Cata-lytic heater

[tarheel1972]

Mine has a CATA-LYTIC HEATER (Cata-Lytic Company, Seattle, Washington) that I guess was an add on? It sits to the right of the fridge, facing the galley. And it definitely looks like it belongs there. Gold trim and all.

I cranked it up for the first time tonight. Instructions say light at point marked "S" which I cannot find, so I kept a flame on the lower part of the grill.

I lit up with a few flashes and now is cranking out some BTU's.

So what is the skinny here?

Efficiency?

Safety?

CO?

My furnace is more than adequate so far (19 degrees) so it is not a necessity at this point. Maybe a good back-up though?

Thank you.

[Jammer]

The catalytic will produce less heat than the furnace. People like them because they are quiet and don't use any electricity, which is important when camping away from power sources.

They are very efficient, since there is no heat exchanger. High 90s%

I personally don't think that they are a safe product and have not installed one in my trailer for that reason.

CO production becomes a problem particularly as the catalyst ages.

[ventport]

They work great for taking the chill out when it's 50 degrees outside. Like in the fall or spring camping when freezing is not an issue and you can keep a window cracked.

[Journalist]

They also use a LOT less gas than the furnace does. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

[rock60]

unvented catalytic heaters puts alot of water in the indoor rooms air that cause mold.
the mold seems to grow on walls that are in the coldest part of the area.

[purdiferis]

Very nice heaters, I like the air I breath and I notice unvented heaters take that away as they work, I find that disturbing in my application in the rocky mtn winters.

[mello mike]

It will make a great backup heater. Cat heaters get a bad rap from some folks, but they've been around for years and lots of RVers have them. As long as you have a working CO2 detector and keep a window or vent cracked, I wouldn't worry about it. We use ours all the time in the winter. In fact, it's the ONLY propane heater we have in our Sovereign. They use less propane that the typical forced air furnace and use NO electricity. That's HUGE if you like to boondock.

[Chuck]

CO, not co2.

Cat heaters don't give off CO under normal circumstances. but yeah, "stuff happens", and they could, under the right circumstances, which are extremely unlikely. (you'd have to be in a hermetically sealed box for that to happen). "Stuff happens" with regular propane furnaces, too. neither should be used without a CO detector.
Newer ones have O2 detectors that will shut them down in low O2 conditions.

[tarheel1972]

Thank you all. Mine seems to work well.
Its definitely part of the game plan.

[tarheel1972]

We finally emerged from sub-freezing, and I ran the catalytic last night instead of the furnace. Outside temp hovered at freezing all night, woke up with 61 in the cabin. I like it. I cracked the galley window directly across from the cat. I switched on the furnace for my morning routine.

I think catalytic is for me when above freezing.

[mello mike]

That's great, Tarheel. Glad you liked using it. They throw off a tremendous amount of heat, don't they. I love using ours.

[SpaceEgg]

Will you guys please share some specs on the catalytic heater? How many BTUs are you using (size of heater), for how long, and how large is your trailer?

Do you typically run the catalytic all night long or just in the evenings and mornings?

[tarheel1972]

6000 BTUs in a 29' trailer. I'll run it all night long when needed, except when below 32. I use the furnace to get the chill out in the evening and in the morning. Below 32, the furnace becomes the main player.

[DanielB]

There are always compromises to be made. The way I'm looking it the catalytic heater has two distinct advantages 1) it is unvented 2) decent way to heat without using a furnace and you can hang it on a wall.
The drawbacks that I see are 1) it is unvented 3) not so efficient
The venting is a huge issue for me. I'm big on breathing oxygen.

I've been browsing around tonight and it looks like diesel heaters are very efficient. So 1) Need to have alternative tanks for diesel just for the heater. 2) Need to vent in the good stuff and out with the bad stuff. 3) Can't hang it on a wall.

Inconvenient.