Camper Heat

[100acrehuphalump]

I'm about to severely bite the bullet on a FWC Hawk base model. Due to my limited expenses, I'm looking to possibly cut a few corners on additional upgrades. One being the forced air furnace. That said is the furnace something most can do without or are there other alternatives to safely heating your tuck camper? Even though in live in NC I do like to travel in the northwest.
Another optional out is , How badly do I need the mechanical jacks? Also, I have a shower system in my M416, but I don't think I want to pull it across the country and haul a Hawk too. So how is everyone with your outdoor shower and water heater? Is the extra vent and or Fantastic fan something I can live with, or without? How well does your auxiliary battery system hold up to everything?

Thanks for any and all input.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I ordered my shell on a tight budget. Here are my thoughts.

-I like my Wave3 heater.

-If you are going to take the camper on and off your truck the four corner jacks are really good to have, almost a must. If you are going to leave the camper on full time you can get away with not getting the jacks, although I would still consider having the brackets put on incase you sell it or your needs change.

-I made my own outdoor shower system.

-I wish I had gotten the second vent.

-I did not order my camper with the fantastic fan, but installed it myself in the vent location. It was a total pain and I would recommend buying the camper with the fan installed at the factory.

-I do not have a house (camper) battery.

Obviously these are things done to my taste and compromises. Each person is different in what they are willing to compromise on.

 

[bill harr]

What you can leave out or add later depends a lot on your skill level. Overland Harley said the fantastic fan was a pain to install. I added one to my 2002 Hawk and found it an easy install with the wires already in place. For me the heater is a must have, I don't like being cold. Water heater and shower not as much, the wife likes a motel every 3 rd night if on a big trip or we hit a campground with showers. The water heater takes up to much storage for me.

You are the one that need to decide what you want as everyone wants something else in a camper. I build out a 2013 Hawk shell just like I wanted. If I had to pay someone for the work it would have been cheaper to buy a full build from FWC. Read what other have done and then make your decision. You will not be unhappy with the Hawk.

 

[Fyreman]

I installed a wave 3. I use it instead of my furnace. Two vents are good with fantastic fan above the bed. You can build your own batt system at a later date if you want. I would probably get a propane box so the tank isn't inside. For the shower I use a L3 tank less water heater with a sure flow pump.

 

[LuckyDan]

Don't own a Hawk, own an 89 Grandby. Other than another foot and a half of length I think I can help:

-I have the factory forced air heater. Great on heat he%* on Batteries. The Wave heaters are very popular with the cold weather crowd based on the no battery part. If you even slightly consider cold weather camping you want a heat source as the FWC's in general get cold fast.

-You need a lifting system or at least a plan for a lifting system as previously noted by Hadley. Even if your plan is to keep a camper on full time I can guarantee at some point sooner that later you will need to remove it to repair either the camper or the truck or really wish you had the truck bed available to do XYZ.

-Your battery need is really component dependent and drive dependent and can be no battery. I use Deka on demand starting batteries, think deep cycle but designed for surge draw. They do well but my fridge is a 3 way, inside lights are LED converted and I have a generator for long cold weather stays, (Que the solar purists throwing recycled cups at my post). My solar is 60 watt and while it will recover the batteries under low draw and/or frequent drive conditions but it is more of a maintain system.

-Don't have the power fan but wish I did. The Fantastic's and the like are really nice as they reverse which IMO is really necessary when I cook inside. Mine is old enough it is not pre wired but the new ones are which makes planning future installation much easier.

-Mine is old enough that I do not have the water heater/shower. What Mr. Harr said above about loss of storage is right on.

Both Hadley and Bill Harr have well done build threads and worth reading by the way.

Hope this helps and good luck....

 

[Ramblinman]

I have a 2010 Hawk - I believe the furnace is newer than Lucky Dan's or at least mine does not seem to use up battery power and it is very light on the propane. I would definitely get the furnace - it is really nice and it helps dry the camper out. If it is hot in your neck of the woods you may want to consider the two vents with fans. I use mine to pull the hot air out or pull the cool air in.

I love my out side shower and use it daily for me, dishes or the dog. Its apart of the camper so it just works for me.

Oh ya, I can stay in one place using everything moderately for 4 days ish with 1 x FWC Factory issued battery - Deka I think.

If I had to ditch one of the options you mentioned it would be the shower just because there are other options out there for that. I might get some after market job.

My 2 x cents would be to splurge - you wont be disappointed.

 

[FordGuy1]

I have a Grandby and bought it with all the options. We love the furnace, even though we use a buddy heater in really cold weather, it is nice to hit the t-stat on cold mornings, my wife really likes the ability to warm it up a little in the AM. We also use the shower a lot, its really nice to wash your hair in with no hassles, and the hot water is really handy for dish clean up.

 

[subterran]

Here's my $.02 on the subject: I have an Atwood forced air unit, and we carry a little buddy. We use the little buddy more, although I have to say that I dislike the humidity it creates. The Atwood doesn't add any humidity. I do have an 80 amp hour deep cycle in the camper connected to both solar and truck charging. I also have a 12v compressor fridge, which is generally my biggest power hog. In the winter, the fridge works much less hard at keeping things cold, so I don't have any power issues running the Atwood.

As for a fan, we don't have one in our vent, but we do carry a Ryobi 18v tool battery powered fan. We have an onboard 12v charger for the batteries, and we carry several other ryobi tools as well, such as the chainsaw, radio and tire inflator that all use the same battery. We find the fan invaluable, as you can place it in a number of useful positions to enhance ventilation, including pointed right at us for those sultry southern nights .

