blakleyfamily Report post Posted December 17, 2018 Going to be traveling to some colder areas, and curious if it's safe to drive with the rv house heater running to keep it warm inside? It's propane forced air heat. The dash heat doesn't get warm enough. I think the whole furnace system is 12v so I should be able to run the heater by just leaving the inverter on, no generator? Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted December 17, 2018 20 minutes ago, blakleyfamily said: Going to be traveling to some colder areas, and curious if it's safe to drive with the rv house heater running to keep it warm inside? It's propane forced air heat. The dash heat doesn't get warm enough. Thanks. Running the furnace while traveling is fine. Just check or have it checked out before hand. When you are traveling it is not always easy to hear how they are running, because of the road noise. ALSO! remember to turn them off when fulling up. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted December 17, 2018 As long as the system is in good working order, there should be no problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted December 17, 2018 I do it all the time. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blakleyfamily Report post Posted December 18, 2018 Thanks for the info, fire that heater up and hit the road!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moonwink Report post Posted December 18, 2018 The last time I tried that, I ended up with a LOT of ice hanging on the furnace. Every time you burn a gallon of propane, around a gallon of water is produced. Normally, that moisture dissipates and you won't notice it but when you're driving and running the furnace, it condenses and freezes on the side of the MH. Be sure to watch it and make sure it doesn't buildup too much where it could clog the furnace vent. I've found it's better to rig a curtain just behind the cockpit seats and let the dash heater keep that area warm. When you get to your destination, the furnace won't take long to warm the rest of HM up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted December 18, 2018 Never seen or heard of that probleem. I would get my furnace checked. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moonwink Report post Posted December 18, 2018 I've been in the heating and air conditioning business for over 50 years. Nothing was wrong with the furnace. Moisture is a by-product of combustion - like I mentioned about a gallon of water is produced for every gallon of propane burned or every hour the furnace in your house operates. The reason new 90%+ furnaces are vented in plastic is because of the condensation produced by the cooler by--products of the flame. In older less efficient furnaces, the flue gasses can't be allowed to condense before their vented through the roof - if they condense in the pipe, they will corrode the pipe and if the pipe isn't insulated good enough, they could freeze and block the flue. Every winter I hear about houses where that happens and the fumes end up in the house asphyxiating the people in the house. Proper venting is essential. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted December 18, 2018 Moonwink. Interesting feedback. The furnace vents on the furnaces installed in our coach are made of Stainless Steel, run hot and only protrude 1/2 in. out the side and one section of the blower moves just a little hot air along the exhaust system and out around the exhaust vent support system. Never have had any water or ice form around them while traveling. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
john_harris Report post Posted December 18, 2018 I have encountered no issues with burning furnace while traveling. If temps permit, i will instead run Gen Set and roof unit on Heat Pump mode and kept coach toasty. Ambient (outside) temp needs to be 38 or so but still plenty of times this is the case and dash unit just not enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted December 18, 2018 Moonwink. That happened on occasion in the campground, but it was on 1960's, 70's and early 80 coaches! Back then, my flame and pilot light would blow out, If I was driving and had the furnace on...so we never did. You can do it in the coaches that are built in the past 33 years! John just mentioned the other option and I do that most times. I also have Aqua Hot and floor tile heat...Linda's 2006 DP has gas furnace and so had her previous 5 coaches, only one coach, she could not drive with Furnace on was 37 years ago! I don't have 50+ years of House AC/Heat experience....Just 52+ years Class A, coach experience...must be 2 different animals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ispjs Report post Posted December 19, 2018 Don't know what type of RV you have, but when your slides are in does that cover up any heat vents? That would be the only issue I would check before heading down the road with a furnace on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted December 19, 2018 21 hours ago, John_Harris said: I have encountered no issues with burning furnace while traveling. If temps permit, i will instead run Gen Set and roof unit on Heat Pump mode and kept coach toasty. Ambient (outside) temp needs to be 38 or so but still plenty of times this is the case and dash unit just not enough. Yes you can do that but why? Why run the generator and the roof air when the furnace will easily and cheaply take up any slack keeping the temps where you want them? I have found that if the temperature gets much below 45 the thermostat will automatically switch to gas heat. