electric panel heaters

[PauldN]

Hi
Has anyone got any idea of the cost to have electric panel heaters fitted, Whether they are any good and whether they will trip electric? What are peoples opinions of them?
Thanks
paul

[Koala Services]

Depends on what type, Paul.
Just bear in mind that it will all depend on the electrical supply to your caravan. If you have a 32A supply you will probably find that you can run the heaters without tripping the supply. However, if you are limited to a 16A supply you will find that you will have tripping issues when it's cold.
The current a 2KW heater draws is calculated by 240/2000 = 8.33A, but allow 8.5A for voltage fluctuation under load. If you run on a low setting that's half the load, so 1KW = 4.2A roughly.
Just add up the current drawn and you can see that it only takes couple of heaters on full load plus the 2KW kettle to trip a 16A supply.
You can get lower power heaters, such as those fitted to the Salsa, but the lower the power, the lower the heat output. Therefore most people try to compensate by plugging in extra heaters and we are back to square 1.
Before I fitted CH we used a few of those small oil filled radiators, which were quite effective in the bedrooms.