Cabin preheat (not engine)

[dfurst]

My Mooney is parked outside.  I have a great engine preheat system and I just bought a http://switcheon.com/ so I can turn it on 12 hours ahead of time from home. Great!

The new switch has two outlets.  I am thinking of using the second outlet to heat the cabin.  My question is with what?  I want a safe option.  I can run a second extension cord through the pilot window.  I am not sure what to plug in to it.  

Not sure I want to just buy any old space heater?  Is the Twin Hornet (https://www.sportys.com/aircraft-supplies/heater/twin-hornet-22-engine-heater.html) overkill? Not advised?

What are people doing to remotely preheat their cabin?

Thanks!

Edited November 18, 2020 by dfurst
missing key word.

[toto]

I've had really good luck with the Aircraft Heaters products. I use the Twin Hornet as an engine heater - but it should work fine as a cabin heater too. 

The nicest thing about these heaters is they don't really need a switch. They have an internal thermostat that turns on at 50F and turns off at 70F so they never really get too hot. The unit is cool to the touch, and I wouldn't have any serious concerns about overheating and catching carpet or upholstery on fire. 

I bought mine directly from the mfr:

https://www.aircraftheaters.com/

 

[N201MKTurbo]

I would get a small space heater with a thermostat and a fan.

Like this:

https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/hvac/heaters/portable-electric/portable-heater-with-adjustable-thermostat-1500-1000w-steel?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoPu33M-M7QIVFRLnCh3SaAkTEAQYCiABEgIsZ_D_BwE

 

You will need a big extension cord for this and an engine heater.

[tmo]

Big ass incandescent (traditional, think Edison) light bulb in a worklight enclosure, like the mechanics used to use, before they all got cordless LED lamps. You get heat, and some light as a byproduct. If anything happens to it, it just breaks and goes off, possibly tripping a breaker in the process.

[hypertech]

If you do a cabin preheat, how much a difference does it make after you have the baggage door and cabin door open to load up?  I've thought about this before but assumed I'd just lose all the heat packing the plane anyway.

[hammdo]

I bought this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Crane-10-in-750-1500-Watt-3-Settings-Electric-Portable-Compact-Oscillating-Ceramic-Space-Heater-EE-6492/302131405?cm_mmc=ecc-_-THD_ORDER_CONFIRMATION_BOSS_STH-_-V1_M1_CA-_-Product_URL&ecc_ord=WG22434689

cool to the touch, has all the safety features, good price... won’t burn if tipped over...

-Don

[GDGR]

Small ceramic heater. I place one in the foot well, and let it heat the cabin as well as the instruments. 

[WaynePierce]

Aircraft Heaters has a device specifically for the cabin (costs less than the Hornet). I just purchased a small ceramic heater (Vornado) for under 20 bucks. It has a high/low/fan option, physical on/off switch and a safety switch on the bottom that turns the unit off if it gets knocked over. I got it today and I've been running it on low all morning. It is not hot to the touch and I think it will do fine. I'm going to plug it in to an extension chord that will be plugged in to a low temperature sensing outlet (Thermo Cube) I've also got a Twin Hornet II coming, hopefully tomorrow for the engine. Amazon just brought my moving blanket for the top of the cowl as I was typing this.

Granted it doesn't get nearly as cold in Memphis as it does in the District but this should be fine for the few days that do get cold.

[jaylw314]

Given the propensity for fuel tank leaks to let vapors in the cabin, I'd have a hard time thinking remotely turning on a cabin heater would be a good idea!

A small leak is unlikely to cause a safety hazard or health hazard normally, especially after you pop open the baggage and main door, but for a closed cabin sitting around for days, the vapors could conceivably accumulate to the point where bad things could happen...

[gsxrpilot]

2 hours ago, dfurst said:

I just bought a http://switcheon.com/ so I can turn it on 12 hours ahead of time from home. Great!

Be careful as the Switcheon is only good up to 1800 watts total across all the channels. If you exceed the wattage, it will blow an internal fuse and require a warrantee return.

