Electric heater for use with inverter

[Tombola]

I have always shyed away from these for obvious reasons, but now I have 400 ah Lithium (2 x 200) decent b2b and 400-600? solar going on top soon I thought Id root a low power one for use through my 2000w inverter. I was initially thinking the tube style greenhouse versions, which are even lower wattage as I had one of these in my large dog house once and it seemed to work very well, it was stifling in there, but I plumped for this one (500w), just to try it pulls 40-45a

The only reason I re visited it was because I have an end lounge that can be closed off with doors and it gets proper cosey and thats where I spend most of my time working on my laptop, the whole area is prob only 7x7 ft or so

Well i have to say Im impressed early doors with the one below, its been running on about two thirds on the dial, its blowy and rainy here in north wales and temp outside is 7-8 deg. in my lounge is 20- 21 deg.

Its been running 2 hours (clicks on and off) and has took 18- 20% of my available power (with my lights and laptop also on along with whatever current drain)

I can live with that, instead of relying on just gas when off grid for the truma to heat the van. I do have a diesel heater not yet opened that I bought for my other van before selling the van, which looks like it may be left unused for a while now.

got to say though I had been driving with cab heating on so the lounge wasnt as cold as it would be from scratch when i plugged the heater in, but walking through to the front now feels chilly when I open the doors.

happy so far

Amazon product ASIN B076LZXHY5

 

[two]

400Ah is about 4kWh of useful power. = Only a modest amount.
Think about doing it, but don't.
Your 12V power is precious. Having harvested it, don't go squandering it.
Gas is much cheaper than fuel per kWh. Use that instead.

 

[Raul]

I’m glad that you posted this, I was looking for a plinth heater 500-800w but, they 80 quid up, and bulky for a plinth size. I do have a tube heater that’s 120w, I’m not sure is worth fitting it. It may be good for the chicken coup.

 

[Tombola]

I’m glad that you posted this, I was looking for a plinth heater 500-800w but, they 80 quid up, and bulky for a plinth size. I do have a tube heater that’s 120w, I’m not sure is worth fitting it. It may be good for the chicken coup.

yeah the tube heater woudlnt do this now Ive tried it, but that was my first thought to just keep the chill off, but this seems to warm up and stay warm. It has a thermostat, and comes with a small wall bracket for semi perm fixing, perhaps via a switch/timer.
Ill see how it goes

 

[Raul]

400Ah is about 4kWh of useful power. = Only a modest amount.
Think about doing it, but don't.
Your 12V power is precious. Having harvested it, don't go squandering it.
Gas is much cheaper than fuel per kWh. Use that instead.

Total capacity is 5,1kwh, so yes very safe to use 4kwh. If you have solar and the sun it’s going to be up next day, or drive is on the cards, I see no issue using 4kwh for the night.

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[Tombola]

400Ah is about 4kWh of useful power. = Only a modest amount.
Think about doing it, but don't.
Your 12V power is precious. Having harvested it, don't go squandering it.
Gas is much cheaper than fuel per kWh. Use that instead.

I dont understand how the gas could be cheaper than the dc2dc charger and solar though?

 

[Raul]

I dont understand how the gas could be cheaper than the dc2dc charger and solar though?

It isn’t, you already got the set up. The more you use it, the better the return on your investment. Besides if you low on gas, or out, gives you the chance to preserve it for cooking, or buy time until you find a fill up next day. I like redundancy and multiple ways of getting by.

 

[two]

I dont understand how the gas could be cheaper than the dc2dc charger and solar though?

Not cheaper than solar (that's free) but the heater will drain your batteries if your solar is less than 500W or the sun's not fully out.
B2B will compensate, but do you want to run the engine while running the heater? I've not done the calculation for a while, but power for DERV used to cost far more than that from gas (£/energy).
To put your battery capacity into perspective. Assume you have 4000Wh of useable power (=4kWh). Multiply that by whatever the cost of electricity is and you probably have around £1 worth.
It's your choice, but I'd reserve my 12V for stuff like light, circulating heat, and communications (anything that cannot be achieved using gas).

 

[Tombola]

Richard n Ann posted this on another thread too

Amazon product ASIN B0778ZK42G

 

[two]

Fan heaters are fine - and there's a wide choice available - but only use them whilst EHU is available for no additional charge.
What you pay for gas is otherwise most likely to be less than what it would cost you to use electricity.

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[Lenny HB]

20% of your power gone in 2 hours add in your evening usage you are going to be down to one day two if very lucky before your batteries are flat. Even 500 watts of solar won't put hardly anything back in this time of year.

 

[Raul]

I’m doing 500-1100wh this past week with 820w solar. Last two weeks was without plug in, I started to run on my own power. Not yet enough for heating or cooking but, from March onwards I should have enough for some hot water and cooking.

 

[Tombola]

did the next 2 hours at a lower setting, 8 -10%

Im not looking to use this as a permanent requirement, its more of a test and to be in the cupboard if required.

The way I see it, I have 400ah and dont use no where near it all if I am on my own, but if my wife is with we use it lots quicker due to various bits of kit we have to have. So this makes sense to use what I have I would have left for other things. The fridge was the first choice but that uses way less gas than the heating, so I thought Id give this a go. Its heat sthe lounge part very easily with outside being 7 deg and Im happy enough so far.
tbh having turned it down to a lower setting an even less wattage tube type may suffice.

its another option if nothing else esp as calor are struggling

 

[Tombola]

add in your evening usage

of course, but evening useage at the time was included, laptop 5-6a, lights 3 and for some unknown reason that I had posted on another thread the truma cooling fan was running for about 15mins even when I hadnt used it?
but yeah point taken on usage, wont be for everyone