Catalytic heater question December 21, 2009, 03:11:25 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108687I've learned from the discussion about catalytic heaters recently, and I have a question. Like some of you I've been using a Buddy heater and it works fine (never when I sleep and always with window openings). But I do have some concern over its safety. I'm in a 22' LD, by the way. As I've looked at catalytic heaters in the past I've had the idea that they're on a short leash. (It's my understanding that a catalytic heater is a stand-alone heater like the Buddy, but attached to propane with a hose.) What I like about the Buddy is that I can move it easily out of the way or to where I want it while it's working. Is my information correct or is there an easy way to move a cat heater while it's heating without attaching a long trip-me-up gas hose? Thanks much for your input.Chuck in Bellevue, WA P.S. If I decide to get one, which make do you like and what's a good way to have it installed? I'm thinking of Andy's report about his Camping World installation.
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #1 – December 21, 2009, 04:23:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108688On Dec 21, 2009, at 1:10 PM, chuckx6 wrote:Quote Is my information correct or is there an easy way to move a cat heater while it's heating without attaching a long trip-me-up gas hose? Thanks much for your input. Hi Chuck, I used a Mr. Buddy for years and, like you, appreciated its mobility ability. Unlike others who have one or more Wave 3's, when I could afford it, I purchased a free-standing Wave 6 Olympian for my Rear Bath; it was installed by the inimitable Mike Sylvester, the RV Guy. And because I have two chairs and a cabinet in my lounge, direct links of Wave 6 to hose to external propane tank was an easy, efficient install -- the hose goes through the floor directly to the tank and leaves me about 6' of maneuverability and flexibility in the placement of the heater inside. I'm a total spaz but have somehow avoided tripping over the hose! I don't find the hose length to be cumbersome in the least, and prefer having the flexibility of a moveable heater than a fixed one. You have several options, and I imagine the floor plan and how you work and play in your rig are going to be factors of where to locate your Mr. Buddy replacement(s). BTW, when not in use, the heater is wrapped in a towel and stowed in a plastic bag behind a chair, and the hose is wound up and attached to the cabinet.Hope you're finally getting some rain and thawing out up there!!Lorna Santa Cruz http://uppity-woman.blogspot.com/
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #2 – December 21, 2009, 05:19:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108689"Is there an easy way to move a cat heater while it's heating without attaching a long trip-me-up gas hose?" If you're talking about the Olympian catalytic heaters that are the most popular choice for RVers, you have two choices: a fixed (or hinged) mount on a wall, or a freestanding unit connected via hose. I have a wall-mounted Wave 3, but many people I know have portable units with hoses. If I were to do it over, that's the route I'd go. I haven't heard my friends complaining about tripping over the hose, so I'm guessing that's not a problem for most people. :-) You can't run Olympian cat heaters on bottled propane, because like your stove and other appliances, they're designed to use low-pressure gas that's been through a regulator. In my opinion that's not much of a drawback, since buying propane in little disposable cylinders is a very expensive way to get it. However, there *are* portable other brands of catalytic heaters that ran on disposable propane cylinders. Coleman's Procat, SportCat, and BlackCat product lines are examples. I owned a 3,000 BTU Coleman ProCat 5053a751 heater for about a year, but I found it to be bulky and cumbersome as well as uneconomical, so I gave it away.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #3 – December 21, 2009, 05:28:46 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108690"when not in use, the [Wave 6 catalytic] heater is wrapped in a towel and stowed in a plastic bag." Lorna, I'm not sure it's a good idea to wrap a cat heater in a towel. All towels shed lint, and that's not good for a cat heater's pad. If it smells scorched when you first turn it on in the fall, that's a sign lint is building up.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #4 – December 21, 2009, 06:02:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108693On Dec 21, 2009, at 3:28 PM, Andy wrote:Quote Lorna, I'm not sure it's a good idea to wrap a cat heater in a towel. All towels shed lint, and that's not good for a cat heater's pad. If it smells scorched when you first turn it on in the fall, that's a sign lint is building up. Andy, good point. The bag is a zippered blanket bag, and I use a towel for padding (it's stored in the vicinity of the rear dualies) to cut down on jarring the electronics as I go down the road on fully inflated, all-steels....blah blah blah! I'm about to take a little road trip and the heater's first use is just around the corner. Stay tuned -- I'll be smelling for burning dust bunnies!!! If that's evident, you can bet I'll be hitting a nearby Goodwill for some sheet padding. Thanks for the heads up.Lorna Santa Cruz http://uppity-woman.blogspot.com/
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #5 – December 21, 2009, 06:13:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108694Lorna Dunham wrote: The bag is a zippered blanket bag, and I use a towel for padding (it's stored in the vicinity of the rear dualies) to cut down on jarring the electronics as I go down the road ... --- How about winding a couple of lengths of bubble wrap (the "big bubble" kind) around the heater instead of the towel before putting it in the blanket bag? Or, bubble wrap>towel>bag?Joan
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #6 – December 21, 2009, 06:53:37 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108699On Dec 21, 2009, at 4:13 PM, jctaylor1941 wrote:Quote How about winding a couple of lengths of bubble wrap (the "big bubble" kind) around the heater instead of the towel before putting it in the blanket bag? ... Joan ~~~~~~~~~ Because a towel was there, and I didn't have any big or small bubbly wrap handy. Hmmmmmm--giant bubble wrap....can I get a bubble bath and a massage with that? BWWAAAHAHAHA!!)Lorna (ducking!)
