# Can We Use A Small Portable Baseboard Heater In The Outback?



## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

We are going to the jershey shore and the temp tonight is supposed to around 44 degrees, I hate being cold, especially when I shower, dh wants to just run the propane, but I heard it is noisy and to save propane figured we could just take the small 1500 watt baseboard heater that we use to take the chill off the basement,, but dh says it would draw to many amps? is this true? would any of you use on of these?? I need to know soon as we are leaving in about 5 hours,, thanks


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Hi Brenda,

Yes, a 1,500 watt heater will work just fine and many people (ourselves included) do exactly that. And for he reasons you mentioned. Much quieter and why use your propane, when you can use their electricity? That said, 1500 watts is pretty much the limit, and don't plan on running much other high load stuff at the same time.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

Try to find one of the small ceramic heaters that have a low/high setting. The low setting uses about 1300 watts and the high 1500. At 44 degrees the low setting will be fine.

Regards, Glenn


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## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

thanks, we are taking the heater..


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Brenda we carry 3 heaters with us when we camp, usually set two of them up on the low setting which is about 750 watts. These have a small fan, just enough to get the air moving a bit so it evens the temps out. In the Outback we did this we made sure to point one at the rear bunk. The baseboard should work fine, but you may want to find a small fan to circulate the air in the camper!


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## advancedtel (May 7, 2008)

the propane is so toasty warm though!!


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## Chasn'Racin (Mar 12, 2007)

We run the heater right before bed to warm it up, then run a portable oil filled radiator heater set in the center of the TT during the night, then kick on the heater to get up. Stays comfy


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

We run a small heater as well. Should have no problems at all. If you are not on a 30amp service, whatch your use in the morning...hot water heater, coffee maker, toaster.... may cause the breaker to pop.

Thor


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## JimBo99 (Apr 25, 2006)

I drilled a small hole in the front outside corner of my dinette slideout. When I'm going to camp in one spot for awhile, I run an extension cord out of it and connect it to the 120v outlet on the camp power pole. Instantly, 50A service! I'm thinking about making this arrangement more permanent.


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## outbackmac (Feb 1, 2005)

Jim you have any pics of how you did this/


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## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

Well the small baseboard heater worked great. It really warmed it up in the outback, too much actually and I had it on the lowest setting..


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## JimBo99 (Apr 25, 2006)

outbackmac said:


> Jim you have any pics of how you did this/


You can't see the hole on a pic. It is just the size of the extension cord. I made a hole in the floor of the slideout by the dinette. I take the male connector off the extension and put through the hole and put the end back on, then plug it into the 120v 20A outlet that is next to the 120v 30A outlet on the campground power pole. Then I use a three outlet adapter on the inside the TT, and plug whatever into it. But as this is inconvenient for short stays, I'm thinking about putting a permanent connector somewhere on the utilities side of the TT. I would use a twist lock type of connector, and run a power cord from the twist lock connector to the power pole 20A outlet.Inside the TT I would put in new outlet in a convenient location and run 12/2 with ground romex between the new inside outlet and the new outside twist lock connector. I think I would put the outside connector in a location under the TT convenient to the campground power pole. When I get around to this I will post some pictures, maybe in a couple of weeks. I hope you find this helpful.


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## outbackmac (Feb 1, 2005)

Jim thanks much i get the idea now


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

> I drilled a small hole in the front outside corner of my dinette slideout. When I'm going to camp in one spot for awhile, I run an extension cord out of it and connect it to the 120v outlet on the camp power pole. Instantly, 50A service! I'm thinking about making this arrangement more permanent.


I do the exact same thing, but I made it permanent. Here's a pic of it.

It's nothing fancy. I bought a 10' heavy duty extension cord and clipped off the female end. Threaded the cord thru my basement, under the shower, and over the hot water heater to the side of the cubby hole for the vcr/sat receiver (total distance maybe 2'). I purposely didn't want more than one receptacle, since I didn't want to drill to big of a hole and my electrical cord was only rated for 13 amps (i.e. ~1,500 watts, same as the heater). I used a hole saw on my drill to make the hole for the receptacle, then I made another hole on the plastic tool bin in the basement of my 5. When I want to use the extra power, I simply slide the male end of the extension cord thru the tool bin hole and then plug in a longer extension cord to go to the 20 amp service on the park power.

Basically, it makes my 30 amp rig into a 50 amp rig. Works well. One 1,500 watt heater will heat our 28FRLS 25 degrees above whatever it is outside. If it gets really cold or if there is a strong wind, then I plug a second heater into the "least used" circuit in the trailer. For me, that is the outlet next to the sink. I can run both heaters on full power and also run my converter, fridge, and hot water heater all on electric with no problems.

If it gets so cold that both my heaters won't keep me warm, then I'm in the wrong place and I hook up and move further south. Believe we have only had one night where we actually ran the propane heater and that was before I added the extra outlet.


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