Electric baseboard heaters

[Chipmonk Chaser]

Like many others I would prefer to use electric heat when in an RV park as we live in our 32 ft. TT full time. I was thinking that I could install a couple baseboard heaters just like the ones in many stick and brick houses. Has anyone done this? Is there any reason one shouldn't or couldn't do that? I would install a second breaker box or larger breaker box to accommodate the heaters.

 

[kjansen]

Most camp grounds(RV parks) provide 120volt service and most baseboard heaters require 240 volts.  That may be your biggest problem.

 

[SeilerBird]

The whole problem with baseboard heaters is that they are so inefficient. They are heating up an area you may or may not be located in. I prefer to use a portable space heater. That way I can place it where it will heat me and not the entire motorhome, although after it has been running a while it heats up most of the RV. Here is a thread on my favorite heater;

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,48700.0.html

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Baseboard heaters can be portable too - there are models that simply plug into a wall socket.  I see little advantage to permanently mounting any space heater, but individual circumstances and preferences will vary. However, most RVs won't have the 24"-30" of open baseboard area to mount a heater like that.

The biggest concern with multiple heaters is finding enough power for them, since each one draws a steady 1500 watts (about 13 amps) when operating. If on 50A service, you still want them on separate "legs" of the supply to help balance the electrical load and avoid tripping a breaker, and on 30A they consume nearly every amp available.  Most people don't realize that the 30A supply rating is actually only 80% of that (24 amps) for continuous use. Continuous means more than 30 minutes straight.

 

[JFR]

I think baseboard electric heat is very efficient. For every watt of power you pay for, you get it's equivalency in BTU(s). There is no flue. No loss of heat.
Electric baseboard heat comes in a few different densities. Most common is medium density which is 250watts per foot @240 volt. There is high density available this is 500 watts per foot. The old rule of thumb for sizing how much heat to put into a room was a watt per sq ft. assuming a 8ft ceiling to be standard. So a 10x10 room would get 1000watt heat strip place on the coldest outside wall.
Baseboard heat would work fine in a bedroom if 240 volt is available. It is very safe there is no combustion, no threat of gas leaks or carbon monoxide to worry about at night. Just a thought.

 

[John From Detroit]

There are 120 volt baseboard heaters, and portable baseboard designs.

I prefer one with a fan to force heat around the room however (Like a small Pelonis cube heater for example)

I do recommend this though.

Get some 15/20 amp outlets at your favorite electrical supply.. These have a "T" shaped neutral (not just two parallel slots) make them a DIFFERENT COLOR (Mine are black, factgory are off-white) and hook them up using genuine 12ga wire each to it's own circuit breaker (20 amp) in your power panel.

The standard wireing in a Motor home is kind of cheap and one of my sockets does not care for a 12 amp load.. USe it and I smell hot wire smell, NOT something I like smelling.  the 12ga fed 15/20 (Even though it has a 15 amp breaker) no problem at all.

 

[Chipmonk Chaser]

I am primarily concerned about heating the bedroom ( 7' 8" X 8') with a queen bed in the center. Not much area to heat a small portable heater that we use now keeps it warm on the low setting, which I think is 750 watts. I would just like to have something that is not always sitting on the floor in the way constantly. If I have enough electrical power for one in the livng area as well that would be nice but, isn't my priority. I have places in the living area where I can put portables that are not in the way. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[Racerham]

Have you thought about a little kick-space heater like this: http://www.broan.com/products/product/f7b41c72-140a-4ca2-b85e-5323088d6334

The 120V units are available in 750 or 1500 watts. The little units use as much power as a plug-in type heater, but don't use any floor space. Your existing electrical system should support one of these.

Mike

 

[Lou Schneider]

A pair of 120 volt, 750 watt baseboard heaters, each placed along a wall beside the bed will do a nice job of keeping your bedroom cozy, and the pair will easily run on a single 20 amp circuit.  Feed them from a centrally located wall thermostat and you'll be set.

But beware of the possibility of overheating if you kick off the covers and they bunch around one of the heaters.  They come with overtemp sensors but they're not perfect.

 

[1275gtsport]

I really don't like baseboard heaters of any kind. MY house has none. we use an air to air heat pump. the temperature's coming out of the floor vents don"t even approach hot. The heat pump works on the principal that if the air is one degree warmer then what is in the room it will heat up.
We had electric baseboard in our first 2 homes in both we had either a blanket fall off the bed or a stuffed animal and land on the baseboard. in both cases the items were just a few seconds from showing flame when they were found. they were smoking. In both cases these were new heaters with the overtemp protection. I just don't trust them. I have a bit of a worry using the propane fired furnace in the Motorhome because the vents get really warm. (according to suburban the outlet temp is around 160f )
Yes I contacted them to find out what it should be. I am only a little paranoid