Heater exhaust

Sounds normal. Ours puts out a lot of heat, even melted part of a chair we left too close. Just keep it clear.

hypheriox wrote:
So this is my first time owning a 5er. Its a 1995 Coachmen Catalina. My main concern is how much air is coming out of the furnace exhaust. To me it just seems like a lot of air that could heat the trailer but I would like some other input. Thanks in advance for any info.

There is a lot of wasted heat with a RV propane furnace. Home gas furnaces have gotten much more efficient RV's not so much.
Let me wish all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please remember those who go in harm’s way so we can be safe.
Bill

WILDEBILL308 wrote:

hypheriox wrote:
So this is my first time owning a 5er. Its a 1995 Coachmen Catalina. My main concern is how much air is coming out of the furnace exhaust. To me it just seems like a lot of air that could heat the trailer but I would like some other input. Thanks in advance for any info.

There is a lot of wasted heat with a RV propane furnace. Home gas furnaces have gotten much more efficient RV's not so much.
Let me wish all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please remember those who go in harm’s way so we can be safe.
Bill

Plus RV heaters have the reputation of being terrible electric power hogs. They will flatline a battery much faster than you expect.

It's normal. Just like your furnace at home.

Mandalay Parr wrote:
It's normal. Just like your furnace at home.

Well, not necessarily. Efficiency is not one of the aims of RV heating. They could be done a lot better, but that costs more so...

The heated air coming out has been used to heat air for the trailer by way of a heat exchanger. The exhaust air is the propane being burned to heat things up. You probably could put a catalytic converter on there and pipe it inside, but it's mostly just wasted heat.

It's not at all like any modern residential furnace because it's only about 65~70% efficient. That's why so much heat is pumped outside.

RV furnaces do a decent job heating the interior of our rigs. Yep, they pump lots of hot exhaust out the side of the rig but thats a byproduct you don't want to mess with. If you have full hook ups consider a ceramic or oil filled heater to save LP, otherwise use the LP furnace just as it was intended and check your detectors annually to be safe.

If memory serves me correctly something like 40 percent of the RV furnace heat is pumped outside. Inefficient system.

ksg5000 wrote:
If memory serves me correctly something like 40 percent of the RV furnace heat is pumped outside. Inefficient system.

I believe you are correct. Very inefficient but then that hot exhaust kills the daubers that build a nest in the exhaust pipe....:E

I think it would be cost prohibitive to install a condensing furnace in an RV, unlike a home.

RV builders are starting to install hydronic systems in truck campers (Cirrus / New Camp) which eliminates the forced air inefficient furnace and HW heater entirely with a split use system. Not sure about the overall efficiency but I presume it's higher than the old standby forced air HX systems that are in wide use today. They really haven't changed much, if at all in the last decade.

I think the OP is wanting to recycle that exhaust heat. That exhaust contains carbon monoxide (CO) from the burning of the propane. NOT SAFE to pump into an enclosed area.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!