Portable electric heater in coach

[LarryB]

It seems to me I was told [years ago] to never plug in a portable electric heater in the coach. One should always use an extension cord and the power post at the parking pad.

I watched an older gentlemen use the 'cord to power post procedure' last night. They were in an 06 Marathon, I'm almost sure those have toe kick heaters, but the old gent wanted more heat I guess. Cold here in Eugene, OR.

Is this something I have misplaced in my memory bank or is it an old wives tale?

[Yankee802]

Well, untill I get my Webasto figured out, I got a couple electric heaters plugged into the outlets inside the coach, why would that not be ok? They are the same thing as the toe kick heaters, just not built in.

[LarryB]

Well Yankee, That is what I was thinking as well. I don't know where this info came from or why. Just started thinking about it when I saw the guy using the power post instead of the inside outlets.

[bluevost]

Larry B,

I use an electric heater in the bus all the time. It is one of those tower models and have had no problems whatsoever.

[LarryB]

I used a portable to take the chill off while down in the desert a few years ago with on problem as well. Seems it didn't draw any more that a hair dryer etc.

I just can't figure why/where this came from. My CRS is kicking in.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I'm trying to figure the logic of that. I think it is some OWT because the outlets in my coach are more than capable of handling a heater.

[truk4u]

Jon will love this... I have an extension cord plugged into one of my garage plugs with an electric heater running in the bus right now. 9 degrees ambient this morning and inside the bus barn it's 21.

I've used this little heater many times in the previous bus (no kick heaters) and also in the Liberty. The reason I plugged in outside the bus is with the water heater running, fridge and this heater, I was pushing 29 amps on one leg and was concerned it would trip a breaker and cause me a freeze problem. I'm not sure of my ampherage in the barn, it's wired for 50 amp, but the electrician that did it told me I had 25 amps on each leg.

For freeze protection at home, I turn on the hot water heater and place a light bulb in the opposite side of the plumbing bay. Stays nice and toasty in there. The Liberty electric bay heater looks like a hair dryer and is making some noise, so I don't trust it when not staying in the bus.

Gary - what to you think about the ampherage? I have a 100 amp panel in the garage and 50 amp breaker for the bus.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Tom, I think, if you want 50A at the plug then you need a 60A breaker, min..
The distance your plug is from the service panel and the size of the wire to the plug also come into play.

Your hairdryer heater is a heat gun.

I agree with you in that your appliance load should not exceed the rating of the circuit supplying it/them.

An observation on my barn is that the inside temp of the uninsulated bldg is usually 12 deg warmer than the outside temp. I expect this to be the case until the ground under the bldg. cools due to longer spells of cold weather.

JIM

[dale farley]

I have always used small heaters in our buses. We ran two in Yellowstone for several months with no problem. I set them to 800W at night and 1500W in the early morning. When on 1500W, I just made sure they were on different legs of the electrical system. I could easily trip my GFIC if I had a heater and coffee pot on at the same time, and that was understandable. That definitely through me over the 15 amp circuit limit.

I've run one on 800W for the last two nights, (even in Florida) because it has been below freezing for a few hours each night. It obviously doesn't get that low in my building, but I just don't like it being "cold" in the bus.

[rfoster]

Where is Al Gore? Someone needs to run his a$s out and about in the cold and then he can tell us (with teeth chattering) about global warming. Bah humbug.

One below here-- warming to 30 degrees sometime this afternoon, then snow.

The bus thermometer indicated a toasty 60 degrees inside and out in the bat cave.