John: I know that the Reiff website has a specific recommendation. They recommend a small ceramic heater and in fact have a particular unit for sale on their web site. However, they recommend getting one at Home Depot or similar.
Here is what they recommend:
Cabin Heaters
It is a good idea to use a cabin heater in cold weather because it is better for your gyros and avionics to keep them warm and dry. Of course, it’s also a lot more comfortable for the pilot to climb into a warm airplane than a cold one. Whenever we are asked to develop a cabin heater to work with our engine heaters, our answer is always the same… we could develop a heater, get it FAA approved, sell it for $375 and make lots of money. But it’s a lot cheaper for the customer to just go to the local Home Depot and buy a small ceramic space heater. For the past several years we have used a compact 850/1500 watt unit that has an adjustable thermostat to maintain whatever cabin temperature you want, and has safety switches to shut it off if it overheats or tips over. We place this heater on the floor of the rear baggage area and run the power cord out the door (it’s flat so the door closes on it easily). This type of heater is small and light so it can be left in the airplane when you travel, but is not installed in the aircraft so does not require any FAA approval.
The bottom line is, it doesn’t make sense to us to produce a small volume, specialized, high priced heater when a mass produced, inexpensive unit will work just as well or even better.
For those customers who want to save the trip to Home Depot, we now stock the same heater we use.
FEATURES
- Two Settings: 850/1500 Watts
- Ceramic Fin Heating System
- Automatic Adjustable Thermostat
- Safety Tip Over Switch
- Overheat Protection Device
- Dust Filter
- Cord Storage Compartment
- 3 Year Warranty
$39
SPECIFICATIONS
LxWxH: 7" x 6.5" x 7"
Weight: 4 lbs.
Power: 110-120V/60Hz
Color: Cool Grey
About Ceramic Heaters
These heaters have an element with ceramic plates and aluminum baffles. Electricity passing through the ceramic heats it up; the heat is absorbed by the aluminum and a fan blows the hot air around the aluminum out into the room. Ceramic elements are compact, safer and more efficient than other elements because they self-regulate the electricity flow depending on temperature, thereby preventing overheat situations.
Cabin Heaters
It is a good idea to use a cabin heater in cold weather because it is better for your gyros and avionics to keep them warm and dry. Of course, it’s also a lot more comfortable for the pilot to climb into a warm airplane than a cold one. Whenever we are asked to develop a cabin heater to work with our engine heaters, our answer is always the same… we could develop a heater, get it FAA approved, sell it for $375 and make lots of money. But it’s a lot cheaper for the customer to just go to the local Home Depot and buy a small ceramic space heater. For the past several years we have used a compact 850/1500 watt unit that has an adjustable thermostat to maintain whatever cabin temperature you want, and has safety switches to shut it off if it overheats or tips over. We place this heater on the floor of the rear baggage area and run the power cord out the door (it’s flat so the door closes on it easily). This type of heater is small and light so it can be left in the airplane when you travel, but is not installed in the aircraft so does not require any FAA approval.
The bottom line is, it doesn’t make sense to us to produce a small volume, specialized, high priced heater when a mass produced, inexpensive unit will work just as well or even better.
For those customers who want to save the trip to Home Depot, we now stock the same heater we use.
FEATURES
- Two Settings: 850/1500 Watts
- Ceramic Fin Heating System
- Automatic Adjustable Thermostat
- Safety Tip Over Switch
- Overheat Protection Device
- Dust Filter
- Cord Storage Compartment
- 3 Year Warranty
$39
SPECIFICATIONS
LxWxH: 7" x 6.5" x 7"
Weight: 4 lbs.
Power: 110-120V/60Hz
Color: Cool Grey
About Ceramic Heaters
These heaters have an element with ceramic plates and aluminum baffles. Electricity passing through the ceramic heats it up; the heat is absorbed by the aluminum and a fan blows the hot air around the aluminum out into the room. Ceramic elements are compact, safer and more efficient than other elements because they self-regulate the electricity flow depending on temperature, thereby preventing overheat situations.
What you want to look for is ceramic heating units, thermostat, tip over protection, variable heat settings. I think they recommend putting the unit in the baggage compartment.
I am not sure that either the 20 minute or the 500/700 watt limits are sufficient. If the 20 minute is just the preflight time, you would probably want 1500 watts of heat. But, hey, I’m just a California boy, what do I know about ice and snow?