What about a catalytic heater??? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

SoCalToolGuy · RV-Dreams Family Member

What about a catalytic heater???

LakeConroePenny · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi, I know that the catalytic heaters are not vented to the outside, so that you have to have some ventilation, like a window or roof vent cracked open a bit. I expect the new ones come with an oxygen depletion shut off. They are supposed to heat up the place great, in the northern climes. I haven't used one where it was very cold, though. Penny, TX

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a blue flame ceramic propane heater and it does a great job of heating the RV. It does put a lot of water vapor in the air so the inside of our windows are wet. Catalytics do not have the oxygen depletion sensors like the blue flame heaters but they run at cooler temperatures so they are safer if they fall over. Both types use no battery power and use a lot less propane to do the job.
You do need to have a fresh air source for both. You also should have a carbon monoxide detector (CO) with a digital readout to be safe in case the heater, either type, malfunctions and puts out too much CO for safety. Atwood makes a detector specifically for RVs, it handles the wild variations in temparature and humidity common in an RV while travelling. These heaters will not heat your bays so if it is below freezing so you should still use your furnace to keep pipes from freezing, but can supplement with the heater. Ceramic heaters don't work above 7,000 feet elevation because of the oxygen depletion sensors, catalytics will work to abou 12,000 feet.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 07:55, 2007-09-18

-- Edited by bjoyce at 07:57, 2007-09-18

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have an Olympian 8000 sold at camping world. We use it mainly when dry camping and often at high altitudes 9000+ feet. There are some models that can be vented but are less efficient. We crack the kitchen window about 1/2 inch and we have an upstairs window in the fifth wheel opened slightly. Yes we get some water vapor increase and you definitely need at least two CO monitors well maintained to use the catalytic heater safely. This is also important with the blue flame heaters.

Now for the safety issue. We know some people use both types of heaters while they sleep. We pull out the heavy down blanket and we knock off the chill before we go to bed if needed and after we get up on a cold morning. If you are trying to survive very cold sub freezing temps of long duration go find full hookups and use the electric ceramic heater to keep the cold out with the house furnace set to about 40 just in case. You don't get a second chance with CO safety. TOO much CO is lethal without warning. Even if you are awake the only real indicator of high CO is a slight headache or minor nausea feelings.

Radiant propane heaters are very efficient. At least twice as efficient as your house furnace but they are also lower BTU's per hour and in our experience provide only about 10 degrees F increase per hour which varies based on insulation qualities of your rig and the outside temperature. They work great at maintaining and ours usually runs on low after about an hour. This uses about 1/4 pound of propane an hour or about 16+ hours for a gallon. Most house furnaces use about a pound of propane an hour depending on the size.

On a very cold morning we turn on the house furnace for about 20 minutes to knock the chill off and then use the catalytic heater to maintain a comfort.

If you are a dedicated boondocker it is worth the effort and can be used safely if you would boondock only occasionally we wouldn't recommend them. But we love ours boondocking about 90 days a year at least half of that in the winter months in arid New Mexico.

Larry and Jacki