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  1. #1
    Left The Driveway
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    Electric oil filled heaters

    We are trying to supplement our heat with a radiator style, sealed, oil filled, electric heater. It runs at either 750 or 1500 watts. I have used these in our home for several years and they do a great job heating up a fairly large room - I mean they really blaze the heat when set on 1500 watts. However, in our 320MKS 5th Wheel they seem rather "anemic", much weaker in the heat output category than I expected. I bought a second unit, different make and model, which also has a max output of 1500 watts. It doesn't do any better. With the ones I had at the house, we could have made it 100 degrees in here in about 25 minutes, but these two only get us to about 72 degrees in the bedroom, and 66 degrees in the rest of the trailer overnight. It was only down to about 35 outside.

    So I am wondering if they simply overwhelm the electrical power available in the RV and cannot provide the output I expected?
    Also I don't want to overheat the wiring and start a fire or anything! Any advice is appreciated! Thanks.



    2019 320 MKS 5th Wheel
    2011 King Ranch F250

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor
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    The electrical power and amount of heat produced are the same at home or in the RV. What’s different is the rate of heat loss. Your trailer has numerous poorly seal seams and utility pass throughs and barely has insulation compared to a home. A day or two tightening the envelope will make a world of difference. Insulated pillows for vents and reflective for windows as well.
    John & Kathy
    2014 F250 Lariat FX4 6.2L SBCC
    2014 Reflection 303RLS
    SW Indiana

  3. #3
    Paid my dues 😁 FT4NOW's Avatar
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    Best thing for using electric heaters is to first make sure you understand which outlets are on each breaker in your RV. They arent all wired the same, even comparing same models from same model year. Sometimes outlets are also on the refrigerator circuit.

    Anyway, a 1500watt heater will pull around 12A, and most of the outlet circuits are either 15A or 20A, which is why it's important to know how your wiring is.

    If you have too much on a circuit it should trip one of the RV circuit breakers, but you shouldn't rely on that. It's best to just not overload a circuit to begin with.

    As far as the heat, the walls, roof and floor are not comparable to a house. There is a good amount of heat lost since RVs arent air tight and you have much less insulation.

    When we lived in our Momentum during the winter we would use 2 1500 watt heaters and the electric fireplace. If it was forecasted to be below freezing we would supplement with the furnace.



    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
    2023 Momentum 398M-R
    2023 Ford F-450

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  4. #4
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    One of our first attempts at adding extra heat was an oil filled heater. It didn't last very long. I think all the bouncing around killed it. Next one was a fancy boxed, some advertisement about air flow or something, second season the brain died. We now have a quartz electric heater. Barbara has two little ones she uses as spot heaters, we have the fireplace, and then we have this mid-sized room heater. For some reason Kota really likes it.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  5. #5
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    On heat our fireplace puts out 1500W. It'll keep the trailer comfortable down to 40 degrees or so, then we have to add another heater or turn on the furnace.
    2019 F-250 Supercab
    2017 Imagine 2650RK

  6. #6
    Rolling Along OurNewEra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doran & Becki View Post
    We are trying to supplement our heat with a radiator style, sealed, oil filled, electric heater. It runs at either 750 or 1500 watts. I have used these in our home for several years and they do a great job heating up a fairly large room - I mean they really blaze the heat when set on 1500 watts. However, in our 320MKS 5th Wheel they seem rather "anemic", much weaker in the heat output category than I expected. I bought a second unit, different make and model, which also has a max output of 1500 watts. It doesn't do any better. With the ones I had at the house, we could have made it 100 degrees in here in about 25 minutes, but these two only get us to about 72 degrees in the bedroom, and 66 degrees in the rest of the trailer overnight. It was only down to about 35 outside.

    So I am wondering if they simply overwhelm the electrical power available in the RV and cannot provide the output I expected?
    Also I don't want to overheat the wiring and start a fire or anything! Any advice is appreciated! Thanks.



    2019 320 MKS 5th Wheel
    2011 King Ranch F250
    My experience with oil filled radiator heaters was in our vintage airstream. We used it because it was the safest type for a small trailer with two children. The one thing I do remember is it took a while to begin heating the space. Maybe an hour or more. We would start it before we came in and we turned in for the night. But once it started heating it did a great job.

    As @FT4NOW stated, our trailers are not the greatest thermal envelope. With slides, a lot of windows, and vent caps there is a lot of places for your hot air to escape. More like cold air transferring in.

    My only suggestion would be to start them early before the temp actually gets too cold. If a oil filled radiator heater has to play catch-up and start from a big deficit it may not be as effective.

    I don't think the RV wiring is an issue. Oil filled radiator heaters are one of the most efficient space heaters.
    Mike & Lisa
    Central Florida
    2021 Imagine 2970RL
    1996 Chevy K3500 Crew SRW 7.4L Gas

  7. #7
    Site Team Ynot4me2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by D2Reid View Post
    One of our first attempts at adding extra heat was an oil filled heater. It didn't last very long. I think all the bouncing around killed it. Next one was a fancy boxed, some advertisement about air flow or something, second season the brain died. We now have a quartz electric heater. Barbara has two little ones she uses as spot heaters, we have the fireplace, and then we have this mid-sized room heater. For some reason Kota really likes it.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20201128_091007.jpg 
Views:	26 
Size:	93.3 KB 
ID:	30897
    Ahhhh

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    Steph & Lise
    2019 F150 Lariat 2.7 EB
    2020 Imagine XLS 22MLE

  8. #8
    Site Sponsor orbiker's Avatar
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    The Electric oil filled heaters work go to heat up a space, but need to be on for more then just a few hours. We like to set it on the low setting and turn the thermostat to 3/4 or so. Usually the second day of being somewhere with the heat on, we find ourselves turning down the knob as the walls get warm.
    We will have a small cube heater in the bathroom set on low heat but to max temp, the fireplace set on 74 or so and the Electric oil filled heaters in the pass-thru if it's going to be close to freezing. At night I'll turn the fireplace down to 68 so the bedroom doesn't cook. Our bedroom is in the back. The furnace is set on a back-up temp of around 66, because that thermostat is in the bedroom. We like that temp for sleeping.
    Getting to know your rig and how it reacts to high and low temps, will help you in being comfortable.
    KEN
    Backpacker and tent camper all my life, including BSA as a kid and adult.
    Motorcycle trips across the USA with a tent - 1978 to Present.
    02-10-2005 - 2002 F350 SWD PSD and 2003 Citation 10'8S mostly for Crater Lake Ski Patrol.
    10-29-2015 - 2016 Grand Design 380TH. It's HUGE compared to a camper.
    10-19-2018 - traded truck for a 2016 Ram 3500 DRW Laramie CC 4 X 4 Long Box.
    03-16-2019 - Traded Momentum for a New 2018 374TH-R Solitude
    FULL TIME RV'er Nov 2021

  9. #9
    Left The Driveway
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    Thanks for the info and for taking time to answer.

  10. #10
    Fireside Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doran & Becki View Post
    Thanks for the info and for taking time to answer.
    We used an oil-filled heater back in the late 90's with our Carriage Lite 35'. We sat out a blizzard in Denver with it, though we may have supplemented it a bit. We really liked it for the safety and kind of an even heat. Another reason for using it was that our furnace failed four times over a couple of years full-timing. Given our daughter's experience this year, furnaces are still flaky.

    Check the temperature of the heater body in both your home and your RV - they should be the same. Everybody's right about the heat loss/gain in an RV and the few things you can do to reduce it.

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