LP furnace

[PP]

Many years ago we had a 35' fiver and went through a 7 gal bottle a week in 30-45 deg temps. I personally would never go back to a furnace simply because of the noise factor. Right now we are in the process of swapping out one of our Plat cats with a ventless on an experimental basis and part of the reason is we don't like hearing the fan on the Plat cat running. That, and it's getting hard to find parts for the Plat cats. They are stingy with the LP though. Some things bother some people and other things other people-blessed be the man that isn't bothered by anything 
Good luck with your project. FWIW, if I could find some used ventless catalytics for cheap, I'd jump on them. Will

[oldmansax]

Cody,

I have one 35K BTU Suburban in my '72 MCI. It kept us warm all winter in Maryland while we were full timing. The bus has the original insulation, windows, & uninsulated bays. We used an electric heater in the bathroom while taking showers. I burned from 50 to 65 GALLONS (not pounds) of propane a month, depending on how cold it was. I have a 70 gallon tank so I had to fill up just a little more than once a month.

My MCI has the dropped aisle way covered so the floor is level. The furnace is ducted into the old aisle cavity & runs the length of the bus. I was also able to drill a 2" hole in the side or the aisle cavity in the wet bay & that keeps everything from freezing. I don't know if you can do that with your Eagle.

Mine is not noisy to me. I can hear it run but not bad.

TOM

[RickB]

Cody,
I have two 40k btu suburbans in my coach and they basically held their own the nights we stayed in it in Tenn. in the winter. We went through a couple gallons an evening and although i know my new batteries would be fine for a couple nights at the time I felt we had to be plugged in so they were powered ny my converter. I have a 120 wall mounted heater with a fan in the bay and we never had any problems with freezing and it got down to the teens some of the nights we were there. I do think my bus is lacking in insulation compared to some of my friends buses. i actually like white noise at night so the moise isn't a factor for us.

Being that we have a dog and two kids I wouldn't stay out in much colder temps if they were with us. It's hard to keep the entire bus warm for them but a heater in the back bedroom would be fine for wifey and I.

I'd be planning on having at least a 30 amp circuit to be plugged into and I would make sure my propane, smoke and CO detectors are working with good batteries.

Get used to the words "Y'all ain't from around here are you" too. That southern hospitality is alive and well in Tennessee.

Safe travels and good health to you and the head of the household Libby,

Rick



Rick

[cody]

All good information and good ideas, I'm not a stranger to tenn tho, I've darkened BK's door on many occasions and I'm normally the one that looks at the clerk at lowes and tells her she talks funny lol.  My mother in law was born and raised east of nashville and we've got friends all over the state, in spite of what they say lol.

[RickB]

Oh forgot to mention those freaky bright colored wasps (I think they call them mud daubers) like to climb in the intake and exhaust ports and make little nests in the squirrel fans. That thump thump sound when I turned on one of the heaters was my first clue. It took me alot of time to pull out that heater, take it apart, clean out the mud the little buggers used to unbalance my fan, and then reinstall it. If it's hot enough that you see them out make sure you keep an eye on your heater!!

You are one funny dude Cody,

Rick

[artvonne]

  When I was young all the campers had gravity heat furnaces that needed no electricity, gas lights that needed no electricity, and a gas refrigerator. You didnt need a battery for anything but a radio or a TV. And none of that stuff ever seemed to give much trouble except for the idiots of the world. Now EVERYTHING needs electricity.

 The last 5 RV's ive owned all had Suburban forced air furnaces. I never seen such junk. And Atwoods are no better. The parts and components are cheap. They work to hard. It is more efficient to move a large volume of air slowly, than a small volume ofair rapidly. Throw in cheap bushing motors screaming at high speed, and a burn efficiency of about 70%, you have a gas hog that eats batteries like mad. They are a mad circus of parts. An ignitor, fan switch, electric eye, electric gas valve, Overheat switch, Fan/blower motor, ignition transformer,...so many cheapo parts they are just waiting to fail and leave you COLD. BTDTHTS. The 3rd time I was getting one fixed, the guys kid tells me they arent really very good, figure about a season or two of heavy use and they will fail. After that they fail more often. Not a very reliable heating system IMHO. His either.

 My plan (If Mr or Ms Bus comes along)...(wife wants to name it/her Mildred?),  is to have in floor heat using a gas water heater with a backup electric element. The only electric it would use is for the pump. No fans. No noise. No drafts. Heat loops to (and from) the engine. Heat loops anywhere its cold that I want warm.

 

 I dont know about Tn, but it got a bit cold down here in Arkansas last winter. Only 5 above several days in a row. Dont wanna trust my Butt to a cheap furnace

[happycamperbrat]

One other option is a fireplace or wood burning stove....... I've seen photos of buses with them. They are the ultimate boondocker heater!

[cody]

I'm a firm believer in redundancy, I've got the ventless wall heater, insulated glass windows, a couple of electric cube heaters, the a/c units on the roof are heat pumps so they do the heating and cooling somewhat, now I'm looking into further ways to ensure a warm night,  If I can find a couple of furnaces, one for the front and one for the back that I can remove out of a salvaged or wrecked unit I'll feel better about it, you guys have to remember where I'm from, cold weather is a fact of life, my questions are more centered on heating units that I'm not familier with and how they work out.  We've had outings where I've had to use an electric blow dryer for hair to thaw out the windshield curtain where it had froze and became embedded in ice on the inside of the windshield, we've been hit with sudden snow storms where we had to wait for a couple of days for a front end loader to open the road up after a 3ft snow fall lol.  My intention is to help BK with some of his sawdust projects and make life easier for them by whacking together shelving units or what ever they need at their new place, I can plug in there depending on what outlets are available but what I don't want is for my visit to cost him a bunch of money in the form of electric bills or stuff like that.  I had my greatest fear confirmed tonight, libby says she figures to only go as far as peoria where she'll winter at her sisters, that is good and bad for me, it opens up room for the swedish bikini team but it also means I'll have to move my cooking skills beyond that of a bowl of cereal lol.

[Tenor]

Cody,
I should have mentioned power.  I have a xantrex sw4024 inverter and 4 inexpensive smallish house batteries.  I had no problem running the 2 furnaces, rv fridge and a small cube fridge, and lights (12v) and occasionally a microwave (3min/time) all on a 15 amp outlet.  I consider that almost dry camping.  The batteries act as a helper to get you the AC you need when loads are present, and then when you don't need it, the inverter tops the batteries off again.  I'd be really surprised if BK would find that plugging in would be a HUGE drain on his pocketbook!  When I'm plugged in like this, I worry more about it getting too warm and needing to run the rooftop airs.  That ain't gonna happen without the generator.

Glenn

[cody]

I know Bk wouldn't say a thing about electrical usage, him and his mom and dad are some of the nicest people I know, it's all on my thinking, I just want to carry the smallest footprint I can, it's part of my shy and innocent nature I guess, on my quest for sainthood, humility and thrift are way up there on my bucket list.  Crap, libby just walked by and looked at the screen and asked me if kicking it was anywhere on my bucket list, then she laughed and walked on, I sure feel picked on some times lol.

[Busted Knuckle]

It'll be OK Saint Cody! Just load up and head South as kwick as you can!
Mom just told me she has a job lined up for you up at the house on KY Lake outside of Benton, KY (major if you ask me)
  BK 

[cody]

Would that be the new house for mom and dad that was discussed a couple of times? 

[PADoug]

Edited. Comment was off topic.

[Busted Knuckle]

Would that be the new house for mom and dad that was discussed a couple of times? 

yes!

[cody]

For that I'll bring the big hammer lol.