traveling with the heat on.

labman · 12-07-2017, 02:59 PM

We have plans to head to AZ the end of January. I am going to take my time driving ~ 8 hours/day so it will mean 3 nights staying in the Sprinter. My question is, can I run the furnace while traveling or should I stop an hour or 2 ahead and start it or?????? I don't want to freeze waiting to heat the thing up.....

rhagfo · 12-07-2017, 03:04 PM

We have done in cold weather, no issue, just be sure slides don’t cover heat vents.

**JRTJH** · 12-07-2017, 03:09 PM

We have made the trip from northern Michigan to "warmer places" several times and find that leaving the trailer winterized and just spending the first night in a motel is much easier than trying to "camp in the cold" even with an electric hookup. Usually we head "due south" when the weather forecast gives us 3 or 4 days of "no snow predicted" and the roads are clear. So far we've been lucky and haven't been caught in any significant "changing weather". After that first night, the second day of "due south" puts us in "warm enough not to freeze" and we stop early enough to dewinterize and stay in the trailer.

I'd be reluctant to travel with the furnace running, there's a possibility of pressure differences blowing out the furnace flame and putting the furnace in "lockout". Also, depending on whether your slides cover the floor registers, you may overheat the furnace and cause it to shut down. I'm sure some "do it and never have a problem" but I'm just not that trusting that everything will go without problems. The last thing I'd want is something to go wrong and me to be halfway between exits without a way to stop, assuming I even knew there was a problem in the trailer while towing.

**sourdough** · 12-07-2017, 03:12 PM

We don't run the heater. Our slides cover all vents but the one in the bathroom. It poses no problem.

We park and set up. After we have it leveled and chocked we open the slides and turn on the heater. As soon as the power cord is on and functional we turn on the fireplace. By the time we finish doing "stuff" the trailer is fine. We leave puppy in the warm truck until she can come into a warm trailer.

bdaniel · 12-07-2017, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by labman

We have plans to head to AZ the end of January. I am going to take my time driving ~ 8 hours/day so it will mean 3 nights staying in the Sprinter. My question is, can I run the furnace while traveling or should I stop an hour or 2 ahead and start it or?????? I don't want to freeze waiting to heat the thing up.....

Run the heater, run the fridge, run the AC if you have a generator. It is not that fragile. It will be fine. Even spend a night in Walmart.

Bobby

**sourdough** · 12-07-2017, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdaniel

Run the heater, run the fridge, run the AC if you have a generator. It is not that fragile. It will be fine. Even spend a night in Walmart.

Bobby

I would question this. All of my heater registers (4) are completely covered with the exception of the bathroom(1) when the slides are in. I don't think it's a good idea to run a 35k furnace full blast with all the vents virtually closed....they're just not made that strong IMO. AC (radius roof so vents are clear), fridge ...of course.

**chuckster57** · 12-07-2017, 06:56 PM

Other than the vents being blocked and the furnace shutting down due to high limit, I wonder if there is any kind of “Venturi” effect that would cause it to,go out and relight several times. It would depend on placement of the furnace.

labman · 12-07-2017, 06:57 PM

As far as the vents, all are in the center of the unit. one in MBR, bath, kitchen and LR. None are covered by the slides.

**JRTJH** · 12-07-2017, 07:21 PM

My concern, as I stated above, is the airflow over the furnace intake/exhaust. That would be something I'd want to get clarification on from the furnace manufacturer. As chuckster indicated, the "venturi effect" of air movement over the intake/exhaust may cause a problem with sufficient airflow to the burner. Then again, maybe it wouldn't. Just because others do it and haven't had a problem doesn't mean that your trailer will operate the same under similar conditions.

I'd send an email to the furnace manufacturer's customer service section and ask them if it's OK to operate your furnace while towing. If they say no problem, then I'd suspect you're good to go. If they suggest otherwise, then you'll know for sure. No matter their recommendation, at least you'll have it from the "horse's mouth".....

rhagfo · 12-07-2017, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Other than the vents being blocked and the furnace shutting down due to high limit, I wonder if there is any kind of “Venturi” effect that would cause it to,go out and relight several times. It would depend on placement of the furnace.

