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techntrek View Drop Down
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Battery life
    Posted: 22 Oct 2014 at 5:19pm
Efficiency is better with the furnace.  You are going straight from propane to heat with little lost heat as exhaust.  The generator is going from gas to heat to kinetic energy to electric to heat, with losses at each stage.  That said, I avoid the noise of the furnace when possible and when I've been able to run the genset all night I have (not often).
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Posts: 1676 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Oct 2014 at 5:25pm
Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking. If we do start doing a lot of cool/cold weather camping, I might look at getting a Mr. Heater Little Buddy and fill my own bottles or get the slight larger Portable Buddy and use my one gallon propane tank.

fred
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techntrek View Drop Down
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Oct 2014 at 7:50pm
Also check out the Olympian Wave.  It can be attached to the main LPG system.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Posts: 1042 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 7:04am
i have been looking at alternative heat sources for winter camping, boondocking specifically.  would these mr buddy heaters be a good choice for safety (cm)?  most likely with a window cracked i guess.  looking for all suggestions like tech suggested.  hogone
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Posts: 1797 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 10:05am
When I was tent camping I ran a propane catalytic heater on low all night with no problems, but that was a tent. The platinum catalytic heater was not vented, but had no flame so I felt somewhat confident in the leaky tent. But the Pod is very well sealed (except if built Monday or Friday Tongue) so I'd be very cautious. The problem with CO and O2 depletion is there's no warning if your asleep. I'm not totally up on the Mr. Heater technology, but I'd be very wary. Maybe when you're fully awake and the window/vent is open, but not when you're sleeping. Better to put up with some noise from the built in furnace. If that really bugs you you can think about a hydronic heater recirculating the water from the WH and using small computer fans for air circulation. That would be efficient, quiet, and easy on the battery. Maybe someone will work on that for us Geek.
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Posts: 704 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 10:26am
This is a picture of the back of one of Mr. Heater's portable units, the "Hunting Buddy" model that takes one pound tanks, or can be connected to a larger tank with optional hose. Got this off the Mr. Heater web site today.
I've used catalytic heaters inside a drafty tent in the past, but I did a lot of things in the past I'd never do now (ahem.) I have three of these Mr. Heaters: a single unit for a one pound bottle, a Hunting Buddy, and a larger unit that clamps to a 30# propane tank. I use them in my unheated garage or shop, or on a drafty construction site, in a deer blind or ice shanty, but I'd personally would be pretty nervous using one inside my rpod even with a window cracked.

P.S. To my rpod friends from Kentucky, an ice shanty is a shelter Michiganders use when going out on a frozen lake, where we then proceed to drill a large hole in the ice and then sit over it and go fishing. Winters in MI can get pretty long sometimes.
.: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :.
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Posts: 1042 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 10:36am
there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of boondocking heating options that are safe.  hogone
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 11:26am
The Waves are used by full-timer boondockers all the time.  Crack a window and the vent and you are fine.  And make sure the CO detector has a new battery.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Posts: 767 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 12:33pm
I bought a little buddy heater when we had a popup.  It essentially had an open, 3/8" high flame across the surface of a 4"x4" ceramic element, protected by a very open metal grill.  I never felt particularly safe with it in the confines of the trailer and sold it within a month.

I replaced it with a Coleman catalytic heater, which had no exposed flame at all, was far better protected and I felt much safer with.  A properly working catalytic won't produce any CO, although it does still consume oxygen and produce CO2.  So, although it won't poison you, it still can suffocate you and its always important to crack a window.  The Olympian Wave catalytic that techntrek mentioned is the cream of the crop and definitely the one to buy.

One caution about any supplementary propane heater: they will produce quite a lot of water vapour.  Its like bringing along four St Bernards panting away in the trailer; pretty soon, water is dripping down the windows and droplets are forming up on the walls behind the mattress.

Personally, when I've got hookups, I use a small electric ceramic heater.  When I'm off-grid, I use the furnace and recharge the batteries with the genny during the day; a pair of earplugs at night help me sleep.
Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150
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Posts: 1042 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Oct 2014 at 1:13pm
i have a small electric heater that works great.  im actually considering the honda 2000  for exactly what outbound mentioned, as well as other options it would give me. has anyone actually installed an olympian wave in the pod?  hogone 
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