It is the most popular RV heater on the market today and it is made by the
Suburban heater company.  Call your local RV supply shop for prices or do
some internet searching.  New prices are between $450 and $700 for a
12,000 BTU unit (the smallest they make).  These are the heaters that come
in the winnebagos.  It is a forced air propane heater.  Electric draw is
around 7 amps so it must have its own battery.  Ive only seen one
installed in a vanagon.  It was mounted under the rear bench with the
exhaust with the exhuast exiting out the side panel (gasp!).  Im sure you
could cut a hole in the floor too for the exhaust.  The owner also drilled
lots of large 1" holes in the plywood in the front of the bench area
(gasp again) for ventilation.

I have the plat cat heater and its strong points are that its very
efficent, takes little modifications to install (only needed to drill one
hole in the floor), its quiet, safe, etc.  THe only drawback is its only
5200 btu and i could use a little more heat especially when i want to use
the poptop while camping.  I think the radiant thing is overrated.
Radiant heaters like the plat cat have the disadvantage that the areas in
front of the heater get really warm and the rear stays cold.  I put a
little fan above mine to try to minimize this.  With forced air there is
better distribution of heat.

When I get rid of my POS vanagon this spring and build my own camper van
with a newer american van and westfalia interior i will install a suburban
heater.

Andrew Fox
86 Westy

On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, John Carpenter wrote:

> Hi Vanagang,
> What is this Suburban Heater that I heard mentioned on the list, a while ago?
> Is it a regular forced air, RV furnace?
> If so, I would assume its vented?
> Who handles it?
> Thanks,
> John C...
>