Wave 8 Catalytic Heater by Olympic
I added a catalytic heater to save on propane gas and improve the comfort during the winter. A catalytic heater does not use any electricity and makes very little sound. The motorhome’s forced air furnace makes a lot of NOISE and uses a lot of battery voltage. The Wave 8 unit is over sized for our 32 foot unit but it also keeps the motorhome nice and warm and is all the heat we use when it’s close to freezing outside. In December 2010 I added a fan to help circulate the air and improve the overall heating.
If it’s going to freeze I use the regular furnace at least for a while because along with heating the coach it puts warm air into the cargo areas so the water lines do not freeze.
This is the heater installation.
This is where I have the Wave 8 unit when we are using it to heat. I open the window over the kitchen sink about 2 inches and the vent in the bathroom to ensure we have enough fresh air and vent some of the humidity. Propane puts off quite of moisture when it burns.
I used a french cleat to attach the heater to the wall. I have to remove the heater so the living room slide will come in. This is the wall mounting bracket. It matches up to a bracket on the back of the heater mounting board.
This is the cleat on the back of the heater.
This is the mounting board I designed. The heater mounts to this board and the board than sets on the wall bracket. Along with allowing the heater to hang on the wall this board creates some space between the heater and the motorhome wall so the interior wall does not feel any heat.
This is the gas line quick connect making it really quick to set up the heater. This gas line is tapped into the propane gas system just as the gas line goes into the refrigerator.
One of the things that’s really hard on catalytic heaters is dust. I got this plastic storage container at Walmart. This container slides right under the couch, works great and extends the life of the heater.