Cold weather travelling in Class A

[deewhite0612]

We have been travelling in below freezing weather and find it pretty cold in the motorhome. Does anyone travel with their propane furnace running?

[JamesBr]

I never had a problem running the dash heat plus the furnace set to 68 on the old bus. It did a great job of keeping the old bus at a tolerable temperature and I used the dash heat to fine tune during the ride. 4 years of heading south between december 21st and January 5th and never had an issue. I am sure it will be interesting this year when we get to the first nights stop and I need to warm the 5er up.

[cbr46]

PDRJohn wrote:

cbr46 wrote:

About the only solution I can think of is shortening the control cable as it never hits a "stop" like it does (prematurely) on max cold.

- bob

You might just be able to reset the cable clamp.

Remove the clamp closest to the heating box. Manually move the arm to center of it's swing. Then center the temp knob. Reinstall the clamp and test control knob for full movement.

I had to do this on our Fleetwood.

I can't get to the heater box . . . . . After pulling off the front dash piece I removed all the screws I could find (4) at the front of the passenger footwell. It seems Fleetwood glued half the wall-carpet to a stationary piece while the "mobile" piece with 4 screws has 12V and 120V receptacles attached. What a pain . . . .

So I pulled the control assembly out and shortened the sheath there. I can go full stop both directions but still stuck with luke warm heat.

This coach was a squirrel hotel before I got it. Acorns everywhere! In the ceiling ducts, behind drawers, on top of chassis rails, in front of the tube tv . . . . but I don't think any are interfering with inside the heater box.

The heater box and hoses are higher than the engine. I didn't see one, but is there an air bleed valve somewhere?

Best,
- c bob

[nelson]

Yes do it when it gets really cold but we have a light curtain the wife made and a spring loaded rod at the beginning of the hall that helps keep the heat forward. It Helps A lot. It will be freezing in the back and we a warm and comfy in the front with just the chassis heater most of the time.

[CarlBall]

We have an extra heater that runs off our engine heat in the bedroom. This is in our older HR Endeavour. Works quite well although we to have a remote senor in the wet bay and if needed fire the furnace up. So far all has worked well down to around -11C or 12 F. Much below that and we might need some extra heat in the basement. The coach itself was quite comfortable. These old gals were pretty well made. It is a 1997.

[klm]

I am a fulltimer, sometimes travel in below freezing temps - but never winterized, so do have to be mindful of plumbing. I put a remote sensor in the wet bay and the monitor on the dashboard - so we can check the temps. Anytime the wet bay temps get near freezing, we turnn on the furnace. Other times, chilly but not freezing, we will give the genny a workout and run a small electric heater. We also use the dash heat, warms the cockpit but that's it.

[PDRJohn]

cbr46 wrote:

About the only solution I can think of is shortening the control cable as it never hits a "stop" like it does (prematurely) on max cold.

- bob

You might just be able to reset the cable clamp.

Remove the clamp closest to the heating box. Manually move the arm to center of it's swing. Then center the temp knob. Reinstall the clamp and test control knob for full movement.

I had to do this on our Fleetwood.

[cbr46]

Temps in the mid-high 40's Sunday night and couldn't get the coach over 60F. SERIOUSLY? What's it going to do when it gets cold?

2002 Ford F53 Fleetwood Terra

Dash air was luke warm at best. Recirculate had no effect. Seems there's too much fresh air being mixed from the A/C side. Problem is it's IMPOSSIBLE to get access to the HVAC box under the dash. Well, I guess I could dismantle the front half of the MH.

About the only solution I can think of is shortening the control cable as it never hits a "stop" like it does (prematurely) on max cold.

Oh, and the MH furnace has a 15F window - comes on at 55F, shuts off at 70F. That makes it either too hot or too cold. Very uncomfortable at night.

Best,
- bob

[zmotorsports]

Our current coach has Aqua-Hot which is fantastic for cold weather and cold weather travel.

To the OP, our first two coaches had LP furnaces and we ran the furnace all the time for cold weather traveling. We used our coaches for snowmobiling so we traveled in sub-freezing temps quite a lot. Our first motorhome was a 30' gasser and we would run the dash heat in addition to the LP furnace just to assist with keeping our feet warm as that is all that would get a little chilly.

Our second coach, 38' Beaver Contessa, we never ran the dash heat as the LP furnace did a great job of keeping us warm while driving.

I see people all the time bundled up like eskimos while driving and I just don't get it. We bought the coach to travel in comfort and if you are freezing and uncomfortable something is wrong.

We just returned from a trip to Moab two weeks ago and when we stopped in Green River, Utah to fuel up I stepped out in a T-shirt and realized that it was a lot colder than I expected. I had my wife throw me my jacket while I fueled up. I had a guy walk over to me while I was fueling who had a heavy coat on and he asked me if we were running our furnace as he noticed I stepped out without a jacket. He said he and his wife were working their way south coming from Nebraska in their motorhome for the first time but hadn't planned on it being so cold so soon. He said they were uncomfortable because it was so cold while driving. I tried explaining the system to him but still couldn't convince him to turn on his furnace. He and his wife were bundled up in blankets and coats as they got back on the intestate.

Mike.

[Groover]

In my coach the only heat to the plumbing in the basement is from the propane furnace. Turning off the furnace for any reason in sub-freezing weather puts my plumbing at risk. I am going to have to be careful with other heat sources that might keep the furncace from coming on enough. I am looking at electric heat and temperature monitors for the basement.

[folivier]

Ditto on the aqua hot. Really keeps the coach comfortable with the engine heat.

[John_S_]

Love cold weather. Use the aquhot and engine heat to jeep the coach warm. If it gets really cold I will flip on the diesel boiler.

[Daveinet]

The furnace is designed for positive consistent air flow over the boiler. That is why the inlet and outlet are right next to each other. This means if there is wind or a vacuum at the inlet, the outlet sees the same wind pressure or vacuum. The balance affect of this results in the same air flow over the boiler flame, so the flame is not blown out or suffocated from lack of air flow. It is designed to be safe while driving down the road.

[WyoTraveler]

Same here. Run furnace at 70 degrees on or off the road. The purpose of the RV is for old people like us to be comfortable.

[hotjag1]

I run the furnace anytime that it's cold and I want the entire coach nice and warm.