Heater placement - Event Date: 13 Dec 2019

I believe that the installed propane heaters in the R-Pods take in fresh air from the outside for combustion? There should be no problem with dropping the O2 level in the trailer.

So “heating” the Pod is an indirect approach. Sure vents are open, windows cracked...but with the propane heater working don’t expect heat to be warm but to keep the inside from icing up? Using another heater while dry camping only sucks the electron flow from everything else...then what’s the point of having a propane heater that can’t heat the space? Of course the under bed area is nice and toasty. Looks like a custom diverter is in my future. O2 levels are a concern but freezing toes are the issue.

Aren't the trailers required to have CO detectors as part of the life safety alarm system?  I know our Pod had one and the new trailer has a combined smoke and CO detector.  The problem with using un-vented propane heaters is that they don't get their O2 from outside to burn like the Suburban furnace installed in trailers. They use up the ambient O2 and, as that happens, the combustion becomes less efficient and more CO is produced.  That's why they have the automatic shut off when O2 reaches a certain level.  Again, if you leave a window open enough to let in fresh air it shouldn't be a problem.

Hot air rises. Once it gets warm under the bed it will convect into the room. It has to, there is nowhere else for the heat to go. It won’t continue to get hotter and hotter under the bed and the heat won’t disappear either. You really don’t need to blow the hot air directly into the room for it to get warm.

You don’t have to leave the window or vent open using the suburban furnace.

Any unvented propane heater (blue flame or catalytic) will be as efficient as any other because 100% of the heat produced stays in the heated space, along with all the combustion products. You do have to provide ventilation for them to be used safely so that will reduce their effective efficiency. The externally vented Suburban furnace is less efficient because hot combustion gasses get exhausted outside. Which is actually more efficient in practice is going to depend on how much ventilation you feel you need to provide for the portable heater.

There isn’t any electric usage with the catalytic type so that can be a significant advantage. They’re quiet too. If you have electricity where you camp by all means get a portable electric heater. It is 100% efficient, quiet, no combustion gases, and best of all you’re not using up your propane.