Like stated earlier set the t-stat at about 55 to 60 degrees, and nice and warm on arrival. So are RV furnaces not to be run in a wind storm??

**chuckster57** · 12-07-2017, 08:33 PM

I don’t know. As suggested maybe an Email to the manufacturer of the appliance would yield the answer. I don’t run anything but the refer when towing. I have parked in cold weather and it has been comfortable within 15-20 minutes. We travel with a cat and he hasn’t displayed any distaste with our practice.

**flybouy** · 12-07-2017, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Like stated earlier set the t-stat at about 55 to 60 degrees, and nice and warm on arrival. So are RV furnaces not to be run in a wind storm??

I wouldn't want to be in a camper during a 65 mph windstorm.

notanlines · 12-08-2017, 04:08 AM

I'll side with the group that doesn't run with the furnace running. Too much to go wrong. RV furnaces can generally get warm enough to run you out of there in a short period of time. Just run the fridge and get on down the road.

labman · 12-08-2017, 08:34 AM

Think I will error on the safe side. Fire up when I am ready to stop for the night. Thanks for the input all of you. I appreciate the help. This whole thing is still new to me......

Ken / Claudia · 12-08-2017, 09:56 AM

I have done it in the past when no vents were covered, other RV. Several of us Elk hunting DEC temps below 32 to 0 at camp. We started up the furnaces in the 2 TTs and even the guy with the motorhome at the last stop after we fueled, we got them started and ate a meal at a restaurant. Camp was about 1 hour away. I realized they could or can shut off from the road winds. We were not traveling over 50 mph mostly in the 35 range and it worked out. Now with this RV a vent is covered by the slide nearest the furnace, not to sure if I would do it.

rhagfo · 12-08-2017, 09:59 PM

I would say if you are worried about flame blow out, I would worry about running the refer more than the furnace. The furnace uses forced air flame while the refer just uses a standing flame. Think about it.

**chuckster57** · 12-09-2017, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagfo

I would say if you are worried about flame blow out, I would worry about running the refer more than the furnace. The furnace uses forced air flame while the refer just uses a standing flame. Think about it.

The refer flame is “covered” by at least 2 shields. The furnace flame isn’t shielded at all, and it isn’t a forced air flame. Just more BTU’s so a bigger flame.

rhagfo · 12-09-2017, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagfo

I would say if you are worried about flame blow out, I would worry about running the refer more than the furnace. The furnace uses forced air flame while the refer just uses a standing flame. Think about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

The refer flame is “covered” by at least 2 shields. The furnace flame isn’t shielded at all, and it isn’t a forced air flame. Just more BTU’s so a bigger flame.

Chucksrer, sorry to disagree with you on this but the burner for the furnaces is in the same air path as the sail switch. When the furnace start sequence starts the fan comes on and forces air through the combustion side of the heat exchanger, once the burner ignited the flame is in the For lack of a better term wind tunnel.
It isn’t like the heat driven circulation of the water heater. When my Cheap Heat System is on electric, I still have air blowing out the exhaust port of the furnace.

**chuckster57** · 12-09-2017, 05:19 AM

Take one apart. The sail switch is located inside the cage for the blower fan. The burner is on the “outside” of the plenum. The fan moves “inside” air from the interior of the trailer “over” the hot plenum. The flame uses “outside” air for combustion. No danger of carbon monoxide inside trailer.
The ONLY LP appliance that consumes interior air for combustion is the stove/oven. That’s why there is a warning about using it for comfort heat.

rhagfo · 12-09-2017, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Take one apart. The sail switch is located inside the cage for the blower fan. The burner is on the “outside” of the plenum. The fan moves “inside” air from the interior of the trailer “over” the hot plenum. The flame uses “outside” air for combustion. No danger of carbon monoxide inside trailer.
The ONLY LP appliance that consumes interior air for combustion is the stove/oven. That’s why there is a warning about using it for comfort heat.

Yes, but there is also a fan (squirrel cage) on the combustion side that forces air through the combustion side of the plenum, and over the burner assembly. My point being that the furnace uses forced air for combustion and that air is sucked from the outside of the trailer.

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