Which electric heater to buy?

[John Z]

I think i have it narrowed down to a Soleus Micathermic or a Lasko Ceramic. Both will mount on a wall which i like for the bus. I sort of wanted to get the micathermic since it would not make any noise (it does not have a fan). But reading reviews that are a few yrs old made me doubt my choice. One review said after one year it was only pulling 480 watts while on the 1000 watt setting. Other negative posts about it also. The Lasko with the fan has good reviews.

So i am wondering if any of you have the micathermic htr, and perhaps can give a more recent view of them. Perhaps Soleus has improved their product and lousy customer service in the last couple years.

Or if you have had real good results with another product, i would appreciate hearing about it.

[Lin]

Personally, I do not know either of those heaters, but having experience with many electric heaters over the years I am convinced that the cheap, plastic ones with fans are the best.  They are very quite, never get terribly hot, fit anywhere and since output on all electric heaters is strictly according to wattage, they put out just as much heat as any other.

[Len Silva]

An electric heater is an electric heater.  A 1500 watt electric heater puts out about 5000 btu's.  It doesn't matter if it ais a $20.00 heater or a $300.00 heater, the same amount of heat, with some small variations.  An infrared heater may feel warmer as it is heating your skin and not the air between you and the heater.  It will not actually make the bus any warmer.

Choose the one that fits your space and decor.

[John Z]

I agree with what you both say about only being able to get so much heat out of x amount of electric. One of the posts referred to a htr that when set on 1000 watt setting was only drawing 480 watts. I want to avoid bringing one of those home. Also, the one company seemed to have very poor customer service, so was hoping to hear if it had improved.

[LarryN 4106]

What??  You mean those Amish guys building electric heaters in their barn (advertised in magazines) do not put out more heat than Ohms law allows??? 

[steve wardwell]

 always thought the ceramic  heaters or other coil types a fire hazzard on boats in the past. ie pets or acts of god etc. We would use a oil filled radaitor type with great sucess. had 3 in a sailboat, 1 fore, 1 aft, and 1 mid in the engine rm, nice and toasty up in good old CT winters.....(they do have wheels and somewhat top heavy) ......s.........

[buswarrior]

Spend the extra couple of cents on portable units with tip over protection. The cheapest ones do not have this protection and continue to heat when knocked over, at least until the sacrificial fuse goes, or the fire starts, whichever...

I did some cold weather testing last winter with 4 of those cheapy electric heaters in my coach, inside/ outside temps/time, etc, the results are posted someplace...

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[cody]

Another thing to watch for is most of them have fans, check the fans often for lint buildup, especially if any pets are on board, electric toekick heaters are known to get forgotten at times and have caught fire, one I know here actually lost his coach (Richard?) and that is thought to be the cause, so clean your heaters often or at least check them often, there have been many improvements in electric heat generation in the past few years as far as heat distribution and quartz vs. coil but ohms law still hold court.

[David Anderson]

Another thing to watch for is most of them have fans, check the fans often for lint buildup, especially if any pets are on board, electric toekick heaters are known to get forgotten at times and have caught fire, one I know here actually lost his coach (Richard?) and that is thought to be the cause,

Yep, it was Richard.  (Driving Miss Lazy)

[gus]

We use simple portable two speed heaters from WM, about $20 as I remember.

Our bus is small so we only have two and use only one most of the time and seldom use the higher speed/heat level.

The good thing about portables is you can direct the heat exactly where you want it instead of trying to heat the whole bus. Like, for instance, under the table while eating.

Be sure to get ones with thermostats.

[Fredward]

Hi John,
I found an electric heater with fan that has Lo/High fan settings and thermostatic control with five settings. When the set temperature is achieved, it shuts off and stays off until the air around it cools down. Very quiet and not very expensive. I picked it up a the local True Value. Very pleased with it. I think it was about $30.00.
Fred

[robertglines1]

We have the cheap box heaters they do a good job..we watch for close outs at Lowe's in spring and stock up..one we picked up is oil filled and looks like a steam radiator. no fan and slow to heat but is steady once going,has thermo stat and two watt settings..nice in front for constant heat supply..no noise.. have had problem with the quartz heaters elements...FYI   New build has heat pump...will keep the box heaters handy in case of trouble..Bob

[Eric]

Last winter we used 2 oil filled units on set for 72 and an electric fireplace...Bus was toasty no problems. I must agree with Tip Over Protection ours have and our big a$$ed dog likes to backup into things and knock them over

[John Z]

I appreciate all of your input. I have some time this week and am making a trip to the big city, so plan on picking up something. I do like the idea of the thin wall mount ones for one of my locations. And the fanless micathermic is attractive for the quiet aspect of it,,, but poor reviews i have read have pretty much nixed that one. I will let you know how it goes.