Running the build in heater in cold weather

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hkyfsh

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Oct 20, 2014
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This might be a silly question but does anyone use their built in heater all night when camping in cold weather. If so have you ever had an issue with CO? Do you leave any windows or roof vents open during the night? Does it add significantly to the condensation? Just trying to gauge safety, etc.
 
hkyfsh said:
This might be a silly question but does anyone use their built in heater all night when camping in cold weather. If so have you ever had an issue with CO? Do you leave any windows or roof vents open during the night? Does it add significantly to the condensation? Just trying to gauge safety, etc.
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Not silly -- but not a concern, either.
There is no connection between the combustion in the forced-air furnace and the interior of the camper. It sucks in air from outside and exhausts combustion gasses to the outside, and that includes water vapor.
The built-in forced-air furnace does not require any windows/vents to be open.
 
My programable thermostat is set at 40 degrees at night. Has come on at night when really cold. At 6 am it is set to 68 degrees and is our alarm clock. I always have the top vent open about 1/2 turn at night.
 
I always assumed the detector drew a minimal amount of current, a few milliamps, now I see one listing at a full amp. I'm going to go out and measure mine. If it is that much then a switch makes sense. I hope not, I'd prefer those to run constantly.
 
Good question. I am just installing a Propex furnace into our Ocelot, the Wave 3 wasn't enough for the cold weather camping we do. I did get a CO detector from Marty to install. Although we don't plan on using our furnace at night, I easily see the "why the heck not" argument when it does get really cold out. But like others, I also plan on leaving the vent or a window open a bit.
 
I hope you meant headlamps :)

Anyway I looked up the specs. My LP detector is rated at 76ma while the CO2 is rated at 60 milliamps. After replacing the "New Leader" brand battery in my meter I discovered it doesn't function on the milliamp scale. Using the 10amp scale I got a reading of .17 So it looks like the draw is pretty minimal. I may install a switch anyway but not for power reasons. I did have one sound off at 2am in the rare instance I was in a crowded campground. Trying to silence the damn thing wasn't fun.
 
My window is always cracked anyway. The worst thing about running the heater all night is the noise the dang thing makes when it comes on-wakes up a light sleeper like me right up--so it's got to be real cold for me to run it all night(it's also why I getting ready to get a Wave heater.

Smoke
 
Smokecreek1 said:
My window is always cracked anyway. The worst thing about running the heater all night is the noise the dang thing makes when it comes on-wakes up a light sleeper like me right up--so it's got to be real cold for me to run it all night(it's also why I getting ready to get a Wave heater.

Smoke
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Yep, the girlfriend can't sleep with the furnace on. We have to turn it off at night which isn't that fun when camping in a ski area parking lot. We have the Atwood Everest furnace with ducted vents. The blower fan is visible when looking in through the inlet duct (just a grate). I've seen threads taking about a baffle on the inlet but I have yet to find a product to buy and try. The catalytic furnaces look interesting but I don't want to add condensation and add more stuff to carry. We don't have a CO problem but live in CO and it is cold up here when winter camping. Our solution so far is down sleeping bags.
 
We have the Atwood, Everest Star 7900 II, and its almost brand new and quite loud. It does seem like overkill for the camper and if I had the choice I would have had a smaller quieter unit installed.
 
I've thought about slowing down the blower motor, it is overkill but its probably designed for that much flow. Slow the fan and it'd probably overheat. Might be interesting to chat with an atwood engineer. I normally sleep through it but sometimes it wakes me up.
 
Yeah Im a pretty light sleeper so it would probably wake me up every time it kicks on. But the wife likes to be comfortable so it may have to be. Taking my son to Tahoe next week for a snowboarding comp and plan on dry camping either in the forest or ski area lot so will get a chance to try it out.
 
the Propex heater fan seems pretty quiet, but have not had the chance to use it sleeping yet.
 
craig333 said:
I've thought about slowing down the blower motor, it is overkill but its probably designed for that much flow. Slow the fan and it'd probably overheat. Might be interesting to chat with an atwood engineer. I normally sleep through it but sometimes it wakes me up.
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The manual says the sail switch kicks in the burner once 80% of rated flow is reached. Its probably best to try and maintain most of the safety margin regarding flow rate. I'll post the results of whatever experiments I try. I have a Hallmark so my tinkering may not be 100% relevant to a FWC.
 
During the FWC rally I talked to Tom about changing to the newer heater. Apparently its not a simple job besides not being cheap. Unfortunately the heater mfgs build them for a large RV not our little pop ups.

Btw, I put in my new thermostat that goes to 35 degrees just so I can keep the camper just above freezing at night. No need for more than that with the winter bag.
 
I've got the Atwood 8012 II that draws only 1.8 amps/hour when it's on (I use it sparingly, as well). Very quiet, too. Lower BTU's at 12,000, but, it's got plenty of heat for me.
 
Thanks guys. craig333 what thermostat did you buy? I'm looking for a thermostat that can be set below 50F. I'm not sure which Everest Star model unit we have. Our blower draws around 4A when running so it must be an Everest Star II. The Everest Star III looks better to me with lower power and apparently quieter too. I'll call Atwood and see if is possible retro fit a II to a III. I wish Hallmark gave us an option to buy the newer model. I saw on their Facebook page this fall that they bought all the remaining stock of the older units.

I will look at the furnace this weekend to confirm which model number we have.
 
I use this one, only $21.87 and in stock at most HD's. It does only go down to 40 degrees but I start getting cold at 40 degrees. I like the programable so I can get out to a warm camper. I looked and could not find the manual thermostat Craig used any where in stock. I did find a programable one for $25.00 on Amazon that will go to 35 degrees.
 
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