This cat heater really puts it out. 169F one inch from grate.Mine is used for quick heat, it really heats things up fast. A great additional heater- downside is it uses up inside O2 so you need to vent it by opening a window or door on ocassion. Mine is the type that only requires propane, no 12 VDC necessary. The only thing I would do to my install would be to mount the heater on a separate swing out panel with piano hinge so that it could also face the dinette area, its also a fuel miser.
I have an Olypian 8100p, too. I used it, with the sink window and the rear living room window on the bumpers, in Toledo when it was 23 degrees outside. I was toasty warm on the gaucho - even got up in the middle of the night to turn it down to the medium setting. Pros - rapid heat, no exposed flame, frugal, efficient. Cons - have to have a window open which sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Lamar
__________________
1975 Argosy 28 "Argosy"
1979 Excella 500 31 "Betsy"
1992 Lincoln Mk 7 LSC
2003 Dodge 2500 Cummins "TowHog"
"Lucy Loosehair" the cat - Airstream mascot
Klaatu barada nikto
Here we have the oil filled Delongi, silent and cheap to operate. Well anything that is 1500 watts cost about a dime an hour to operate. On high temp one inch above top of fin 135F. 30F outside 58F inside. Has a thermostat, no fan just warms the air. to be most effictive I leave it on all the time. Next the Pelonis. Note this one has 5 discs-has a thermostat that when approaching the cut off temp shifts the fan into low gear. I tested this heater with a few other models that friends had, blew them all away. One inch from grill temp 225F, the other ceramics best model was 165F. Granted that heater was only $35 the Pelonis $110. This heater having a fan lets you know it is there, not annoyingly loud just a presence. Nice to warm up the bedroom or bathroom, not what I would use for the prime source of heat.
Hopefully the forum members. My idea was to merely show auxilary forms of heat. NONE of these heaters will keep your pipes from freezing. I like the kiss approach to backup systems. The oil filled AC unit will do fine if 110 is available. The Dickinson will do fine anytime. The others are what they appear to be, good for some applications and not so good for others.Thanks for the tip on the other system Marshall- it looks like a real winner. Lewster your post is also informative but not really what I would use- I like being off the grid if you know what I mean. AND my AS has wheels that work, if it is going to be below 30F I'm chasing the sun! Lets hear what some of you out there are using. Tim
We do quite a bit of winter camping, but have not done too much off the grid in winter. Trying to develope a compfort level with heating capabilities first. I use four methods currently. Heat pump down to 40, then the furnace supplemented by Olympian 8100. Use space heaters occasionally, but this seems to get the thermostat messed up and ends up being colder than without them. I really!!!!! like the Olympian, and would feel comfortable going off grid with it if I could get comfortable with how much I need to vent trailer when in use. I have found that if we open the sink window and one of the road side windows about an inch, our alarm doesn't go off. Without the venting the alarm goes off after about 1 1/2 hours. I think the two windows open in front of trailer would keep us safe in the bedroom, but haven't had the nerve to try it yet. I would be interested in hearing other forum members who have used the Olympian exclusively off the grid.
I have an Olypian 8100p, too. I used it, with the sink window and the rear living room window on the bumpers, in Toledo when it was 23 degrees outside. I was toasty warm on the gaucho - even got up in the middle of the night to turn it down to the medium setting. Pros - rapid heat, no exposed flame, frugal, efficient. Cons - have to have a window open which sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Lamar
Lamar, I had an Olympian Wave 6 mounted on the same side panel as doorgunner in my 31' Excella 500. For safety reasons I cracked an overhead vent near the mid twin bed and a front window of the trailer. I never had any problems and always had a warm trailer even though I usually used the low or medium settings. It was aimed directly toward the sofa on the curb side front and man could it get warm if sitting in front of it.
__________________ Craig
AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
A tid bit I forgot to mention- If using the foil insulation between the window glass and the screen there will be an accumulation of water that drips into the window bottom frame. This is not a problem if you remove the foil every couple of days. Should you just leave the foil in place for an extended time you may be inviting mildew. Thats about it . I really like the idea Marshall offered up about using a heater core. I did an experiment on my last SOB- I only had the pilot light on in the 6 gallon Atwood heater- The water temp at the kitchen was 104 F. See where I'm going with this, Hot water, Hot air heat and additional capacity hot water. life just keeps getting better!
We used the Olympian (6000 series?) quite a bit in the sierras, 5 to 7 thousand ft elevation. Even in summer we would get ice and frost at times. We used the Olympian exclusively due to the main heater running down battery power. We would heat the trailer up on high, then turn it to med or low. Always worked great.
Dave
Hi Lewster,
What is ballpark cost for these units? and where can I get more information?
Most people proably know I'm installing a TwinTemp Jr. in theVAP's Ambassador restoration.
Besides being a furnace, the TwinTemp also functions as a tankless instant water heater. So you get two in one. As far as I know it runs around $3,000.
$3000 sounds like a lotta cash. The tankless water heater is only of use if you are hooked up to a supply,am I correct?So when one is dry camping of what use is it? Not a slight but just pointing out the cons. Were I to full time and never move my AS I would seriously consider a tankless. Myself I much prefer camping without all the hookups, better scenic camping. It is interesting to get the feedback and see just what is out there, something for everyone!
It sounds expensive to me as well. The only real downside of the product I expect. I have not fired it up yet ;-).
It works the same as their RV-500. You'll have unlimited instant hot water as long as you can supply the water, propane, and storage tanks. So, it will work boondocking as well as any other water heater. Only you don't have to wait for the water to heat up, or wait be between showers, etc...
Just an option. Home Depot this weekend had LP wall mounted heaters that are vent free. They were like 22" x 15" x 5" deep. Comes with a fan to distribute the heat - which requires 120 volt service. The price was $129.00.
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