Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Sunline RV Forum
Sunline User Photos

Go Back   Sunline Coach Owner's Club > Technical Forums > Modifications
Click Here to Login

Join Sunline Club Forums Today


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 01-03-2010, 12:25 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,025
SUN #292
Honda03842 is an unknown quantity at this point
Heating

As we rest up in Florida I'm still working on our ultralight trailer, with this cold Florida weather, giving thought to heating.

Presently we use an electric blanket to warm us during the night, never turning on our gas furnace or electric heater at night. Once we wake we usually turn the 1500 watt electric heater on to warm the trailer before breakfast.

We virtually never use our propane furnace, finding it noisy and inefficient user of propane.

We dislike the noise of the electric heater and the propane furnace. As a result we are considering two solutions to for heating in our new trailer. For boondocking we are going to install a 10,000 BTU ventless propane heater.

For hooked up environment we plan to install under floor electric radiant heating. The advantage of both schemes is that they do not have the noisy aspect of the traditional gas furnance or fan driven electric heater.

We had radiant heating as a child and I loved it.

As well the new trailer should have at least an R-15 ceiling and R-10 floors and walls.
__________________

__________________
Norm and Ginny Milliard
1982 Sunline 15.5 SB
2004 Honda CRV 4 cyl, manual
Honda03842 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2010, 05:51 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Michigan
Posts: 234
SUN #778
Viking is an unknown quantity at this point
Ventless

Hello again Norm!
Heated floor sounds great!
Ventless propane I am not so sure about.
I assume these are of the catalytic veriety, and I know nothing about them, but I would not go to sleep with anything consuming oxygen, other than DW and yours truly, in such a small space.
Can something go wrong and they start putting out carbonmonoxide?
I don't know about the output of H2O either. Probably not as bad as an acohol stove. Had one of those in my sail boat, and it fogged up everything in short order.
Just some thoughts.
Roar
__________________

__________________
Viking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2010, 07:59 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,025
SUN #292
Honda03842 is an unknown quantity at this point
Like you I used to have the same feelings about a ventless propane heater. I feel safe with it for a few reasons.

My brother in law has a ventless propane stove in his living room and it works well causing no apparant problems, sort of like cooking with a gas stove.

The ventless propane heaters have a low oxygen detection system that shuts off the heater when the oxygen level drops below a preset level. For this reason they do not operate above 6000 feet.

Also I would add a carbon monoxide detector.

Unlike most campers we don't run our heat at night. If we're in a campground we use an electric blanket, if not we pile on the blankets. Of course we generally are not in really cold climates in the winter though it's been cold in Florida this winter.

As to condensation, the biggest source seems to be cooking, and generally not from the propane but usually from water boiling while cooking when it's cold. Of course when it's warm and the windows are open it's not an issue.

Unfortunately our trailer does not have thermopane windows. We are not sure we would go for thermopane because we have come to like the jalousied windows of our little Sunline.

I intend to buy one of the heaters as soon as we get home in the spring and try it out. I'll let people you know how it works.

Thanks for the thoughts,
__________________
Norm and Ginny Milliard
1982 Sunline 15.5 SB
2004 Honda CRV 4 cyl, manual
Honda03842 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2010, 01:23 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Michigan
Posts: 234
SUN #778
Viking is an unknown quantity at this point
Heat

Norm,
You have obviously researched the ventless heat subject and know more about it. My reaction was more of the uneducated knejerk veriety.
I like the jalousie windows in our 18 footer too. They seem to have disappeared several years ago in the RV industry. Were they too costly?
Roar
__________________
Viking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2010, 11:22 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
pwb01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 945
SUN #258
pwb01 is an unknown quantity at this point
Even if the exhaust may be safe, the factory installed system draws combustion air from the outside, a home built system may not. I think it's best to stay with the safety of designed systems and eliminate the guess work and cost of re-design.
__________________
Paul & Sheri - Upstate New York - SUN-0258
Amateur Radio KD2KCY - VHF 146.520 MHz
2012 F150 F/X 4, 6cyl EcoBoost, Max Tow pkg
2013 Rockwood 8280WS 5th wheel
2006 Sunline Solaris T-1950
pwb01 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2010, 01:56 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,025
SUN #292
Honda03842 is an unknown quantity at this point
We're in Florida visiting friends. I note that many of our friends have these heaters in their single wides, apparently without problem.

In general they are impressed with the efficiency compared to the typical RV heating system (they are all former RVers who are settling down).

I agree safety is a consideration and probably wouod not have considered it except for an article in the Escapee magazine and my brother in laws ventless stove in his living room in NH.

Of course you should know I used to live in a geodesic dome and tend to trying new things. My sister in law says anything different could be sold to me.

Thanks for the thought. I promise to write about my experience.
__________________

__________________
Norm and Ginny Milliard
1982 Sunline 15.5 SB
2004 Honda CRV 4 cyl, manual
Honda03842 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sunline RV or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:00 AM.


×