Running furnace with slides in

94-D2

Member
Greetings,

I have a 2018 traveler 39MB with 4 slides. I live in an area that may freeze at night, and is above freezing during the day. Usually gets into the 20’s at night to mid 40’s daytime. I use the trailer during the winter so draining and blowing out water is inconsistent. So, if I close the slides to keep water off the slide tops when stored can I run the furnace at say 50F to keep the belly and fixtures from freezing. Air intake vent is in the apartment and the slide closed would close over it. But the return seems to be the basement with the vent to apartment wall.

thanks for any info,

john
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Air intake vent is in the apartment and the slide closed would close over it. But the return seems to be the basement with the vent to apartment wall.

Hi John,

I don't understand your comment about the air intake vent. The intake for combustion is usually one of the two tubes on the exterior, the other being exhaust.

You have to be concerned with blocking the heat registers where hot air is supposed to come out. If those are blocked, the furnace can overheat, triggering the high limit switch. When that switch triggers, the burner shuts off. As the furnace cools down, it may re-ignite. If you have a continuing cycle like that, you may find out how many times the switch can open and close before it fails. There's no info on the duty cycle, but since it's a switch that is not intended to operate on a regular basis, the furnace manufacturer may not have spec'd an expensive switch.

You also need to be concerned about the return air flow. If it's restricted, the blower may be unable to get up to speed which would keep the sail switch from activating. When that happens, the furnace won't ignite.

Finally, even with a thermostat set at 50, you may be surprised at how quickly you run out of propane. You'll need to keep a close eye on propane usage.
 

94-D2

Member
Thanks for the reply,

I meant the return air vent which is in the apartment. However the vent is just open the the back of the furnace and has no plenum directly to the furnace itself which leaves the basement space vented to the apartment. I thought about the registers being covered which is why I asked about running it closed. I think nearly every vent on the floor would be covered by the slides. So, perhaps I’ll just open them on none rain days and run it if I expect a hard freeze.
 

sengli

Well-known member
I did this same thing one time, while working on it in the winter. I found the heat didnt circulate very well in the RV. The slides blocked registers and it didnt warm up very much.
 

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
We’ve run our furnace overnight with all slides in a couple times while parked at Cracker Barrel without issue. The last time we awoke to 9* outside, 65 (as set) inside. None, although one of our registers is “under” the dinette slide, are “tightly” restricted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

NYSUPstater

Well-known member
Tho we don't travel in the winter, do believe all our registers are in center, so if we had to, could run furnace w/ slides in w/o a prob.
 

MCTalley

Well-known member
The OP's floorplan has a mid-bunk, which I'm assuming is being referred to as the "apartment" and that the return air vent for the basement/furnace area is in that room. Even with the slide closed, I'm assuming that there are still enough gaps to allow air to flow from that room to the basement/furnace area.

Therefore, it comes down to how many, if any, floor vents are covered when the slides are closed. If very few or none, sounds like your plan is solid with the slides closed. Most of the other warnings given by Dan in his post still apply, however, especially the propane usage one.
 

94-D2

Member
I would expect inefficient circulation too. I was thinking more about the belly freezing and any water pipes vulnerable in that area.
 
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