The Best Electric Heaters For Caravans [2026 Review]

An electric heater is the cheapest, simplest way to warm a caravan, with zero combustion and zero carbon monoxide. The catch is honest: they realistically only work on a powered site, because a 2,000W heater flattens a battery bank in an hour. This guide covers what to look for and our top picks for 2026.

The Honest Truth About Electric Heaters in a Van

An electric heater is the cheapest heating you can buy, and it has two genuine advantages over gas and diesel: there is no combustion, so there is no carbon monoxide and no moisture pumped into your living space. You can run one over your bed all night without a second thought about ventilation. For a lot of travellers that peace of mind is the whole appeal.

The problem is power. Electric heaters draw 1,000 to 2,400 watts, and there is no getting around the physics. A 2,000W heater pulls roughly 170 amps out of a 12V system once you account for inverter losses. That will flatten even a big lithium bank in about an hour, and no realistic solar setup keeps up with it. These are shore-power appliances, full stop. Plugged into a powered site they are brilliant. Out bush without a generator running, they are useless.

So the honest positioning is this: buy an electric heater as your powered-site heater, or as a backup to a diesel unit for the nights you happen to be plugged in. It is not an off-grid solution, and any guide that tells you otherwise is selling you something.

What to Look For When Buying

Electric heaters are simple, but a few things separate a good one from a fire hazard that lives at the bottom of a boot. Here is what matters.

Ceramic vs Oil Column vs Panel

These are the three types you will actually be choosing between, and they behave very differently in a van.

• Ceramic fan heater: heats fast because it blows warm air around the cabin, and it is dirt cheap. The downside is fan noise, which you will notice at night, and the cheapest ones do not last. Best for quick warm-ups and drying out a damp van.
• Oil column heater: silent, with a gentle radiant warmth that holds even after it switches off. The catch is size and weight. A column heater is heavy and bulky, and finding somewhere to store one in a van is a genuine payload and space headache. Best for long powered-site stays where it can live in one spot.
• Panel heater: slim and flat, so it stows against a wall or mounts on one, which solves the storage problem the column heater creates. Output is moderate rather than blistering, but for a van on a powered site that is usually all you need.

Our Top Picks for 2026

Three heaters cover the ground for powered-site travellers, from the purpose-built pick to the cheap-and-fast and the silent-but-bulky. Here they are.

1

Best Pick

$99.95

KickAss Electric Panel Heater 1000W

The only one here actually designed for camping

Most electric heaters are hardware-store homewares you shove in a van. This one is built for the job. It is a slim 65mm-thick panel that mounts on a wall or stands on the floor and stows flat when you pack up, which solves the storage problem that kills column heaters in a van. At 1,000W it runs whisper quiet with a proper thermostat you can set anywhere from 1 to 35°C, a 24-hour timer, and both overheat and anti-tip cut-outs. For a powered-site big lapper who wants set-and-forget warmth without the fan racket, this is the one to buy. There is also a 500W version if you are heating a tight space or want to keep the draw down even further.

Output

1,000W

Thermostat

1 to 35°C

Timer

24hr

Size

515 x 430 x 65mm

✔ Pros

• Slim and wall-mountable, stows flat
• Designed for camping, not a home hand-me-down
• Whisper quiet with thermostat and 24hr timer
• Overheat and anti-tip protection
• 500W version for tighter spaces

✗ Cons

• 1,000W is powered-site territory only
• Won’t heat a huge van fast in alpine cold

Our verdict: the best electric heater for a van because it was actually designed to live in one.

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2

Also Great

~$15 to $70

Ceramic Fan Heater

Cheap, fast, and it dries the van out

If you want heat now and you want it cheap, a ceramic fan heater is hard to argue with. Because it blows warm air rather than radiating it, it warms a cabin faster than anything else here, and that moving air is genuinely useful for drying out a van after a run of wet weather. You can pick one up from around $15, though the $40 to $70 units with a real thermostat and a tip-over cut-off are the ones worth having. The trade-off is noise: the fan is always running, and you will hear it overnight. Most run at 1,000W or 2,000W, and on the 2,000W setting it is a heavy pull on the site supply.

Output

1,000 / 2,000W

Heat Style

Forced air

Thermostat

Yes

Safety

Tip-over cut-off

✔ Pros

• Cheapest heater going
• Warms the cabin fastest
• Moving air helps dry out a damp van
• Compact and light to store

✗ Cons

• Fan noise all night
• The very cheap ones are short-lived
• 2,000W is a heavy mains draw

Our verdict: the pick for fast heat on a budget, if you can live with the fan hum.

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3

Also Great

~$40 to $120

Oil Column Heater

Silent, steady warmth for a long stay

For retirees and couples parked up on a powered site for a week or more, an oil column heater delivers the most pleasant warmth of the three. It is completely silent, and the radiant heat is gentle and even, holding in the cabin for a while after the heater switches off. Most come with a thermostat and timer as standard. The problem is purely physical: these things are heavy and bulky, and a caravan has neither the spare payload nor the cupboard space to make storing one easy. They are also slow to come up to temperature, so they suit a set-and-leave stay rather than a quick overnight warm-up.

Output

1,500 to 2,400W

Heat Style

Silent radiant

Thermostat

Yes, plus timer

Storage

Heavy and bulky

✔ Pros

• Completely silent
• Gentle radiant heat holds after switch-off
• Thermostat and timer common
• No hot exposed element to touch

✗ Cons

• Heavy and bulky, a real storage and payload problem
• Slow to warm the cabin
• Powered-site only

Our verdict: the most comfortable warmth for a long powered stay, if you can find room to stow it.

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Quick Comparison Table

Here is how the three types stack up side by side.

The Verdict

For most powered-site big lappers, the KickAss Electric Panel Heater 1000W is the one to buy. It is the only heater here designed to live in a van rather than a laundry, it stows flat, and it runs quietly with a proper thermostat and timer. If you want heat faster and cheaper, and you do not mind the fan noise, a ceramic fan heater does the job for a fraction of the price and doubles as a van dryer. And if you are settled on a powered site for a long stretch and value silence above all, an oil column heater gives you the most comfortable warmth, provided you can find somewhere to store the thing.

Whichever you pick, remember the golden rule: these are powered-site heaters. The moment you unhook from mains, your heat needs to come from diesel or gas.