Lesson learned - listen! Don't close off your furnace registers.

twohappycampers

Well-known member
We've had much trouble and expensive repairs with our Suburban furnace - this is the third winter. We didn't want to listen to the warnings of people on this forum and Suburban - "DON'T restrict/close off any of the registers." We hoped we could get away with it because, well, we hated the uneven heat. And others were doing it and they seemed okay. Our latest repair guy, replacing yet another motor and circuit board (?), strongly suggested we fully open all our adjustable floor registers and keep them open! Our tactic now is to use the electric fireplace a little more, use the ceiling fan on low on winter mode to help circulate air, keep the bathroom door(s) and bedroom door open to let the heat out, and use a strategically placed little electric heater when needed. Far from perfect, but it beats the alternative ... we were without our furnace for two weeks in November. I'm sure our furnace runs more than most, living full-time in Canada. Take care, Lorna & Doug
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Re: Lesson learned - listen!

I don't know, I could be wrong, but I have always been under the impression that things are designed a certain way for a reason. For example, the furnace registers are designed without closing mechanisms because if closed they might restrict air flow causing the furnace to overheat causing additional problems. So I have not messed with mine and am using them as designed. MHO
 

oldmannj

Well-known member
Re: Lesson learned - listen!

Seems to me that an appliance such as a furnace should be made durable enough to withstand the rigors of being comfortable in your home. My Suburban doesn't work at all and we very rarely used it when it did. Maybe Suburban should rethink being in business and let someone capable of making a quality product at a reasonable price have their market share.
 

priorguy

Well-known member
Re: Lesson learned - listen!

Don't block off vents to manage hotspots with the suburban furnaces.


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wonka

Active Member
Re: Lesson learned - listen!

We have used our RV down to -30, and found the heat needed a little attention, well to be correct, the whole system needed some adjustments. Firstly the cold air return was a dismal set up at best,secondly the area in the stairs (with drawers) had no insulation, lending to an extremely cold draft coming through. Our unit had 3 runs feeding the rear area, 1 to the bedroom, 1 to the bathroom, 1 to the kitchen, and 1 to the under belly. Step one was sealing the stairs and original cold air return, for this i used rigid foam insulation. I then removed the feed that ran to the rear center grill and blocked it off and repurposed the duct as the return air. It's been almost 3 years now and this has led to more comfortable living area and less short cycling of the furnace.
 

happykraut

Well-known member
Our tactic now is to use the electric fireplace a little more, use the ceiling fan on low on winter mode to help circulate air, keep the bathroom door(s) and bedroom door open to let the heat out, Take care, Lorna & Doug
I do not agree with your tactic in keeping the bedroom door open. Heat rises and precious heat from the living area goes up into the bedroom. We keep the bathroom door open and bedroom closed. Sometimes toward late evening will open the bedroom door to get a little more heat up in there.
 

123camper

Well-known member
We have two vents in the upper part of our sundance. One in the bathroom and the other in the hall way. The first time we used heat it kept cycling on and off without raising the temp. The hall way vent was blowing on the thermostat so I blocked the vent off completely, temp started raising in the rest of 5er. Opened the bathroom door and it was like stepping into the dryer! Had to close that vent 3/4 of the way and now our heat is more even.


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wrgrs50s

Well-known member
Just tossing this around as to why some have no problems when blocking vents and others have major problems from doing so. My best guess would be that some floor plans have a more efficient layout of the ducting system than others, therefore blocking or restricting the flow does not create problem. Maybe it would be wiser if the heat is uneven to add additional duct and outlets where possible and then restrict a few in the hottest area. Example: tie in to the bathroom duct and extend to the basement. You could then restrict the heat in the bathroom and divert the heat to your holding tanks and valves without creating a restriction.

Too much coffee this morning I guess !!!
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Why can some get away with closing off a register without problems, and others can't? I'd guess that if the heat is uneven due to a collapsed or pinched duct, the airflow from the combustion chamber is already reduced. Further restricting airflow by closing a register may put you past the tipping point.

The furnace combustion chamber has an overtemp safety sensor that opens the control circuit and shuts off the furnace. If the airflow is restricted enough, the combustion chamber can overheat, triggering the overtemp sensor. Repeatedly overheating the sensor may lead to an intermittent sensor failure that would be very hard to track down.
 
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