Heating the underbelly

[Papa of 7]

I purchased my Montana High Country 331rl on the 29th of December 2020. We spent a couple of nights in it in the driveway to see of there was any problems. After the first night we went and bought a mattress and a memory foam topper, no other problems... We then took a short 5 day trip to Bledsoe Creek State Park just to get familiar with it. We don't want to winterize it because of other winter trips after some Doctors visits for maintenance. Plus I don't want to be running my propane heat.**************************** ** I hope this helps someone, I had looked through several forums and found nothing. First let me say I'm in middle Tennessee,*our winter weather here in January and February are usually the coldest months, mostly 30's and 40's in the day time and 20's at night. This may not work in colder climates. I will post pictures at the end and I hope I can explain what I have done.
* These are the items I purchased for the setup, Vornado heater 750, 1250, and 1500 watt, two 4 inch server fans, indoor/outdoor thermometer with 3 remote sensors.
*** I removed the basement walls, it only has a few screws,* just enough to hold it in place. I then could see the cross member frame and mounted the fans to it blowing towards the belly which is at the very bottom of the wall, looks like each cross member is about 8 foot apart. Also notice the holes in the cross member,* looks to be 10 inch by 5 inch angled. Next I took one of the sensors and zip tried it to a 1/2" ×10 foot pvc pipe and pushed it into the belly, this should be the portion of the waterline to the kitchen sink and ice maker, all other water lines are in the first section behind the basement wall which I have recorded 60° at times. After measuring the location of the fans I used a 4 inch hole saw and cut the two holes to match. I then installed the basement walls back into place. I set the heater in front of the fans and set it on 750 watts. The floor and wall does not get hot. Last night we got down to 27°, inside the basement was 70°, inside the belly was 39°, and inside the camper was 42°. If you have pulled off the basement walls, you can see inside the camper through the louvers in the return in the steps, that is were the heat is getting into the camper. Sometimes we get in the teens,* if we do I will update. Let me know what you think!

[LewisB]

We also have "marginally cold" temperatures in Tucson. I too hate to winterize. Interesting project for a common problem. Should work for at least the main cabin underbelly. For those of us with a second bath, might need a supplement.

Question: Is there any thermostatic control of the 750W heater? Requires shore power, correct? Do you turn off the heater in the day or does it run all the time. Did you study cost of power vs. propane?

Thanks for the write-up and photos. Cool to see someone thinking "outside the box" on a common issue. Best of luck.

[Papa of 7]

Originally Posted by LewisB

We also have "marginally cold" temperatures in Tucson. I too hate to winterize. Interesting project for a common problem. Should work for at least the main cabin underbelly. For those of us with a second bath, might need a supplement.

Question: Is there any thermostatic control of the 750W heater? Requires shore power, correct? Do you turn off the heater in the day or does it run all the time. Did you study cost of power vs. propane?

Thanks for the write-up and photos. Cool to see someone thinking "outside the box" on a common issue. Best of luck.

Thank you for the comment! Yes, it does have a thermostat, just a trial and error to get it were you want it. I do turn it off anytime the temperature warms up above 40°, this way I got a head start if it gets colder. Yes, I don't think it would work for a rear kitchen or bath. However I did consider putting a 4 inch in line duct hooked to the main trunk in the basement which would work. Cost I don't know about, just want the propane ready to go when we are. 😆

[LewisB]

Excellent. Thanks. Good information. We're in the same spot with temperatures.

[Papa of 7]

Update: We have had a Artic blast here in Tennessee this week, the fans and heater to the belly of the Montana is working out. Yesterday the temperatures high was 20° stayed around 16°-18° most of the day, at 11:00 pm it was 14°. At that time the basement was 65° the belly was 37°, and the camper was 48°. Just thought I would pass this on incase someone wanted to do the same.

[redfernclan]

I prefer Bourbon.

Oh, you meen the trailer. Silly me

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by Papa of 7

Update: We have had a Artic blast here in Tennessee this week, the fans and heater to the belly of the Montana is working out. Yesterday the temperatures high was 20° stayed around 16°-18° most of the day, at 11:00 pm it was 14°. At that time the basement was 65° the belly was 37°, and the camper was 48°. Just thought I would pass this on incase someone wanted to do the same.

Nice to hear it’s working out ...I was a little skeptical about haveing heaters running in the storage area but it seems you have it under control

[Papa of 7]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Nice to hear it’s working out ...I was a little skeptical about haveing heaters running in the storage area but it seems you have it under control

That particular heater seems to be doing the trick, only a small amount of heat blowing from it. It doesn't even get the floor in front of it hot. Thanks