RV Portable & Space Heaters
A second heat source earns its keep in an RV. An electric heater on shore power saves propane and spares your battery, while a propane Buddy heater keeps you warm when you're boondocking with no hookups at all. This category runs from Suburban's 1,325-watt electric wall-mount and a Greystone electric fireplace to Mr. Heater's Big Buddy and Portable Buddy propane units.
4 products
Greystone 31" Electric Fireplace | Black Glass Face, Crystal Log Set, 4-Color LED Flame, Remote
Mr. Heater Big Buddy Portable Propane Heater | 4,000-18,000 BTU, No Fan
Suburban Electric Wall-Mount RV Heater | 120V, 1325W, Black
Mr. Heater Portable Buddy Propane Heater | 4,000-9,000 BTU, Indoor/Outdoor
Choosing a portable or space heater for your RV
The right heater comes down to one question: do you have power, or don't you? Electric heaters are clean, dry, and thermostat-simple, but they need shore power or a big enough inverter and battery bank. Propane heaters make heat off a bottle with no electricity at all, which is exactly what makes them the boondocking answer, though they demand ventilation and care.
- Electric wall-mount heaters. The Suburban 120V, 1,325-watt unit mounts permanently and heats off shore power. At roughly 11 amps it sits close to the limit of a 15-amp circuit, so don't run it behind a microwave or coffee maker on the same breaker.
- Electric fireplaces. The Greystone 31-inch fireplace does double duty: real supplemental heat plus an LED flame effect with a remote. It's a tidy living-area upgrade when you're plugged in.
- Propane Buddy heaters. The Mr. Heater Portable Buddy (4,000-9,000 BTU) and Big Buddy (4,000-18,000 BTU) run off 1-pound bottles, or a larger tank with a hose. Both have low-oxygen and tip-over shutoffs, but they still consume cabin oxygen and add moisture, so crack a vent.
- BTU versus watts. Electric heaters top out near 5,000 BTU (1,500 watts), limited by the circuit they run on; propane units go much higher. For a cold-weather rig, propane heats faster and bigger.
Whichever you run, a working carbon monoxide detector is non-negotiable with any propane heater, and never use one that isn't rated for indoor use. For primary heat and the plumbing-bay warmth a space heater can't reach, see RV Furnaces, and the bottles and regulators to feed a propane unit are in Propane & LP Gas.