The Other Co-Most Valuable Winter Airstream Gadget: a space heater

A while ago I wrote about the fabulous job our excellent new dehumidifier has been doing to keep our tin can home dry all winter while we three creatures are doing a lot of indoor exhalation. Its co-MVP for Airstream winter comfort is… drumroll… a Vornado space heater! [Update: our Vornado has since conked out and been replaced with a Lasko Digital Ceramic heater which is awesome]

Airstreams (and I suppose most RVs) have two heating systems: an electric heat pump, and a propane furnace. Refilling propane bottles is a hassle and expense, while power is included in campsite rental, so we’d prefer to rely on the heat pump. Once outside temperatures get into the 30s, however, the heat pump just can’t keep up. The furnace, on the other hand, is fast and hot and can quickly warm a cold trailer, so we’ve been running it all winter.

When we first moved into our campground as full-timers, we met a neighbor who gave us great advice: if you don’t want to be refilling your propane bottles all winter, get a space heater or two. We borrowed an older model from Bugsy’s Aunt D and Uncle P for proof of concept and ended up keeping it. Thanks, guys! This is the current version of the same model:

It’s small, so isn’t too much in the way in our tiny living room, and it cranks out the heat. We definitely don’t need a second heater to keep our little space warm, and now we generally only use the furnace when it’s crazy cold outside, and to bring the inside temperature back up in the mornings (we like it cold overnight). The Vornado is Bugsy approved!

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