As full-time RVers, keeping up with and ahead of issues caused by having a home on wheels sometimes feels like …well, a full-time job. All you have to do is search RV on any social media platform and you’ll see endless “You Have to Have This RV Gadget!” videos – which leads you to one of two results: One – you assume they’re all gimmicks and junk, or Two - an empty bank account chasing all the new trends and ‘stuff’. Thankfully, after 5 years of RVing and experiencing both doubt and wasted money - we’ve gotten very good at finding and choosing items of real value, quality, and most important- usefulness. This is why Xtreme Heaters is so high on our list of Must Have RV Accessories if you plan on full-timing, winter camping, or just helping to safeguard your RV while not in use during the cold months.
We’ve discovered no amount of snow-birding has actually kept us out of the freezing cold and snow. Even though it was one of our main reasons for going full-time in an RV, from Florida to south Texas – we’ve seen every version of winter weather. With Xtreme Heaters we’ve never had to worry about the water lines, tanks, drains, or even our lithium batteries freezing up. Just as important – we’ve never had to worry about the heaters not working, the unit itself getting damaged during drive days (they’re built incredibly tough), or them causing any unsafe conditions like too much heat (fire), or an electrical short inside of the unit. The built-in thermostat means they’re only working when they need to (on at 40F – off at 55F) so they’re not wasting power. They are, at the very least, a reliable insurance policy against your RV becoming a very expensive freezer.
So how do these heaters work for us? We have a 36’ Class-A motorhome- that’s a lot of space to make sure stays above freezing. Our front storage bays do have heat vents coming from the RV furnace, however that still leaves us with a couple of issues. One issue is our fresh water tank, as well as our black/grey tanks and the water bay for some inexplicable reason- are NOT heated. Another issue is even if the heated air reached these areas, we very rarely use our RV furnace. The bulk of our time we have full hook-ups, so we rely on the heat-pump in our roof A/C as well as our electric fireplace. This way we’re not using up the on-board propane which, if you’re not familiar with motorized RVs – is not a small job to fill. With our two Xtreme Heaters (we opted for the 800 watt versions) – we’re able to put one in the rear storage area which keeps all of our tanks/lines above freezing, and one in our front storage area which keeps our lithium house batteries warm (very important) and everything from cordless tool batteries and stored cleaning products from freezing up. As an added bonus on those super cold days the front heater even knocks the chill off the floor in our main living area - and what’s better than not freezing your toes off when you’re making your morning coffee?
Why Xtreme Heaters when they are “plenty of cheap space heaters for less money”. This is really where the phrase you get what you pay for comes into play. No Walmart space heater is IP65 rated for moisture. No cheap Amazon space heater was designed to handle the vibrations and ever-changing conditions that RVs put them through. Other space heaters aren’t tested and certified for use in enclosed spaces – and that’s all an RV is – enclosed spaces. Ultimately for us it came down to one question: is “paying more” worth it for the peace of mind that the heater will work – and work safely? YES! When you’ve paid tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for an RV - a few hundred dollars to help protect that investment is truly a no-brainer.
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