Garage a/c heat strip?

[Beastcoast]

Hi guys. Finally picked up a2018 cyclone 4115 today. Seems to have every option available. So was wondering how to heat the garage area? Has one furnace vent and MAYBE???????? A heatsrip in A/C? So yes, my question is does ithave a heatstrip or suppose to. I’ve selected “heatstrip” on the thermostate and nothing. Just room air temp blowing from A/C fan.

Thanks for reading!

 

[danemayer]

Hi Beastcoast,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. I think heat strips on the A/C units are optional. You could call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. They should be able to tell you if the rig was equipped with a heat strip from the factory.

 

[LBR]

Our 2017 CY had 2 ACs standard and we optioned for the 3rd in the garage with the heat strip. The 3rd AC worked, but the heat strip didn't on our PDI.

Simple fix for technician was a setting up in that AC unit to program "turning on" the heat strip function that they missed at the factory (they had to tell that one AC it had a HS in it). Good luck with your issue.

 

[NWILSON]

Options change as well as system functions with different model years (and sometimes even in mid year) so your's may vary from mine but here's what I know from our '17 Cyclone.
If your thermostat has a "heat strip" option the system knows there's a heat strip. The heat strip itself is rated at 1500 watts (think blow dryer). You won't feel a rush of warm air coming from the ducts but rather air that is a few degrees warmer than the ambient air. It will take a while to warm up a cold garage but once warmed, the area will stay comfortable down to the high 30's/low 40's. A piece of carpet on the floor will help the garage feel a lot warmer too. Moving the diverter so all of the warmed air goes into the garage and not into the duct will speed up the process.
I added a second heat strip to the middle AC unit as the 5 degree increments on the fireplace left us either hot or cold. With 50 amp service, the two heat strips do a very good job of maintaining a comfortable temperature and reducing furnace use. They won't, however, be very effective with door(s) being opened frequently. Remember, I'm saying "maintaining" not "heating"

 

[NP_Chief]

Not sure if the Cyclone is set up like the Torque, but on mine, the one heat vent in the garage is right at the furnace. It does a good job heating the garage with the one vent in the low 40's. Haven't tried it in anything colder but will probably just use a small ceramic heater if the need arises.

 

[Thunderbolt]

Easiest way to find out if your A/C has a heat strip is to look at the thermostat when pressing the mode button. In out 2018 4005 the last option in mode is heat strip which is printed in small letters across the bottom on the display.

 

[LBR]

We have a CY with a 17'6" garage and a Olympian Wave 8 setting on the floor awaiting it's turn to get installed.

 

[emery395]

Have 2017 cyclone 4005 and agree with everything said above, especially the comments from nwilson. The furnace vent is useless as it is at the furthest point and ineffective.
Our garage act as dining room so on cold mornings an electric space heater is a must.

 

[WBandSB]

Hi guys. Finally picked up a2018 cyclone 4115 today. Seems to have every option available. So was wondering how to heat the garage area? Has one furnace vent and MAYBE???????? A heatsrip in A/C? So yes, my question is does ithave a heatstrip or suppose to. I’ve selected “heatstrip” on the thermostate and nothing. Just room air temp blowing from A/C fan.

Thanks for reading!

My Heatstrip option on my '19 Cyclone 3713 just blows room temp air from the A/C fan in the garage, also. I have tried running it for over 20 minutes thinking that I need to allow for it to heat up. It only felt colder with time. This is a big concern for us because our two boys sleep in there. Technically, there are 3 beds in the garage, so Heartland had to assume there would be humans in there. The furnace ducts work great in the front bedroom and the living room, but comes out cold in the ONE vent leading into the garage. Sure, I can use a space heater...when plugged into hookups, but it's a TOY HAULER, in which it should be designed for dry-camping in OHV areas. Now we have to consider other options that seem concerning, like indoor propane heaters (which sounds like bad parenting to me since it's for my little boys).

If any of you have any suggestions on how to heat the garage area, I'd love to hear it!

 

[cookie]

It sounds like you have power if you are trying to run a heat strip.
My suggestion is to get one out two 1500 watt electric space heaters.
We have Pelonis brand, they work well and are quite small.

Peace
Dave

 

[WBandSB]

It sounds like you have power if you are trying to run a heat strip.
My suggestion is to get one out two 1500 watt electric space heaters.
We have Pelonis brand, they work well and are quite small.

Peace
Dave

I appreciate the suggestion. I mentioned that we used a space heater, but I was saying that I can only use them when we are hooked up to power. How do I keep my boys warm in the winter when dry camping (boondocking)? It's a toy hauler and should be designed for the dry camping option. There are limited places to take your "toys" with power hookups. We can't run our generator all night just to power a space heater. There has to be another solution

(soap box) We cannot go camping this weekend to our go-to off-roading spot because it will be too cold for our kids. We just sold our small 30 ft TT toy hauler to get this 43 foot beast...that can't be used for what it's made for and that is to haul our toys to toy riding places (usually deserts and wide open range locations without hookups)

 

[danemayer]

I appreciate the suggestion. I mentioned that we used a space heater, but I was saying that I can only use them when we are hooked up to power. How do I keep my boys warm in the winter when dry camping (boondocking)? It's a toy hauler and should be designed for the dry camping option. There are limited places to take your "toys" with power hookups. We can't run our generator all night just to power a space heater. There has to be another solution

(soap box) We cannot go camping this weekend to our go-to off-roading spot because it will be too cold for our kids. We just sold our small 30 ft TT toy hauler to get this 43 foot beast...that can't be used for what it's made for and that is to haul our toys to toy riding places (usually deserts and wide open range locations without hookups)

Well, a couple of things to note.

