# Running Your Gas Heater From Household Electric



## twiech (Oct 25, 2007)

I have family this weekend that will be utilizing my trailer that will be connected to my home. At this time, I do not have a 30 amp line for power. Can I run the furnace (with the use of propane) while hooked up electrically to the house? I believe the only appliance that you cannot use without a 30 amp line is the air conditioner. It will not be warm enough for air. Thanks in advance.


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

Run the heat all you want (or until the propane runs out) the only draw on the household current will be the converter running the lights and charging the battery.

John


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## ALASKA PFLOCK (Jun 24, 2007)

KargorooWiech's- It will work just fine. I did this same thing a couple of weeks ago but it was for the kids during spring break. Who knows, it may be more affordable to do this as the gas prices climb higher.


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## mmblantz (Jul 1, 2007)

Iv used the little space heaters and they seem to work fine....that way you can save your gas at campsites. I just bought on of those heaters that looks like a radiator, some have water and some are oil filled. Closeout at Walmart. I have one in may house and it keeps it nice and warm without the danger of fire that the others pose. Has anybody used one of these in the outback?


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

mmblantz said:


> Iv used the little space heaters and they seem to work fine... Has anybody used one of these in the outback?


Many of us use small electric heaters. In my case, we use a ceremic heater to provide some gentle and quiet heat when camping in the cold weather (i.e. as a substitute for the loud and hot furnace).

Ed


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

LarryTheOutback said:


> Iv used the little space heaters and they seem to work fine... Has anybody used one of these in the outback?


Many of us use small electric heaters. In my case, we use a ceremic heater to provide some gentle and quiet heat when camping in the cold weather (i.e. as a substitute for the loud and hot furnace).

Ed
[/quote]
X2 !!









Enjoy the family visit!!


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Save the propane and get yourself a couple ceramic heaters -- will warm the thrailer just as well if not better


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## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

Just watch how you use the electric heaters as they will draw the amps and blow your breakers, especially if it is not a 30 Amp hookup.


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

huntr70 said:


> Just watch how you use the electric heaters as they will draw the amps and blow your breakers, especially if it is not a 30 Amp hookup.


I can blow a breaker once in a while with my 1500 watt ceramic heater, but not often. I mostly use the heater on the lower setting (750 watts)
and it will heat the trailer even when the temps dips slightly below 32 degrees and I don't blow any breakers on the lower setting.

My driveway camping would indicate that 15 amps is fine for your furnace blower motor.

Mark


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

The furnace blower runs off the batteries. You don't need to be plugged in at all to use that.

You'll never be able to run two electric heaters on high without tripping the house circuit breaker. One on medium or maybe two on low is probably about it.


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

LarryTheOutback said:


> Iv used the little space heaters and they seem to work fine... Has anybody used one of these in the outback?


Many of us use small electric heaters. In my case, we use a ceremic heater to provide some gentle and quiet heat when camping in the cold weather (i.e. as a substitute for the loud and hot furnace).

Ed
[/quote]
We use one of the radiator type heaters in our house to heat our spare bedroom instead of running the upstairs furnace (the house was an apartment house so have two furnaces). The heater works great, but as far as using in the OB it does take up a lot of room. We camped out last weekend with temps down below freezing. We turned the furnace down to 60 and used a ceramic heater in the bedroom and kept us nice and cozy.

As far as hooking up to an extension cord, I have tried using a 50' cord and it over heats and does not provide enough voltage to run the converter. keep the cord as short as possible and get a good quality heavy duty cord. Look for a 12 gauge at most 25' long and you should have no problem running the lights and an electric heater or the furnace.

We hooked us a 30 amp service for the camper. Cost me less than $30 total but I did the work myself and only had to go less than 15' away from the breaker box. It was a great investment.


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## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

We've ran a small electric heater before with no issues. Much more economical than gas... We actually use both when it gets cold outside. The electric heater increases the recycle time for the gas, which winds up saving a lot on gas.

