Ventless vs forced air heat

[m1kflyingtiger]

Ok I have done a search and found a few things but not really everything I was looking for.

I just got my first enclosed and am looking at putting heat in it. I'm debating on weither I should put in an rv furnace or a ventless wall mount heater. From what I've found the furnace is a "better" heat, but the ventless with a fan will still dry out gear. I want to be able to have heat for at least a couple days without the truck being hooked up. I plan on getting a little generator, but don't want to have to run it 100% of the time. From what i understand, if I go with forced air I will need a battery bank, inverter, propane, and furnace. And if I do a ventless I just need the propane and heater. Will probably do a little battery either way to be able to turn on 12v lights without the truck.

So with this set up what am I actually looking at for cost differance between the two? And other than dryness of heat are there any downsides to the ventless?

Thanks in advance

 

[LoudHandle]

In spite of the increase in cost I went with the forced air RV style furnace for a couple reasons.

The first being CO, if you run the ventless much at all you will poison yourself with Carbon Monoxide (unless they have in recent years figured out a way to make a catalytic style heater not produce CO). Not a good way to die. With our Alaskan winter temperatures we can't afford to leave the vent and windows open enough to allow enough fresh air in to keep the inside of the trailer safe to breathe, if we do, we are still freezing inside the trailer and all the heat generated goes out the roof vent.

The second is the ventless will not heat the whole trailer, it will do a good job with the corner or area it is mounted in but none of the enclosed trailers are insulated well enough to be efficient at retaining the heat generated by either style so the more you can move it the more comfortable it will be for you.

You will want to insulate the floor as well at some point, whether blue board or get it sprayed on.

If you get a deep cycle 8D battery you should only have to run the suitcase once a day to top off the charge and be good for 24 HRS. If your going to be in one spot for a few days, a 100 gallon propane bottle is an advantage and easy enough to throw in either the truck or trailer.

Hope this helps in the quest for winter comfort without any additional facilities.

 

[volcano buster]

When propane burns it gives off CO2 and H2O (Propane is a Carbon plus Hydrogen atoms, mix this with O2 in the air) plus the heat. The heat is the only thing you really want in the trailer.

Unless it is vented, you will have a hard time driving the moisture out of the trailer.

 

[05rmksteve]

Don't go with a vent less heater. Being in the hvac field I have not found one vent less heater that does not give off an order or carbon monoxide when it's burning and they also produce a lot of moisture. Go with the rv furnace or a direct vent heater bothe the rv heater and a direct vent heater burn air from the out side and exhaust the flue products out side. Most direct vent heaters do not need any power to run unless you want to run a fan. With the direct vent and rv furnace you don't have to worry about flammable / explosive fumes in the trailer because they burn fresh air from out side of the trailer. I heat my insualted 8x24 in closed trailed with a 18,000 btu direct vent heater. It's my work trailer and sled hauler / sled shop when I head west. When I head west I bring 2-60lb LP tanks with and they have lasted me for over 2 weeks with the heat on the whole time I'm out there. The 60 lb'ers are easyer to handle than a 100 lb tank.

 

[skyman]

Don't go with a vent less heater. Being in the hvac field I have not found one vent less heater that does not give off an order or carbon monoxide when it's burning and they also produce a lot of moisture. Go with the rv furnace or a direct vent heater bothe the rv heater and a direct vent heater burn air from the out side and exhaust the flue products out side. Most direct vent heaters do not need any power to run unless you want to run a fan. With the direct vent and rv furnace you don't have to worry about flammable / explosive fumes in the trailer because they burn fresh air from out side of the trailer. I heat my insualted 8x24 in closed trailed with a 18,000 btu direct vent heater. It's my work trailer and sled hauler / sled shop when I head west. When I head west I bring 2-60lb LP tanks with and they have lasted me for over 2 weeks with the heat on the whole time I'm out there. The 60 lb'ers are easyer to handle than a 100 lb tank.

X2 don't go with a vent less we have a empire 35,000 direct vent heater in our trailer 8x30 insulated and it works great no burning eyes or headache like with a vent less plus you only need power for the fan.

