Furnace on while driving

[Irish Mist]

Does anyone ever drive with the furnace on ?

[chuckster57]

Not a good idea in my opinion. If the furnace exhaust is on a side then driving will cause a venturi effect, making the flame go out. Then the furnace is going to try to relight and eventually shut down.

[Irish Mist]

I pretty much figured it was not a good idea but thought I would ask

[swanson]

I've done it for years with no problems.
If for some reason the furnace does go out on safety then just recycle the unit and everything will work all right.

[Ken / Claudia]

I have done it. When going Elk hunting, late Nov or Dec. Outside temps always below 32 and in some mt.s near 0 at night. We have been turning them on when a hour or so away from the camp area.

[theeyres]

I have done it by mistake and never had a problem other than being surprised when I got somewhere and found the trailer nice and toasty warm. It's happened on a couple trailers. Guess it won't hurt anything.

[JRTJH]

It "shouldn't hurt anything" as so many have said, and I think anyone who has towed for any length of time has had that "Oh, gee" moment when they discovered that they forgot to turn off the furnace this morning (as they arrive at their destination this evening).

The fact remains that the furnace manufacturer includes a warning (not a statement, but a warning) in the owner's manual which says: "Operation of this appliance is not recommended while the vehicle is in motion.", or: "Do not operate this appliance while travelling".

As stated, the fresh air intake/exhaust ports are located on the side of the RV (for most of us) and air travelling 65-70 MPH over those ports will cause an air disturbance that could affect the balance of "intake/exhaust" and cause the furnace to fail. Should that happen, you're then relying on a "failsafe function" to shut off propane. If that "failsafe" fails........ You'll have a "live propane leak" without the burner functioning...... A "ticking timebomb" ??? Maybe/maybe not ????? Add a couple of years use, some corrosion in the furnace heat exchanger box, a "rusted out lining" and ?????

If your furnace is "new and functioning" you'd probably be OK relying on the safety mechanisms, but after a few years of use, is the furnace still in "leakproof condition" so you know propane won't flow into the space around the furnace? Do the "failsafe" functions still work properly? Is it really so cold that the "convenience of heat while travelling" is worth the risk?

Only you can decide what works best for you......

[Campy]

I don't camp when is cold but then how do people travel when it is cold out? You need the heat for keeping the plumbing safe. I know my camper has a heat duct running into the belly and that would require running the furnace. We ran the furnace in our old class A motorhome while traveling during cold temps.

[Sulphur1]

The other real danger is that if a leak occurs and it tries a relight there could be a large LP gas explosion - look up on youtube , not nice!
Same risk running fridge on gas while towing.
Cheers
Jon

[rhagfo]

Yes first time was by accident, got home from a trip and inside of 5er was nice and warm. Now when traveling in the winter set T-Stat to about 55 to 60, sure is nice to get into a warm rig on arrival.

[Desert185]

I wouldn't be comfy running the furnace while traveling. If its really cold, I start the furnace as soon as we stop and by the time its unhitched, etc. the inside is warm. Doesn't take very long for the furnace to heat the trailer.

[CharlesCole]

Haven't tried yet. Will try once.

[byrdr1]

I haven't done this but I did forget to shut the HWH gas off the trip before last out. Iw as walking around the camper to get the garbage can and take it to the road and I heard this sound like "that's gas burning or running on WHAT??" guess what the GAS HWH...dang it.. almost a week later well 5 days worth anyway..

Just another question here on this matter.
MY slides almost cover every floor vent except the bathroom and bedroom, would this not cause an issue also?

randy

[JRTJH]

Here is a link to the Atwood furnace service manual: http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/hflamefurn04.pdf

The answer to your question will vary depending on the type of installation, number of duct runs, length of duct runs, number of 90 degree turns in the ducting, number of "open" duct registers and total square in area of "open, unobstructed" ducting that the furnace system has. So, every installation will be somewhat different.

The "unobstructed ducting requirement" for the Atwood 35K BTU furnace models is 48 sq in/4 duct runs (minimum). If your RV meets these requirements with the floor ducts under the slides covered, then operating the furnace with the slides "IN" wouldn't be a safety factor. If, however, you only have two "long duct runs to the bedroom and bathroom with a number of 90 degree bends in those 4" ducts, then you might not have enough air flow for proper furnace operation. The issue, as I understand it, is that the air flow through the heat exchanger must be sufficient to prevent the furnace from overheating. Granted there is a "heat limit safety switch" which is supposed to shut the furnace off if the temperature around the heat exchanger rises to unsafe levels, but what if that safety switch fails? Also, consider that metal "deteriorates" faster at high temperatures, so if the design criteria for airflow is met, the heat exchanger temps will be lower (with more of the heat absorbed in the air flowing through the furnace) which not only increases efficiency, but also protects the heat exchanger from excessively high temperatures and prolongs service life.

Whew, all of that to say, yes, covering the floor ducts with the slide "MIGHT" impact safe operation of your furnace, or, on the other hand, depending on the number of ducts you have, it may not be a problem. Each RV model is different, so compare the minimum requirements in the Atwood manual against how Keystone built your RV.