If you're moderately handy and have a strong respect for electricity (e.g. know how to turn a breaker off), you should be able to run a new 30 Amp circuit with no problems. You'll have to purchase a few items at your local hardware store depending on your location:

1. 30 Amp Single Pole Single Throw breaker
2. RV 30 Amp Outlet
3. Electrical Box for RV Outlet - You may be able to buy the box and outlet as a kit
4. 10/2 Wire - This is 10 gauge wire with 2 active strands (positive/neutral) and a ground wire for a total of 3 wires. The length of the wire will depend on how far the run is from your breaker box to where you want to mount your outlet.
5. Electrical tape and wire nuts (what would be do without them!)

If you mount it outside, you're going to need electrical PVC pipe to protect the wires and clamps to mount it to your exterior wall. This is the gray PVC tubing in the electrical section. Don't forget your PVC cement and cleaner!


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

Yes the furnace runs off the 12 volt battery.....or in my case my recently purchased 2 6 volt batterys.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Should not be a problem at all. I have camped many nights in my driveway with the heater on.

Have fun

Thor


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## ColoradoChip (Jan 21, 2008)

Justman said:


> We've ran a small electric heater before with no issues. Much more economical than gas... We actually use both when it gets cold outside. The electric heater increases the recycle time for the gas, which winds up saving a lot on gas.
> 
> If you're moderately handy and have a strong respect for electricity (e.g. know how to turn a breaker off), you should be able to run a new 30 Amp circuit with no problems. You'll have to purchase a few items at your local hardware store depending on your location:
> 
> ...


I've been thinking about running a new circuit to my garage anyway. f I do that, I might as well run 30 amp I guess. Can I use a converter plug on the 30 amp outlet to alloow me to plug in tools, compressors, etc when no plugged into the trailer?


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Ok, I have to cause trouble here, but if you use the traler power cord to the house 15amp outlet (of course you will have the 30A to 15A adapter at the end), you can even power the A/C if that is your only electrical load. I do it everytime we pack during the summer. Switch the refrig to gas, make sure the batteries are charged, and then flip on the A/C.









Like everyone said, no problem for the furnace, etc.


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## davel1957 (Mar 25, 2008)

I've done it too. In fact, I can even run my A/C on standard 115V 15amp plug. When I'm running the A/C I can't run much else, but have no problem. I've checked the voltage and current with the A/C running and voltage is fine and current runs about 13 amps. Take a bit more than that to start up the A/c but only for a couple of seconds.


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

DaveL1957 said:


> I've done it too. In fact, I can even run my A/C on standard 115V 15amp plug. When I'm running the A/C I can't run much else, but have no problem.  I've checked the voltage and current with the A/C running and voltage is fine and current runs about 13 amps. Take a bit more than that to start up the A/c but only for a couple of seconds.


I havnt had a problem doing this either. I installed a dedicated 20A circuit in my garage for tools/compressor, etc. Ill hook the OB to that and using the A/C and other stuff hs not been an issue.


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

You could run into some problems on a 15A circuit if the distance is too long while using a 1500W electric heater. On the other hand, your furnace motor will only draw about 6-7 amps and would be much more capable of heating the camper if it is really cold outside.


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Nathan said:


> *Ok, I have to cause trouble here,*


_YOU_...causing trouble?....Nathan, I just can't imagine







but...um.....where is it? eh????







Stiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllll waiting ......









Yeah, we also driveway camp a fair amount and have used both the furnace & the A/C - with the propane - quite a bit, as well. In fact, as deep-summer heat is gonna be a serious problem for me and we don't have A/C in the house, I fully intend to keep the TT plugged into the house, keep the fridge stocked, & use the A/C out there for relief as needed. Sure beats climbing hiding out in the basement for hours ... or investing in whole-house A/C when it'll only be needed on & off over a few weeks.


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