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rayin Report post Posted December 19, 2018 23 hours ago, Moonwink said: I've been in the heating and air conditioning business for over 50 years. Nothing was wrong with the furnace. Moisture is a by-product of combustion - like I mentioned about a gallon of water is produced for every gallon of propane burned or every hour the furnace in your house operates. The reason new 90%+ furnaces are vented in plastic is because of the condensation produced by the cooler by--products of the flame. In older less efficient furnaces, the flue gasses can't be allowed to condense before their vented through the roof - if they condense in the pipe, they will corrode the pipe and if the pipe isn't insulated good enough, they could freeze and block the flue. Every winter I hear about houses where that happens and the fumes end up in the house asphyxiating the people in the house. Proper venting is essential. The condensate from 90+ efficient household furnaces is corrosive, seen it first-hand from an American Standard Freedom 90 unit. I had a brass-end garden hose draining away condensate. I began to notice water on the basement floor, investigated and discovered the condensate had eaten completely through the brass where it transitioned from hose crimp to threaded end; replaced it with plastic hose-end. The majority of older RV furnaces are about 65-70% efficient. Since they are side-vented, and have an exhaust pipe about 12" long, there is little time for condensate to drop out of exhaust gas when the combustion-air fan is running properly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
folkie Report post Posted February 10, 2019 The real issue is the flow of cold air forcing in from under the Dash/generator area. This could be soved by the manufactures taking more care to address the problem. There is a lack of insulation at the front and noticeable drafts entering the cab whenever It’s cold outside. The inadequate cab heating system also fails to overcome the amounts of cold air forcing its way in below the dash. Again the manufacturers could easily fix this chronic Class A issue. When you spend ‘Class A’ kind of money, you should NOT have to put up with drafty front ends or hang blankets to keep the heat up front. It should be a non issue! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted February 10, 2019 53 minutes ago, folkie said: The real issue is the flow of cold air forcing in from under the Dash/generator area. This could be soved by the manufactures taking more care to address the problem. There is a lack of insulation at the front and noticeable drafts entering the cab whenever It’s cold outside. The inadequate cab heating system also fails to overcome the amounts of cold air forcing its way in below the dash. Again the manufacturers could easily fix this chronic Class A issue. When you spend ‘Class A’ kind of money, you should NOT have to put up with drafty front ends or hang blankets to keep the heat up front. It should be a non issue! Welcome to the forum. With out knowing what Class A you have/talking about I can't comment. I always make shure the air selector is on "recirculate" this reduses how much heat is needed to warm the air. It never hurts to look under the dash and plug any holes. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted February 10, 2019 3 hours ago, WILDEBILL308 said: ....It never hurts to look under the dash and plug any holes.... Bill Yep, slide the generator out and look at the dash from the outside...you'll be surprised what you'll see on some coaches. This coach is very good, my previous coach took most of a roll of tape and roll of insulation to plug the holes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charlieiam Report post Posted February 11, 2019 On 12/17/2018 at 8:37 AM, blakleyfamily said: Going to be traveling to some colder areas, and curious if it's safe to drive with the rv house heater running to keep it warm inside? It's propane forced air heat. The dash heat doesn't get warm enough. I think the whole furnace system is 12v so I should be able to run the heater by just leaving the inverter on, no generator? Thanks. No need to leave the Inverter on. It supplies 120V and the furnace only needs 12V from the batteries. The engine operated alternator will keep batteries charged. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted February 11, 2019 1 hour ago, CharlieIAm said: No need to leave the Inverter on. It supplies 120V and the furnace only needs 12V from the batteries. The engine operated alternator will keep batteries charged. You are absolutely right. Welcome to the forum. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
