Cold air coming in through the furnace return under the fridge?

Hello all!

New owners of a Heartland Bighorn, which we will be living in over the winter. We're in a relatively mild climate here in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Average wintertime temperatures are right around the -5C (18F) mark, so it's not SUPER cold. We have a couple electric heaters on the go, and are fairly cozy. We've tarped the base of the RV all the way around, and are heating the space underneath. But on the inside, we've noticed a LOT of very cold air coming in through the return vent for the furnace. It's the vent panel under the fridge, and enough cold air flows through it to leave the floor ICE cold, and your feet freeze - even in socks and slippers - if you're sitting at the table or standing in the kitchen.

I of course don't want to block the return and risk damaging the furnace or anything, but.. Is this normal? That much cold air? Is there anything that can be done to control it, like maybe heating the space behind the vent? A friend even suggested a slotted rubber lining in the back that would allow air to flow IN when required, but restrict air flow going INTO the cabin through the vent...?

Any tips or advice would be very much appreciated.

Cheers!

Hi DaCanuck,

Congratulations on the new Bighorn and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

I'd suggest searching for previous discussions on your question, but I don't recall any over the past 4 years or so.

But I'm sure other owners will chime in with their thoughts.

Thank you! Looking forward to being part of the forums!

Our last Bighorn had the return vent on the floor like yours.
In the winter I put a piece of cardboard in front of it.

Peace
Dave

Sent from my awesome Galaxy S5 using Tapatalk

I was surprised when I took down my basement wall to find that the air return under the refer was nothing more than a hole into the area behind the basement wall - no connection to furnace at all. I thought about just blocking it off, but instead I put a cardboard flap with a duct tape hinge on the back of the vent grill. Still allows some air to flow out but made a huge difference in keeping cold basement air from flowing back in.

If your refer is in a kitchen slide, I have found that my kitchen slide is insufficiently sealed against cold air at the bottom of the slide. I got a square foam weatherstripping kit meant for a home window air conditioner at Walmart, and used contact cement to adhere the pieces together enough to make a 2 inch square foam seal I stuff under the floor lip of the slide. I even glued short strips of the foam on the ends of the long piece for the short sides of the slide. I stuff this under the slide lip on arrival set-up, and pull it out reading for departure.

I decided I needed this after seeing sunlight coming under the slide on the kitchen floor.