Weather guard thermal protection...

I bought a 2016 Oakmont and it says it has the Weather Guard Thermal Protection.
We took delivery in mid December and planned on staying in it and getting acquainted with it over the holiday. We are in a nice CG near Sevierville, TN. and had one night of chilly weather, the temps got down to 30 degrees, well after waking up that chilly morning it felt as if the door was left open.
Is weather guard just a sales term?
also, the fireplace didn't help much at all, we had to turn to the propane furnace. It does have a lot of windows, which I imagine can be a detriment in the winter. Will the heat shrink window film help much?
thanks for the replies in advance.

Hi badog62,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Insulation levels vary quite a bit and generally increase significantly as you go up the product line (Oakmont is in the middle). When temps drop, you need to run the furnace not only to keep the interior warm, but also to keep your plumbing from freezing. The fireplace will supplement the furnace heating and can take the chill off in the morning. It can also even out temps if it's located at the back of the coach. The furnace provides the most heat in the front of the coach; less at the back.

Your windows allow significant heat transfer. Unlike residential multi-pane gas-sealed windows, you probably have single pane glass with metal frames. Some people use bubble wrap, others use drapes. Maybe someone will chime in with comments about shrink window film.

When temps go below freezing, you'll probably find you can burn through a bottle of propane in 3 days, although that can vary considerably.

You might consider getting an infrared thermal gun to take temperature readings inside the coach. That'll identify any air possible leaks that need to be addressed.

We have some owner written user guides you might find helpful. Here's a link to the folder.

In my opinion....Weather Guard Thermal Protection....Isn't much more than a decal...Mine has that decal on the side but I never did hear what it represented...The fireplace only puts out a little over 5,000 BTUs. Don't expect much more than supplemental heat from it. When it gets below 45-50 degrees the furnace is the answer. If it gets much below 20 degrees outside it may not always be comfortable inside. ...Don

If you are hooked to shore power consider ceramic heaters to help. Do keep the furnace running to help with water lines but that alone is not going to keep your inside temps at comfortable levels. I keep the blinds down/closed to help with inside temps. I would think that the only thing that might help with windows would be some sort of foam insulation to prevent heat from leaving the trailer.

GOTTOYS said:

In my opinion....Weather Guard Thermal Protection....Isn't much more than a decal...Mine has that decal on the side but I never did hear what it represented...The fireplace only puts out a little over 5,000 BTUs. Don't expect much more than supplemental heat from it. When it gets below 45-50 degrees the furnace is the answer. If it gets much below 20 degrees outside it may not always be comfortable inside. ...Don

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Thanks for for the reply. In our master bedroom I've put some silver bubble insulation in the windows, (which also helps with keeping the room pitch black.) I've added the insulating pillows in the bathroom vent and bunkhouse vent, (it's a 390 MBL) we've added heavier curtains in the living room windows too.
i bought a duraflame ceramic space heater that was guaranteed to heat 1000 sq. ft., (not even close), I returned it. I did some investigating and found that based on the sq. footage, we'd need nearly 11,000 BTUs to heat it, the space heaters only pump out half that number.

You might also try one of the oil filled radiator type space heaters. We have found that they work pretty well.

Any 1500 watt electric heater will produce about 5100 BTUs. It doesn't make any difference what kind of electric heater it is. None are more efficient or can produce more heat than another...They are all the same...Don

The other option and one we use in very cold weather when elk hunting is a Big Buddy heater. Hooked to a standard 5 lb propane tank and on low it will keep the garage area of my unit toasty warm.

GOTTOYS said:

Any 1500 watt electric heater will produce about 5100 BTUs. It doesn't make any difference what kind of electric heater it is. None are more efficient or can produce more heat than another...They are all the same...Don

Click to expand...

Have to agree with these comments. We have the fireplace which does a pretty good job in the main living area and purchased a second space heater for the bedroom. It has gotten into the 30s overnight here in South Texas so we set the furnace on about 45 degree and use the space heaters for most of our heating needs.

Pay special attention to the safety features on any portable space heater you buy. We specifically wanted one that totally enclosed the heater element and have a very sensitive tip-over shutoff. We picked one that has the fan-750W-1500W selector so that it was also usable as a fan during the warmer months. We paid about $50 for it so they are pretty reasonable. It measure about 14 inches square and weighs only a couple of pounds.

HTH

Our Prowler has that Weathergaurd seal on it . . .

I think it is a coating they claim to spray on the trailer . . .