# Is An Electric Convector Heater Safe In A Camper/caravan?



## RASSER (May 6, 2007)

Hi All,
As my wife suffers from bad migraines she can't stand to have the hot air fan on during the night and has suggested we buy a convector heater for use on cold nights, subject to the supply being adequate of course.
Is this safe given that we use gas for cooking etc!!!!!!!
All gas controls are switched off at night as the fridge will be running on hook up and we won't be using the gas hot air heating.
One of those heaters that glows red is also too bright at night.
Thanks for your input.
Rasser


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I did a thread asking about this a while ago and in the end we bought one from Argos for about £25. It has three settings. 750w, 1250w or 2000w. Its completely silent except for a slight buzz on the highest setting and we love it. I would say when its sub zero you will need the highest setting in a big van like ours but on hook up when its cold when your asleep I just leave it on the lowest with the thermostat set really low otherwise it gets to warm.

No headaches or any bad effects and it seems pretty safe. just keep anything flamible away from the very top of it I would say.


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## sqeek (Nov 25, 2007)

we cary a small oil filled radiator for winter camping - leave on low overnight

600W - approx 12 inches high x 12 inches wide

dirt cheap from just about anywhere

happy to called a wimp but a warm wimp

Paul


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

As an electrician (old one), any electrical appliance can obviously fail.
But the oil filled rads have the added safety of an enclosed element where as many convection heaters although low heat elements could be susceptible to something coming in contact with the vents or element and causing excessive heat.

Saying that many hundreds of thousands are used all the time with no problems. Many now are double insulated and don't need an earth.

But if you are worried then the enclosed oil filled ones might offer you peace of mind.

Ray.


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## tony5677 (Jul 9, 2007)

hi
we use a 1Kw convector heater all the time in the winter, when on hookup.
Argos have a good range, £20-£30 will buy what you need.
when we use it we just make sure that nothing is too near to the heater.


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## rogerblack (May 1, 2005)

My vote would also go for using a small oil filled radiator which we use as a supplement to the van's on-board heating when on hookup, either on all the time for background heating when it's really cold, otherwise used with a time-switch to come on before we get up.

Having had a wall-mounted fan heater catch alight and set fire to our bathroom in our last house, plus a combi fan/convector heater go faulty with a similar problem in our conservatory, I would never trust those types again, especially unattended or whilst asleep.

(Neither of those fires was caused by anything being too near the heater, the fault was internal in both cases.)


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## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

probably as safe as in a house :wink: 

but a silent 2kw fan heater has the same safety requirements and has the advantage of being smaller to store and dispersing the heat throughout the van better when idealy placed in the cab blowing gently down the length of the van... i m in the process of fitting a digital roomstat to feed a socket for it to be able to control the heat from it precisely.... and on an A class you can defrost or get rid of windscreen condensation in the mornings by placing the heater in the gap between curtains and windscreen :wink:


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## RASSER (May 6, 2007)

Thanks for all of your suggestions.
We tried a 2kw convector heater last night on the 750 setting and very low and it was warm enough without the noise but a bit big. May buy a small 400w from B&Q which will probably do the job when not too cold and not get in the way as much.
I like the idea of the fan heater to de-mist etc if it isn't too noisy for the wife's migraines!
Bob


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