater and is a whole lot quieter. Durning the warmer season we unhook it and roll up the hose and stick it back into the space under the cupboard. Had it hooked up in our other 5th wheel also.
Allen
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