2002 17 ft RK.using the heater

[kebideplin57]

Just out on our first maiden trip. We have hook ups, so running the heat is no problem. Wondering can you run the heat off grid? My husband said you will drain the battery if you do. Also can you run it with the bed set up? Our dinette slides out to make one king size bed, the heater in underneath the bed.

 

[JackandJanet]

Congrats on your first camping trip!

I've used the heater in my camper with no difficulties and we mostly camp off grid (boondock). There is no problem at all running the heater with the bed set up. It sounds like you have the same bed as me - a king sized platform in a 17 ft trailer. Yes, the warm air vents are under the ends of the platform, but the air is warm, not hot enough to start a fire.

The heater DOES use battery power, for the blower. It's about the same drain, I think as the OEM fan in the ceiling draws. We just use the heater to keep the chill off, not to heat the trailer to, say 70 degrees. So, the fan does not run too much. I've reduced the electrical draws in our trailer by replacing all lights with LEDs, and I replaced the ceiling fan with a FanTasticFan. I also have two batteries installed, in parallel, which gives twice the capacity.

- Jack

 

[kebideplin57]

heater

Thanks for the information. The camp site we are at now has full hook ups, but I still may have to warm up the camper if we camp off grid. We did replace all our lights with LED, and will be replacing the fan very soon. The fan we have now has no blades, we have no idea how that happened, lol how do you break off every blade on the fan? Didnt notice it until we got the camper home.

 

[JackandJanet]

I THINK the OEM fan may have been made out of plastic, and it was certainly VERY cheaply made. I've often called it a "Mattel Toy Fan". In our trailer it was quite noisy and I discovered it pulled a fairly heavy electrical load. The FanTastic Fan I put in is much quieter, uses less electricity and the cover closes automatically in the event of rain, which makes it possible to leave it on the entire time we camp, whether or not we are at the trailer.

It was an easy remove and replace operation, the opening was the right size for the new fan and it connected to the existing electrical wires with no changes needed. I think it was worth every penny.

- Jack

 

[Treeclimber]

I'm with Jack on the FanTastic fans! Presently I've one in the Front end, the bath and soon one in the bedroom with rain detector. Very easy swap-out with the factory toy fan.
Treeclimber

 

[kebideplin57]

Thanks. Going to get the fantastic fan installed as soon as possible