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #7 – December 21, 2009, 09:46:19 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108705QuoteHi Chuck, I purchased a free-standing Wave 6 Olympian for my Rear Bath; ... Wave 6 to hose to external propane tank was an easy, efficient install -- the hose goes through the floor directly to the tank and leaves me about 6' of maneuverability and flexibility in the placement of the heater inside....Hope you're finally getting some rain and thawing out up there!!Lorna Santa Cruz ====================== Hi Lorna...... thanks for that info. I've also got a RB so my configuration may be similar to yours. And it sounds like the hose isn't a problem...... good to know. And if it would stow behind one of my barrel chairs that would be ideal. Yes, we're thawing out around the Seattle area... up to the low 50s, above average a few days ago. If I remember right from a couple of years ago you hail from these parts -- Ocean Shores isn't it?Thanks again.... Chuck in Bellevue, WA
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #8 – December 21, 2009, 09:54:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 108706I have a wall-mounted Wave 3, but many people I know have portable units with hoses. If I were to do it over, that's the route I'd go.Quote You can't run Olympian cat heaters on bottled propane...In my opinion that's not much of a drawback, since buying propane in little disposable cylinders is a very expensive way to get it.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/ ======================= Thanks, Andy, for your help. I appreciate knowing you'd go the portable route if you were doing it again since you're a full-timer and I always think your suggestions are well-thought-out here on the forum. Also, it sounds like a real advantage not to have to buy and haul the propane bottles around so that would be a plus for me. I'll look into the Olympians.Chuck Custer Bellevue, WA
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #9 – December 22, 2009, 08:06:07 am Yahoo Message Number: 108707We have a wave 3 (we're in a 30TB, we had the 6, but it just put out too much heat for us, so we downsized). We had a hose installed under the kitchen drawers. When not in use, it slips in under the drawers and is virtually invisible. When we use the heater, we pull the hose out and stretch it either to the front living area, into the kitchen, or back into the bedroom.The hose is about 8 feet long. This affords us heating whereve we want it. Usually we start with the kitchen, then when it gets warm, we move it back to the bedroom. When not in use, we store the heater and legs in the cab, wrapped in a cover from Coleman that we found for $5.00 at a closeout sale. The heater is so small, it's not really a problem to store. We also usually set the heater on a silicone baking mat, with most of the mat to the front. Probably not necessary, but it makes me feel better, as a lot of heat comes out of the front.Kate (currently in the snow at Ghost Ranch, but we have power) http://cholulared.blogspot.com http://www.cholulared.comWant to find us? Click below, we're #3096 http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=3096[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #10 – December 22, 2009, 09:46:16 am Yahoo Message Number: 108708Quoteproblem to store. We also usually set the heater on a silicone baking mat, with most of the mat to the front. Probably not necessary, but it makes me feel better, as a lot of heat comes out of the front. We use ours on a hose, with feet, directly on the carpet - the carpet never gets more than mildly warm. The case of the heater gets hot enough I don't touch the top, but I can pick it up by the sides and move it while it is running. Since these are radiant heaters, it is important to note again that they do NOT warm the air appreciably. The transfer the heat directly to the objects they face, even at a fair distance. Most of the time in our FL, it is used in front of the folded table, facing the couch, where we sit. We get toasty quickly there, even though the air heats up slowly as we and adjacent objects slowly re-radiate the heat.Steve
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #11 – December 23, 2009, 08:53:37 am Yahoo Message Number: 108729Quote We have a wave 3 (we're in a 30TB, we had the 6, but it just put out too much heat for us, so we downsized). ======================== Ah, thank you Kate. That's exactly the question I've been trying to answer for myself: does a Wave 3 put out enough heat for my 22' rear bath? Sounds like the answer is yes, given that I'm rarely overnighting in temperatures below 20 degrees. Thank you again.Chuck Custer Bellevue, WA
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #12 – December 29, 2009, 01:40:48 am Yahoo Message Number: 108792I use the LD heater....once in awhile I read about someone using a catalytic & they don't wake up. Why would anyone need more than the built-in furnace?[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #13 – December 29, 2009, 07:31:16 am Yahoo Message Number: 108794Katherine,
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #14 – December 29, 2009, 08:07:47 am Yahoo Message Number: 108795QuoteI use the LD heater....once in awhile I read about someone using a catalytic & they don't wake up. Why would anyone need more than the built-in furnace? Alex gave you a good reason why a lot of us use portable propane heaters. I just wanted to add that I would never recommend running one of them...catalytic or otherwise...while sleeping or while you're away from your rig.Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #15 – December 29, 2009, 09:20:46 am Yahoo Message Number: 108796"Katherine O'Boyle" wrote: I use the LD heater....once in awhile I read about someone using a catalytic & they don't wake up. Why would anyone need more than the built-in furnace? --- Catalytic heaters are safe if they're installed correctly, functioning properly and *adequate ventilation* is provided. Catalytic heaters are also a lot more efficient than forced air furnaces; all of the heat produced is "useable". An RV furnace is inefficient; it blows *at least* 20% (IMO, usually a lot more!) of the heat produced outside. An RV forced air furnace sucks propane at an alarming rate, and it also uses plenty of battery power. If the rig is hooked up to shore power (or is one is in a location/situation where one can run the generator without being a nuisance), a small electric heater works well to take the chill off; my choice is a 1500W ceramic Pelonis.Joan
Re: Catalytic heater question Reply #16 – December 29, 2009, 09:51:46 am Yahoo Message Number: 108797"Why would anyone need more than the built-in furnace?"As others have pointed out:1. It's noisy 2. It's inefficient 3. It uses a lot of battery powerNot everybody needs a catalytic heater, but for those of us who boondock often, it's a very helpful auxiliary heat source.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
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