neilmac Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 I'm looking for a heater to use in the motorhome while on EHU, preferably thermostatically controlled. Needs to be economical but effective and small enough to tuck away somewhere when not in use. During the recent cold spell I used a halogen heater which seemed to work well but after being on for a few weeks solid - the element blew next time it was switched on. *-) What do you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingpete Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 I found the use of a small electric convector heater sufficed in sub-zerpo temps. The one I bought in Carcassonne has 2 settings, 750 w & 1500. Found the 750w most effective setting. Warm as toast on EHU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 We have had for over 20 years a Dimplex Coldwatcher 500 watt with thermostat. We have never had any problems with it and I hve found that they are still on sale today. They also do a larger one. We paid about £35 and they are not much more now. They are not a fan heater so are very quiet to run and safe to leave on. Try the following: http://www.jcelectrics.com/shopp/Heating/MPH%20Range.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Grumpy Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 We have a 500 watt oil filled thermostatically controlled heater for spring & autumn and a 2kw for winter which can be run at 1kw and also has a frost stat to cut in when the temp drops too far. Both are available from Argos and most other electrical suppliers. They do the job for us when on EHU and we don't want to run the gas heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 We've used various types of heaters, this is my view on them: Halogen - give out a load of light but the heat isn't that great as it just tends to be in front of the heater itself rather than heating up the whole of the 'van - I've got one 'toasting' my right leg at the moment in the study which, being at the end of the central heating run with a small 'normal 'radiator in the room, doesn't get that warm. The only real advantage is that it is cheap to run. Fan - can soon warm up a room/van but is noisy and can really dry out the air, cheap as chips to buy and many can also be used as a cold blower too so multi-use for warmer climes. This is what we carry around as standard in the van as it is small and easy to stow, and bearing in mind that we rarely use sites and therefore electric hook up, it does us for the odd occasions when we do. Oil filled - heavy and take a while to heat up. The heat from them can take quite a while to 'circulate'. Convector - this is what we prefer, it heats up quickly and the heat can easily 'escape' through the vents at the top of the heater allowing it to circulate quite freely. As it is completely silent in use it is great if you want to leave it on a low setting overnight. There are also some that come with an in-built fan so you've got the best of both worlds as you can use the fan and convector to get the heat round the van and then just the convector to keep it at that temparature, but these type are a bit more expensive - when our standard convector keels over, I'll probably get one of these as we intend to do a lot more winter motorhoming and that will mean more campsites. One thing to consider is pets - whilst the halogen ones are supposed to be 'safe' and have a cut out if knocked over, I certainly wouldn't want to use one in the motorhome with the dogs as I'm sure they'd end up being able to 'poke' their tails through without realising when getting a 'warm'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Small oil filled rad for us, in the confines of a van I think it is all to easy to 'drop' something over the heater, oil filled are more tollerant of this happening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilmac Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 Thank you to all for your recommendations :-D Some really good advice and ideas, I think we'll go for either small oil filled or convector with a frost stat. If I hadn't asked I probably would have gone for a fan heater, if I could have found one with a thermostat, and then realised about the noise and worry of leaving unattended. Thanks again ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 One nice thing about a fan heater though - you just can't beat it blowing up your nightie in a morning to get warm!!! 8-) :$ Just had a quick look in the internet and found these: http://cpc.farnell.com/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-HS20-Convector-Heater-Boost/dp/B000ARX8D4 http://www.diytools.co.uk/diy/Main/sp-42-10499-53587-sealey-2000w-turbo-fan-convector-heater-plus-thermostat.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstrel Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 We have a fairly light convector from B & Q. Three settings so that we can be sure that we don't overload the hookup. In our underfloor we also have a tubular heater, which is about 300 watts and can safely be left on to keep our water and waste tanks from freezing. It all saves on the gas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.