[dfurst]

1 hour ago, hypertech said:

If you do a cabin preheat, how much a difference does it make after you have the baggage door and cabin door open to load up?  I've thought about this before but assumed I'd just lose all the heat packing the plane anyway.

I don't leave he doors open once I load.  I typically leave the preheat running while I do my preflight so figure I will do the same with the cabin heater. Plus it will get the seats warm and soft.  Also the avionics will be room temperature.  Should hold heat even with door open for a few minutes. 

[dfurst]

21 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Be careful as the Switcheon is only good up to 1800 watts total across all the channels. If you exceed the wattage, it will blow an internal fuse and require a warrantee return.

Thanks for the warning.  Went and looked. Engine Preheat is 50W per cylinder x 6 so 300W and 200W for oil.  500W total.  Hornet 45 is 700W.  That puts me at 1200W.

[carusoam]

Ordinary space heater for home use...

With all the safety items built in already...

Spend the time to make sure you don’t accidentally light the plane on fire, and the one next to you...

The cabin is a pretty small room... it doesn’t take much to heat it...

For deep switcheon questions... we have the switcheon guy around here...

PP thoughts only...

Best regards,

-a-

[larrynimmo]

My plane is hangered...I use the twin hornet 200w engine heater all winter long....what I like about it is that it keeps the upper end of the engine evenly warm....coldest spot is the oil pan in the bottom...this helps to avoid water vapor from  condensing on the  upper end of the engine.  It turns on at about 67 degrees and off at about 70 degrees....and is explosion proof.  To minimize its run time, engine cowling is covered by a thick black open sleeping bag (no zippers)

for the interior I use a Honeywell (non glowing) heater on low to keep it above 60 degrees with the cord run through the slightly Ajar  baggage door.

when I pull the plane out...engine and cabin are always prewarmed...easy starting and coat off comfort in plane

[aviatoreb]

I think cabin preheat is pretty important to my operations when it is well below 25-32 point is my mark.  For sake of the instruments.  Think of turning on the instrument panel at -5F.

I use a standard smallest size ceramic space heater which is quite up to the job.  It should have tip-over shut off as a built in feature.  Nothing more intense should be left in the airplane unsupervised.  

That pre-heat may be in part lost for the air once door is open and closed, regarding comfort of the pilot-passengers, but the instrument panel and general interior is not cold soaked and re-heats quickly once the engine is running and blasting heat.  The main point is though I am not turning on a cold soaked instrument panel.

I live close to the airport, like a mile, so I just drive over and plug in the heat.

[steingar]

19 hours ago, hammdo said:

I bought this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Crane-10-in-750-1500-Watt-3-Settings-Electric-Portable-Compact-Oscillating-Ceramic-Space-Heater-EE-6492/302131405?cm_mmc=ecc-_-THD_ORDER_CONFIRMATION_BOSS_STH-_-V1_M1_CA-_-Product_URL&ecc_ord=WG22434689

cool to the touch, has all the safety features, good price... won’t burn if tipped over...

-Don

Just bought one of these.  Wish me luck.

[aviatoreb]

Just now, steingar said:

Just bought one of these.  Wish me luck.

Good luck.

[Tim Jodice]

I use a large size utility 1500 watt space heater on (750watt) low. I use a large one because it heats a lot of air (loud) without a large temperature rise.

In my experience a small ceramic type heater move a small amount of air(quiet) but has a large temperature rise so it can be a lot hotter in a small area.

Don't ask me the physics of it but a friend told me to do it and in my experience it works alot better. 

The airplane i had at the time was not very tight and kept a cover on it to keep the rain out.

 

[hammdo]

Just some info to share:

http://reiffpreheat.com/Cabin Heater.htm

-Don 

[M20F]

On 11/18/2020 at 1:41 PM, GLJA said:

Small ceramic heater. I place one in the foot well, and let it heat the cabin as well as the instruments. 

Use the same.  Won’t catch on fire and heats the gyros and radios up.