Heat?

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ditsjets7

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2017
Posts
196
Location
Woodstock, NY
Hi all, we have a 31 foot Coachman Class C. We are going away on Friday. Is it safe or even possible to run the furnace while driving? I suspect the answer to this is "no" but I wanted to be sure. Thank you.

Mike
 
I have driven many miles with the furnace on. Being from Canada, when we leave for the south in January, we run the furnace the whole time. The dash heat isnt enough to keep the coach warm. I also leave on the fridge on propane as well as the hot water if I am using it. They were designed for travelling. Some tunnels request that you shut off propane, as well as ferry crossings. Other than that, you are good to go.
 
It be a cold beast back there without the furnace!  If its not too cold the heat pumps work, or sometimes the fireplace, otherwise it's the furnace(s).
 
After years of using just the dash heat and a blanket in our class A diesel, we started using a small ceramic heater plugged into the wall. Finally we started using the furnace with no problems at all. We as well travelled down from Canada in some very cold winter weather. You need the heat on, and the propane lasts a long time so that is good.


Bill
 
Can you do it?  Sure.  Will the furnace work?  Doubtful.  Wind will more than likely blow the flame out before you get any heat.
 
ditsjets7 said:
Hi all, we have a 31 foot Coachman Class C. We are going away on Friday. Is it safe or even possible to run the furnace while driving? I suspect the answer to this is "no" but I wanted to be sure. Thank you.

Mike
Click to expand...
Mike, absolutely, In colder weather I always have the furnace on when traveling.
I would turn on the hot water heater to. Your wife will like having hot water when she wants to wash her hands. ;)  I also have the refrigerator on.
Have a good trip.
Bill
 
donn said:
Can you do it?  Sure.  Will the furnace work?  Doubtful.  Wind will more than likely blow the flame out before you get any heat.
Click to expand...
Never had a problem. What coach do you have that has that problem?
Bill
 
One consideration is that if you are driving in below zero weather, and your unit has not been winterized, your pipes will freeze.  My furnace ducts down to the water pump and tanks, so if I were to drive in below zero weather, keeping the furnace on prevents freezing of pipes. 

Also, I always drive with refrigerator running on propane and never had the flame blow out.  I can see where it might be possible for that to happen, depending on the design.
 
There are two dangers running a Furnace (or other Propane appliance) on the road..
One Is mostly history. that is "Blow out" modern Propane appliances are DSI (Direct Spark Ignition) and have flame sensors that .. Should the flame blow out.. They will go through a shut down (Purges any remaining unburned propane) and re-light...  Older pilot light types might not do this at least the pilot may not turn off (main burner will have a sensor)

The other danger is in a very specific accident you could rupture a propane line and have a fire.  Safety valves in the tank also minimize that danger.

So...  If needed.. I'd do it.. I do run with fridge on.
 
donn said:
Can you do it?  Sure.  Will the furnace work?  Doubtful.  Wind will more than likely blow the flame out before you get any heat.
Click to expand...

Have you ever felt the force of the "wind" created by the furnace fan at the outside exhaust vent? It would take a prevailing wind much stronger than I'm comfortable driving in to overcome the existing air flow.
 
donn said:
Can you do it?  Sure.  Will the furnace work?  Doubtful.  Wind will more than likely blow the flame out before you get any heat.
Click to expand...
Sorry my friend but by this thinking, your furnace would blow out on a windy night in the park.
 
We've driven 5000-6000 miles with the furnace on and no issues. At least 500 miles last year when it was mid-teens F.

That doesn't mean you can't have issues and that it is intrinsically safe.
 
JudyJB said:
One consideration is that if you are driving in below zero weather, and your unit has not been winterized, your pipes will freeze.  My furnace ducts down to the water pump and tanks, so if I were to drive in below zero weather, keeping the furnace on prevents freezing of pipes. 

Also, I always drive with refrigerator running on propane and never had the flame blow out.  I can see where it might be possible for that to happen, depending on the design.
Click to expand...
I use to drive all the time with the refrigerator on propane. Now I can't, because I switched out to a residential. ;) Makes lots of ice cubes going down the road. ;D
Bill
 
I've seen a few reports of a furnace blowing out during travel or in high winds while parked, but I would say it's the exception. The furnace flame is in an enclosed burner, so the only effect of external wind is to maybe speed or retard combustion air intake and exhaust abit. Any potential effect would depend on the location of the furnace external air vent and the way wind eddies around that part the RV, so one RV might have a problem even though most work fine.
 
WILDEBILL308 said:
Mike, absolutely, In colder weather I always have the furnace on when traveling.
I would turn on the hot water heater to. Your wife will like having hot water when she wants to wash her hands. ;)  I also have the refrigerator on.
Have a good trip.
Bill
Click to expand...

+1  never had trouble using the propane heater while on the road.  Dash heat doesn't always cut it and if its below freezing dash heat doesn't keep the basement warm.  Using the installed house systems while out on the road is no big deal that's why they were installed.
 
donn said:
Can you do it?  Sure.  Will the furnace work?  Doubtful.  Wind will more than likely blow the flame out before you get any heat.
Click to expand...

Absolutely ridiculous.

It's a motor HOME. In my sticks and bricks home, 72 degrees is comfortable. I just spent two days on the road running in 30 and 40 degree outside temps. Ran the dash heat and both furnaces. Never got below 72 degrees in the motor HOME. Very comfortable driving in shirt sleeves...no jacket.

I run both furnaces 100% of the time when driving in cold weather. I have never had a problem.
 
Before doing this take a look at where the propane line goes as it leaves your tank.  In my current RV it is immediately behind my rear wheels.  If you have ever had a blowout you would think twice about what might happen if you were to have a blowout with your propane line pressurized and in close proximity.  One of my blowouts, in my prior Class C RV, did considerable damage to my underside.  There is little doubt a propane line could have been severed.
 
That line has about 0.5 PSI in it and is protected against sudden high flows by cutting off the propane at the tank. Unlikely to cause a big problem.

Ernie


 
Ernie n Tara said:
That line has about 0.5 PSI in it and is protected against sudden high flows by cutting off the propane at the tank. Unlikely to cause a big problem.

Ernie
Click to expand...

Good to know that it isn't high flow, but I'm still am not inclined to risk a rupture, even for a low pressure line.  My line is literally 3 inches from the rear tires. If it were to be punctured  and doesn't have a sudden large enough flow to trigger a shutoff could it not still feed a fire?
 
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