While I don't know if you have heat strips on the A/C unit, even if you do, they require shore power or a generator.

Secondly, the furnace uses quite a bit of battery power, so unless you have a lot of batteries, or plan on recharging them daily, using the furnace while boondocking for more than a short trip is problematic. Your old 30' trailer may have had a smaller furnace that used less battery power to heat a smaller area. You'll have to figure out how to manage power consumption.

On long trailers, the ducting from the furnace (closer to the front) to the garage is a pretty long run. The hot air cools off quite a bit on the way to the register. You may be able to get some improvement by wrapping insulation around the duct. You should also check airflow in the garage register. If it's not pushing much air, you'll need to make sure the duct isn't pinched somewhere in the underbelly.

You may be able to divert some of the air in the bedroom or bathroom by partially blocking the floor registers. But if you try this, you need to understand that the furnace manufacturer recommends against doing anything like this. If you restrict air flow, it can cause the furnace to overheat, triggering the hi-limit switch. While it will reset itself, repeated activation could eventually cause the switch to fail.

There are heaters intended for indoor use that run off propane, like this one. I'd recommend locating the product manual to see exactly what safety warnings the manufacturer has that may not have made it to the Amazon listing.

 

[LBR]

We have a 17.5 long' garage in our CY that we spend 90% of our awakened indoor time in. Here's 2 of our cats loving the Wave 8 Cat I installed hanging on the wall.... it's more than enough heater for our ~1,120 cubic' garage in cold weather.

Before you reply.....**YES**... it is safe for indoor use if you use common sense with proper venting for overnight sleeping quarters.

 

[mwc]

I have a 2018 Cyclone 4151 and use the garage for my hunting buddies when its as low as the teens. We are boon docking as well. My wife made insulated window blankets with snaps for the back windows, helped a lot. I put down carpet with padding, removable, and that helped a lot as well. I lined the tool box with 2 inch hard foam and also put some 1 inch foam under the floor where i could get it.

The heat vent is useless as stated before. I use a wave 6 heater in the garage and love it. I run a long rubber gas hose from the quick connect underneath and up through a hole i drilled in the garage floor. Put a piece of conduit up through the floor so the hose is protected etc and easy to push pull through the floor. I crack the upper and lower fuel vapor vents in the garage and no deaths yet.

The wave heaters are awesome. I want to rig one for the main camper as well.

I do agree that manufacturers should do something with this issue though, second furnace or something.

 

[Gancho]

We have a CY with a 17'6" garage and a Olympian Wave 8 setting on the floor awaiting it's turn to get installed.

apologies for the old post reply, but I can't figure out how to message you directly. Do you have more pictures of that Wave 8 installed in your Cyclone?

 

[LBR]

I may have original photos...will have to look. I can take more photos of it, but it is exactly in the same place as when I installed it then, so what are you needing to see differently?

 

[Gancho]

I may have original photos...will have to look. I can take more photos of it, but it is exactly in the same place as when I installed it then, so what are you needing to see differently?

I have an electric heater on the wall in the CY 4113. I would like to mount a gas option. If you have any pictures that would help me see how you ran gas to it and what you had to remove to install it, I would really appreciate it.

 

[LBR]

I'll check for my archived photos. I do have some of underneath install. I thought you just wanted more of the Cat itself. I fudged ours lower than instructions because of the window, but the rug underneath barely heats up anyway, so all is good there. For now an install description:

Our CY had the propane line ending under the kitchen for all items...oven, range, furnace, water heater. I disconnected a couple of them, added the appropriate fittings to retain them plus adding 13.5' of 1/2" black gas pipe straight back to my ending point near the rear axle rear spring hanger.

Installed a 1/2" gas shutoff, then added proper length of that yellow-coated flexible gas line straight up thru the floor onto the Cat fitting. Secured the pipe with metal conduit straps and paid attention to moving suspension parts not interfering.

Just don't confuse my cats with the wall mounted Cat...

 

[Gancho]

I'll check for my archived photos. I do have some of underneath install. I thought you just wanted more of the Cat itself. I fudged ours lower than instructions because of the window, but the rug underneath barely heats up anyway, so all is good there. For now an install description:

Our CY had the propane line ending under the kitchen for all items...oven, range, furnace, water heater. I disconnected a couple of them, added the appropriate fittings to retain them plus adding 13.5' of 1/2" black gas pipe straight back to my ending point near the rear axle rear spring hanger.

Installed a 1/2" gas shutoff, then added proper length of that yellow-coated flexible gas line straight up thru the floor onto the Cat fitting. Secured the pipe with metal conduit straps and paid attention to moving suspension parts not interfering.

Just don't confuse my cats with the wall mounted Cat...

That’s awesome! Did you have to cut a whole in the deck? What did you use to seal it up?

 

[LBR]

After mounting the Cat itself, I marked the floor to drill directly below the gas fitting...this allowed the yellow flexible pipe to come straight up to the heater. Then removed the Cat for drilling room.

Measured the smallest end coupling of the flexible pipe and used the next larger wood bit to drill thru. Remounted the Cat, passed the pipe thru and connected to Cat.

After all connections were made and securing everything for travel, I used small pieces of duct tape to completely seal the pipe and hole underneath the plywood floor. From the inside, I dribbled Carpenter's Glue down into the hole and filled the void up.

When the rug was flopped back into place, I placed a sliced black rubber grommet around the pipe that just lays on top of the rug to give a "finished look.". The grommet is purely for aesthetics.