Furnace amps

[TXgearhead]

How many amps does a furnace normally pull? Rather than do a complete winterize I'm thinking of draining tanks and then just plugging into a 20 amp outlet to keep the batteries up.
Doable?
We have record breaking low temps forecast for the Texas coast. Everybody is getting all worked up. I'm recovering from pacemaker implant surgery and need to keep my activity as low key as I can.

 

[jbeletti]

I'm not sure how many amps the blower and control circuit of a propane furnace pulls, but I'm wondering why you want to plug into a 20 amp outlet to keep your batteries up.

Are you boondocking? If so, I think I understand and that you have access to some level of power. In that case, the 20 amp circuit, if 20 amps are all available to you, should keep your converter powered such that your batteries can remain charged and keep up with your needs for lights and furnace. In that case, I would consider turning the breakers off for your fireplace, ACs, maybe microwave too. You don't want to trip the breaker for that 20 amp circuit you may be using if you don't have access to reset it as well as the effort it may take you in your condition.

Be sure to have your propane tanks topped up and a plan to have a friend be able to swap them out for you if needed.

 

[jbeletti]

Rereading your post, now I'm thinking you're at home and your camper is there too, or in storage and you have access to 20 amps of power. Your plan sounds viable to me. If you have an outdoor shower, remove the head on it. Drain your fresh water tank. Drain your water heater. Keep your furnace on 50. Should be good to go.

 

[danemayer]

Propane supply will be the limiting factor. Set the thermostat at 50 to keep the trailer well above freezing while not using too much propane.

 

[TXgearhead]

Yeah it's in the backyard, well, the side yard, my "junkyard". We have 3 grandkids here today. Between them and a lack of sleep, I may not be communicating very well. LOL I'll get out there tomorrow and check the propane. I drained the water heater last night, I'll be sure the tanks are empty and run the furnace with a 12/3 extension cord to keep the batteries up.
Same thing with the Bigfoot.
Snow in Houston, been awhile.

 

[jbeletti]

Yeah it's in the backyard, well, the side yard, my "junkyard". We have 3 grandkids here today. Between them and a lack of sleep, I may not be communicating very well. LOL I'll get out there tomorrow and check the propane. I drained the water heater last night, I'll be sure the tanks are empty and run the furnace with a 12/3 extension cord to keep the batteries up.
Same thing with the Bigfoot.
Snow in Houston, been awhile.

Snow! Looks like some of that coming to DFW as well. Wish you were closer to me, I'd pop on by to help you out with this as you're a bit sidelined. Stay warm and let someone else shovel the snow.

 

[TXgearhead]

Appreciate the offer but I've got it under control. My son is usually my help but he is working nights, 12 hour shifts. I got the propane topped off. Didn't tell the wife I was packing those tanks around. Got my extension cords run to the Oshkosh and to the Bigfoot. Waiting on the DIL to come pick up the grandkids. I'll work the water tanks tomorrow and turn on the furnace.
Lots of folks getting "wrapped around the axle" here. We're not accustomed to to these hard freezes. News media is playing it to the hilt. Talking power outages etc. We'll be snug assuming the Generac kicks on.
Assuming DFW will be worse.
Thanks again.

 

[jbeletti]

Appreciate the offer but I've got it under control. My son is usually my help but he is working nights, 12 hour shifts. I got the propane topped off. Didn't tell the wife I was packing those tanks around. Got my extension cords run to the Oshkosh and to the Bigfoot. Waiting on the DIL to come pick up the grandkids. I'll work the water tanks tomorrow and turn on the furnace.
Lots of folks getting "wrapped around the axle" here. We're not accustomed to to these hard freezes. News media is playing it to the hilt. Talking power outages etc. We'll be snug assuming the Generac kicks on.
Assuming DFW will be worse.
Thanks again.

When you get tired of humping propane tanks, check into Cheap Heat. DIY friendly if you're handy.

www.rvcomfortsystems.com

 

[TXgearhead]

That sounds vaguely familiar. Thanks. I'll look into it.
Millwright, Machinist, Foreman, Inspector, Senior Machinery Specialist. Biggest oil company in the world. Post retirement coast to coast contract inspector.
Navy Electronics Tech. ETR
70 years old. Alzheimers kicking in.
They have good directions? LOL

 

[jbeletti]

That sounds vaguely familiar. Thanks. I'll look into it.
Millwright, Machinist, Foreman, Inspector, Senior Machinery Specialist. Biggest oil company in the world. Post retirement coast to coast contract inspector.
Navy Electronics Tech. ETR
70 years old. Alzheimers kicking in.
They have good directions? LOL

Yeah - I think you can handle the install. Yes, they have instructions

 

[danemayer]

That sounds vaguely familiar. Thanks. I'll look into it.
Millwright, Machinist, Foreman, Inspector, Senior Machinery Specialist. Biggest oil company in the world. Post retirement coast to coast contract inspector.
Navy Electronics Tech. ETR
70 years old. Alzheimers kicking in.
They have good directions? LOL

We have several of the CheapHeat documents (not the actual installation docs) in this folder.

If you run into difficulties with the installation, Larry, the inventor of CheapHeat, answers his phone and will help resolve the problem.

 

[TXgearhead]

Hey thanks! I'll take a look at that.
I just finished doing a "Houston" winterization of the Landmark and the Bigfoot cabover.
WalMart ran out of RV antifreeze so I drained the tanks in both and put a small heater in the Bigfoot and turned the furnace on in the 5th. I had 1 gallon of antifreeze in the barn and poured that down the drains.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Jim Posz]

We are now camped in Bulverde, Texas. At the moment we are fortunate in that we were able to get the propane and water tanks refilled today, and have electricity. Many are less fortunate. We were without electricity for a couple of days and found that the coach battery would only keep the furnace fan running for maybe 6 hours.

We have a Ford truck which has a 110 volt outlet rated for 400 watts. I was wondering if we were to shut off all of the other loads if that would be enough to power the camper's power converter, should the campground again lose power? We borrowed a generator from the neighbor to recharge batteries before, but it is no longer available. Hoping we don't need to do this, but things are unpredictable.

 

[danemayer]

We have a Ford truck which has a 110 volt outlet rated for 400 watts. I was wondering if we were to shut off all of the other loads if that would be enough to power the camper's power converter, should the campground again lose power? .

A Progressive 9280 converter, the largest Heartland uses, draws 1-2 amps (120-240 watts) to maintain the battery. But if the battery is depleted, it can pull more than 15 amps. That's why it's plugged into a dedicated 20 amp outlet.

 

[Jim Posz]

Thanks for the prompt answer. That information is probably on the converter itself, but I really didn't want to make an excursion into the belly of the beast to try to locate it.
If I drive across the grass I can probably get the truck close enough to the coach battery to use jumper cables, but I was wanting to avoid it. Keeping our fingers crossed that we don't lose our shore power again.