Shorten the ducts or not

[Richard6959]

I just opened up the belly of our Laredo TT. Its 36 feet and has alot of extra duct work coiled up inside. Is it worth taking out about 10ft of extra duct? It seems this would improve warm air flow.

[GaryWT]

That is something I hope I never have to look at. I am sure it will help some. Hope often do you use the heat.

[Richard6959]

We are and will be living in it this winter. I plan to use electric heat as much as possible, but when we use the furnace I don't want to loose a lot of heat traveling through coiled up ducts.

I am also looking at options to use an electric heater to blow warm air into the heater ducts to warm the belly. So I don't want alot of duct work to push air through.

[Terrydactile]

I think it would help air flow. The straighter the run the better.

[Festus2]

While you have the belly opened up, I'd not only shorten the ducts but if they are the "flimsy" /tinfoil aka cheap dryer type, I'd look into the more rigid but still flexible aluminum ducts or you might even consider the solid, sheet metal ducts used in your stick house.

[Steve S]

Shorten it and keep it straight if you can. Insulate all around your duct work, it makes a huge difference

[hankpage]

I installed metal elbows and straight vent pipe through the storage area to the bedroom on my Cougar and it made a noticeable improvement. Shortening the ducts should help, just avoid tight turns and kinks. While at it you might want to replace with ducts with a higher R-rating flexible duct. On my trailer the A/C ceiling ducts were for the most part open at the ends into the "attic space" (space between ceiling and roof) so I blocked them off just past the last vents with foam and metal duct tape ... that helped also. JM2¢, Hank

[Richard6959]

My concern is if I update the duct work to a higher "R" rating, will I loose the effect of the radiant heat keeping the pipes warm?

Same concern if I insulate the duct work, will water lines freeze?

[Festus2]

I thought you were considering supplementing your regular furnace heat with electric heaters placed in the underbelly/compartment area to keep the water lines "warm"?

[BulletOwner1]

I had very poor heat flow in the bedroom until I accessed the underbelly and removed "extra" duct work, and straightened it up. It did make a difference and balanced out the flow. Also was able to direct the small duct heating the underbelly to be more effective. Make sure that when it gets seriously cold that you use the furnace. Just using the electric heat does not heat the underbelly.