greenrvgreen
open road
Senior Member
Joined: 09/05/2007
View Profile
|
Well, looks like this idea is a bust. Katuna's Variacs look good, but it's still bulky, and like he said, the $100 model is just the tip of the iceberg.
On a practical basis, I already manage the water heater by manually plugging and unplugging it. This also has an added safety benefit, since I (the novice) installed the water heater: AC current is never hooked up while I'm in the shower.
For the heater, I'll probably buy an off-the-contractor-shelf baseboard heater, in something like 500 watts/120 VAC (I've already got a space heater, I want fanless). Two hundred dollars later, it will be almost as good as the one I've got, which is simply too powerful.
Thank you all, it was a learning experience for me and I appreciate your efforts!
|
Big Katuna
Deland, FL
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2003
View Profile
 Offline
|
Those oil filled portable heaters work pretty good. They take awhile to heat up but they keep putting out heat when they are off. At least for awhile. They usually have a low and high setting
My Kharma ran over my Dogma.
|
pfunk
Shelby Township, MI
Senior Member
Joined: 08/12/2008
View Profile
 Online
|
Big Katuna wrote:Those oil filled portable heaters work pretty good. They take awhile to heat up but they keep putting out heat when they are off. At least for awhile. They usually have a low and high setting plus they are the one of the safest portable heat thier is
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor
300 Cat 6spd Ally
|
ol Bombero-JC
USA
Senior Member
Joined: 06/24/2004
View Profile
|
As you've seen - yor're beating your head against the wall on this one!
Another vote for the oil filled heaters.
With a little bit of looking you can find the 3-setting version.
or -
wear a sweater / sweatshirt / jacket.
(that's 3 "settings" too! One, two, or all, LOL!)
~
|
AlanB
Sierra Vista, AZ
Senior Member
Joined: 11/18/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
There are industrial size dimmers that can easily handle 1500 watts. They use triacs and have zero crossover detection so they are not noisy and very low power loss, and not very expensive. To a dimmer, a heater and a light bulb look the same.
Another option, if you more than one heater element, wire them in series for half power.
AlanB
2002 Holiday Rambler Imperial 40PKDD Cummins ISL
|
|
|
AlanB
Sierra Vista, AZ
Senior Member
Joined: 11/18/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Correction to above, light dimmers use thyristors, not triacs.
|
nbounder
Arizona mountains
Senior Member
Joined: 11/26/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
The consesus is that its cheaper to buy a dual power heater than to fiddle with any of the other (some questionable) ideas. Yes, you can get a dimmer that will supply high power levels. It has a large heatsink and gets hot and is used mainly in theaters. Is there an objection to using a 'dual-speed' heater?
|
Mousefart
New Jersey
Senior Member
Joined: 08/15/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
Well here's the problem, if you are trying to be "green", electric heaters already work at close to 100% efficiency. So reducing it's input current by 50% will reduce it's output by exactly 50%. You gain nothing but a colder RV.
Also, a $19 Wal-Mart heater is exacly as effecient as a $100 Pelonis heater. So the suggestions to just go out a buy a cheap heater with two or three power levels are the correct answers. You will spend many times the cost of these heaters trying to rig electronic contraptions that are not going to make a 100% efficient heater into a 120% efficient one.
If you want to be "green", figure out how to get the propane powered appliances in your RV to run at 90% efficiency instead of the average 60% efficiency. If you do, you will be very "green" and very WEALTHY!
Paul (Mouse)
2007 Flagstaff Shamrock 17 Hybrid (heavily modified for boondocking and winter camping).
2007 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4x4, 4.7L HO, factory tow, 3.92 gears.
Equil-i-zer Hitch, Prodigy.
Yamaha EF2400 Generator (quiet, cause I care!)
|
Hurricaner
Hurricane Utah
Senior Member
Joined: 02/17/2007
View Profile
|
One thing to consider is even if there is a heat loss, who cares, after all that's what your trying to produce.
Sam
Sam & Kari
Hurricane, Utah
2004 34' Damon Challenger 315
|
C Schomer
Buckeye, Az.
Senior Member
Joined: 12/26/2000
View Profile
Offline
|
The space heater is easy... the cheapest way is to get a 2 or 3 output unit. Can you do with a lower wattage WH all the time? There's lots of different electric elements for them. Maybe change it to a lower wattage. BTW. A x V + W and with a resistive load, A & V vary proportionately so if you drop A or V by 1/2 the resulting W will be 25%. So you could actually use two 1500w heaters in series and get 750w (1500x25%x2) but the warp switches might not turn down low enough to operate. Craig
* This post was
edited 09/20/08 11:10am by C Schomer *
2003 Dodge HO CTD, NV5600, 4.10. Real 1Ton - pregnant with twin spare tires, 4WD - all on the rear. Aurora 2000 turbo, Diablo Predator, 4" muffler. 98 Sunnybrook 30RLFS 5th wh. WHOEVER INVENTED WORK DIDN'T HAVE AN RV!
|
|
|
