Circulating Heat to the Underbelly Area

Hi All - I have a 2014 Bighorn 3010 RE and will start fulltiming in it in about a month. I'll be in Florida this winter. I know the OEM furnaces really suck down the propane so I'm trying to minimize that a little if I can. I intend to get one or two free standing electric heaters to help but I want to make sure I get heated air to the underbelly area even if not running the furnace so much. It has been suggested that I set a small fan in front of the furnace room-air intake (not the outside cold air intake used for combustion) as that would push warm air into the furnace ductwork, which would in turn send room air out the vents into the underbelly areas. I should state that I did get the Yeti option and I do know what's included in that. Here's my questions - 1. Is the cold air intake for the furnace located below the fridge ? ( I have the large 4-door fridge). 2. Has anyone tried this and does it work ?? Thanks much. Tim

My return air vent is up high over the kitchen cabinets, at a right angle to the refer.

If you are not being billed for metered electric, I would simply buy 2 small 750/1500 watt heaters (see picture). One in the bedroom and one in the kitchen (or underbelly, if you are in prolonged freezing temps) along with your fireplace should be enough to keep things toasty. You can set your furnace on a real low temp as a fail safe in case the electric heaters can't keep up. This is what we have done sucessfully, although the furnace rarely comes on.

I had never heard of running anything back into the return air, although it does make some sense. Trace

I have a 2013 3010 and under the frige (double door) I have a drawer. If you have a grate there it might be for the fridge. Since that wall moves I don't think it is for the furnace. My furnace cold air return is above the cabinet to the right of the fridge on the wall perpendicular to it. Or another way the same wall with the cabinet with the switches in it.

Maybe another 2014 owner might be more help.

I do like the "fan" idea and will look forward to what you come up with. I was giving some thought to using a heat bulb or incandescent bulb with an off on switch in the bathroom cabinet. But was not real happy with a heat source being behind the wall. So I do like your idea.

I'm sure you're right about the grid location. I haven't been in my rig for about a month and I saw that someone else on another forum had mentioned the vent under the fridge as the location. So I assumed . . . . The high location will complicate things. I'll need to see if I can figure a way to mount a fan up there. Maybe remove the panel and see what's behind it. Thanks

I don't understand your concerns.Are you in Florida now?Where are you originating from that you have a concern of freezing.

Yes, am in Florida. It does get below freezing here in Jan/Feb sometimes at night. I'm not so much concerned with the tanks as I am with the various cold water lines. I just want to make sure they don't freeze if we have any kind of prolonged cold spell and I'm running electric heat inside and not running the furnace so much. Furnace heat is the only way to get heat to the underbelly area so I'm looking for a way to recirculate the warm interior air into the underbelly even when the furnace is off. Make sense ?

I am a cold weather expert from Canada and believe me you have no freezing concerns in Florida

I have camped in my 3010RE down to -26c (I think that is about -15f??) for a full week. I ran my furnace the entire time even when I was gone for a day or two, and I had about 10lbs of propane left in the second tank.

I wouldn't be to concerned at all about it.

Like Birchwood said,…We are kind of subject matter experts on cold weather conditions and how things preform while it is minus effin 1000000c.

Any questions let me know. I have been there done that when it comes to cold weather camping,..and will continue to do it this winter as well

Use propane for those few nights that get below freezing and your electric heaters for the other 99.9 percent of the time. We cold weather camp here in Colorado where it's not really cold until you hit single digits or below zero.

Precisely why I go to a South Miami Resort now for Jan & Feb ... I refuse to do ANY cold if I am going to go 1500 miles to Florida for my winters! Then in March / April we move up to a nice RV / Golf Resort in Ocala / Gainesville area (northern FL) when temps are always high! One winter was so bad in northern FL in Jan that we had to keep our water running at nite to prevent the hose from freezing up. What's with that?

Greengas said:

Use propane for those few nights that get below freezing and your electric heaters for the other 99.9 percent of the time. We cold weather camp here in Colorado where it's not really cold until you hit single digits or below zero.

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Totally agree! It's Florida not Minnesota. 30 below zero with a wind...then you're talkin COLD...DON

Like everyone else in Florida, I'm from somewhere else. I lived the first 48 winters of my life in Iowa. -30 ? Been there and done that. Ice and snow ? Sure. I know what cold is. I've lived in Florida for about 15 years now and currently live just north of Orlando. There have been several recent winters that have been cold enough to freeze standing water that is isolated from the ground. I have a birdbath in my backyard and for several days in a row a few years ago, I found the water (about 2 inches deep) frozen solid on several mornings when I took my dog out. That was due to a combination of low daytime temps and then fast plunging temps to well below freezing after sundown. I've also had the water in canister pool filters freeze enough to pop the lid off. And there have even been a few occasions where the stars have aligned and we've been able to see something that might be called snow falling on a cold night at the end of January. So my question might not be QUITE as frivolous as it might seem. Those skinny little cold water lines need to stay above 32 degrees one way or the other. I'm a planner. I just want to get my ducks in a row.

In the south (at least where we live) it is not that unusual for the daytime temps to be in the high 50s and night temps in the low to mid 30s. Many times it will be 25-30 at night and 50 in the day. Any temps lower that 32 F can freeze water and cause problems. But on the other hand we have had temps in the teens and 20s quite a few times the last several years. Guess that is due to global warming

jmgratz said:

Guess that is due to global warming

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lol ... where is Al Gore these days anyway!!