 

[richracer1]

I had an Olympian Wave 8 catalytic heater in my Mirage X-box (14') trailer. This heater is design to be used in RVs as a heat source and not kill you with CO. As mentioned before, propane generates moisture. After letting this heater run for a few hours trying to thaw out the sled, the inside of my trailer was like a shower with all of the condensation dripping off the ceiling. Also, it didn't heat the trailer very well, but the trailer wasn't insulated either.

Spend the $$$ and install a forced air RV furnace.

 

[m1kflyingtiger]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like I'll just bite the bullet and go with forced air. I'm not into the whole dieing in my sleep thing.

I have a 20' trailer (16' square deck and 4' nose) insulated trailer. Would 20,000 btu be enough to get it warm and keep it there?

 

[DUKHTR3]

I have a 30,000 btu in my 24' trailer. When it gets in the single digits it will run quite a bit. If I was u I wouldn't do any less than 30,000. eBay is a great place to find used ones for a steal.

 

[LoudHandle]

I would go at least 35,000. As we use our trailers in -40 degrees F plus up here on a regular basis. 50,000 would likely be a better fit for our neck of the woods. You may not venture out in those temps, but I did often. The poker run from Tok to Dawson, the Alcan 200 race, even Arctic Man can dip to those temps at night in the spring. Your intended use will dictate your choice.

 

[richracer1]

I had an Olympian Wave 8 catalytic heater in my Mirage X-box (14') trailer. This heater is design to be used in RVs as a heat source and not kill you with CO. As mentioned before, propane generates moisture. After letting this heater run for a few hours trying to thaw out the sled, the inside of my trailer was like a shower with all of the condensation dripping off the ceiling. Also, it didn't heat the trailer very well, but the trailer wasn't insulated either.

Spend the $$$ and install a forced air RV furnace.

Need to add that while the catalytic type heaters do not put out CO emissions, they do use up a lot of oxygen, so if your trailer is sealed up/has minimal venting, CO isn't your problem, a lack of O2 will be.

 

[LoudHandle]

Need to add that while the catalytic type heaters do not put out CO emissions, they do use up a lot of oxygen, so if your trailer is sealed up/has minimal venting, CO isn't your problem, a lack of O2 will be.

I may have been in error on my facts about the catalytic style heaters but the end result is the same. Either way the end result is a lack of Oxygen in the bloodstream and you die. Whether displaced by CO or used up by the heater and atmosphere inside the trailer becomes oxygen defiecent. Less than 19.5% is considered IDLH, normal is 20.8%. It does not take much to knock it down to (IDLH) Immeadiatly Dangerous to Life and Health.

 

[Laundryboy]

It's already been said but I want to reiterate that ventless heaters and fumes are a really bad combination. My experience has been that these heaters magnify any fumes that may be present when they are running. Years ago I had one in my garage and used some spray paint. The fumes were so bad that I needed to air it out before I could work out there again.

 

[die hard poo]

This will be my first year winter camping (I bought a travel trailer but still same idea) and a friend whose a veteran winter camper, he advised me to get one of the Mr. Heaters as an auxiliary heater to my forced air heater. My camper has a 35K BTU heater and has the "Arctic Barrier", but he said this little heater just makes the main heater run less and keeps it nice n toasty. He says that it doesn't stink or anything and is safe to use inside. Maybe get the small one on top of the forced air heater just in case. We may be able to ride together this year since we both have an headquarters to stay at Ben!

http://www.mrheater.com/product.aspx?catid=41&id=116

 

[m1kflyingtiger]

would be Iv'e actually used that heater to heat Nick's trailer before without any other heater. It wasn't "warm" but it kept it above freezing in there for 3 days. It would be awesome to get to do some riding with you this year.

 

[Beavis]

The other problem with ventless heaters is that they have a low oxygen sensor that makes it difficult to start and keep them running if using them at altitude. Seems like anything over 8,000ft and the air is already too thin and they keep shutting off.