electric heat from inverter

[lightspeed]

i am wondering as i dont really want propane in a camper van and was going to use an inverter , i thought just to take the chill off the air was thinking about using one of those "small " (maybe 2 1/2 feet tall by 2 foot ? )old time looking artificial fireplaces , this would be small , nice looking and put out a little haet like i want . think this would be a good idea ?? or if their was a smaller heater box like those new effecient eden more ? brands . what does anyone else think this would probably be used in ca. in the winter time .

[markopolo]

You'd most likely need a massive battery bank to run a heater using an inverter.

Divide AC watts by 10 for a quick calculation to show the DC amps used.

Example: 1,000 watt AC heater divided by 10 = 100 dc amp hrs used!

You'd completely use up two average RV (100 ah) batteries per hour of heat generated at 1,000 watts AC. (It's recommended to never discharge your battery more than 50%)

Even if you had enough batteries to get you through the day the big problem would then be charging those batteries to get them ready for use again.

Using a small, quiet generator would be better to run an electric heater than using batteries and an inverter.

[g1g]

I'll second what Marco said and add one more thing. That sounds like a large heater for a B. You can get smaller units that put out the same heat. Again you will need to power it and a generator is the best bet that I know of. If you were planning on driving and running it I think you would be better off running a heater hose to a small radiator in the coach. I use to have one of those once and I think I saw one in JC Whitney about a year ago. This would only work when engine is running though so you would want something else for boondocking.

[paulm]

Okay, you don't want propane in the camper (why?), but electric heat is only possible if you have a hydro site. Electric fireplace, better than a campfire in the rain.

What's your fridge run off. Maybe just enough heat to satisfy your needs. Make sure the heat tube (chimney) vents outside, but the heat from the condenser could be vented inside. 500 watts of heat ??