I consider my jacks indispensable. I think it would be a bad idea not to have them available, echoing the other reasons specified by others.

We carry a bag shower, and heat water on the stove to wash with. It works fine for what we do.

Merry Christmas!

 

[goodtimes]

When I rebuilt my Grandby a couple years ago, I had a pretty clean slate.

I opted for a catalytic heater (Wave 6), and wish I would have bought a forced air furnace instead. The Wave requires me to get out of the warm bed to start, then get back in & wait for it to warm up. It also faces across the walking isle, so it's not as effective as it should be, & is hell on anyone sitting right in front of it. We typically only camp in reasonably warm weather, so we only run the heater to warm the camper up first thing in the morning, or for short periods in the cool evenings, so battery issues aren't a huge concern for our type of use.

Water heater - didn't go there. Don't really regret it, but having warm water on demand to wash dishes or to wash hands/face with would be nice. If we rebuild the interior (a serious consideration now that we have a better idea about what we want), we'll include that option. We usually find a hotel every 4 or 5 nights, so hot showers are done there. In between, we heat water on the stove to clean up with, & wash hair using cold water from the tank drain (keep in mind the comment above about only camping where its reasonably warm).

Fantastic fan is, well, fantastic. Mine installed easily into the existing framework for the non-fan vent that was there when I bought it.

Jacks are expensive, but pretty much a necessity unless you are going to leave it on the truck permanently. Even then, probably a good idea to have some around for maintenance - or at least know someone in the general area that will let you borrow them if needed.

 

[djmase]

+1 on the little buddy. Great little unit depending upon your needs. If you are looking for a 'I feel like I am at home because I can dial this bad boy in to just want I want and let it run all night,' little buddy is a no go. But if you are more of the 'I just want something to take the nip off before bed and when I wake up in the morning, with minimal cost and commitment being the key,' then the little buddy is your friend.

My brother and I both run them in our respective rigs. The propane does create some moisture, so we usually crack a lower window and the sky light a sliver. That unit puts out a boat load of heat and runs about 4-5 hours on a 1lb can. Also, you can buy a refill attachment to refill your cans keeping your cost really low.

Most of my buddies that run shell models, run little buddy heaters.

 

[MINO]

Can't speak to the FWC options, but I can speak to our winter heating options and experiences.

We have an internal hot water shower and we still second guess using it in sub 50° weather.
Our vent is right over the shower and it allows some brisk airflow.

We have a Wave 3 catalytic heater and it works great if we're right in front of it.
I don't feel like it provides much heat to our bunk. It does add tremendously to condensation.

We love our 12v bunk warmer but it does drain the battery. Just last weekend, I was camping in
sub 20°F weather and it worked almost too well. I had to turn it off.

The rig has a 215AH battery and 360w of solar. It's enough for us to get through cold overcast days using the bunk warmer and fridge.
I keep a close eye on the voltage, and it never gets lower than 12.2v.

When we have access to shore power, we use a 1200w space heater.

 

[longhorn1]

I purchased a 2014 Grandby loaded. I needed the jacks as I take the camper off after each trip as I use my truck for work. I have the fantastic fan over the bed and the extra vent at the rear. Amazing how much air can be moved through the camper with the fan on low. I have the furnace and hot water heater. We camped in temperatures in the low 30's and turning the heat on in the morning and before we went to bed was great. We have the outdoor shower, but haven't used it yet. I have 2 AGM batteries, 100-watt solar on the roof, and the solar wall plug to add additional solar. The pricing can be a bit overwhelming. There are places that can offer great loan rates for 10 years and keep your monthly loan amount under $200. We have the front dinette and deleted the indoor shower, cassette toilet, and additional solar. We bought a porta potty. No matter how you look at it, these campers are expensive. If you are handy, then a shell would work. I'm not handy so I paid the piper to get what I wanted so I didn't have to mess around later. Longhorn

 

[craig333]

Get the heater. Even if you don't use it'll help your resale value if you ever sell it.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

Thanks to all of you for your responses and the wealth of information. My funds are finite and the upgrade options are not something I can do on credit so everything I can do will be with sweat equity. I also have my trailer I could possibly remove some of the systems if things are compatible? I'm not the most handy guy, and I've had lots of help from friends in the building of my M416 trailer, but I'd like to keep this to a minimum due to financial restraint as well as adding airbags, new tires, rock sliders, etc. to the truck.
If condensation is a problem, does the Thermal/Arctic Package decrease condensation, or does it build up between the thermal pack and the vinyl siding because the non woven fabric is water permeable? If that's the case, what happens to the water that builds up at the bottom of the vinyl, can it cause mildew if not attended to?
On the base model, can I opt out of having them install the aux battery system so I can transfer my solar powered system from my M416 trailer? Will there still be a way for me to also charge the system by driving the vehicle, or is that another gadget altogether?
I also wonder if there's a way to hook up my Eccotemp L5 on demand hot water system from the trailer. Is there a way to attach a hose to the sink faucet?
I was also curious about the gas lift struts, is the roof difficult to lift when loaded with kayaks or a storage container?

It's nice to have this forum to ask questions and bounce ideas off of other fellow enthusiasts. I love the FWC's, but I also realize they want to sell me everything they can and I understand, but it is also nice to hear and see what everyone else is doing. Please feel free to continue to contribute and many thanks.

 

[Camelfilter]

That Eccotemp looks like a nice unit!

I can't see why you couldn't finagle an attachment to the faucet. Looking at there site it runs about a gallon & a half a minute and with 12V water pumps.

Just take care if your thinking of mounting it inside, as it looks to require specific standoff from walls etc.