Heater exhaust

RV gas furnaces are 80% efficiency. The energy hog is not the furnace but the trailer construction

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

On my furnace at home, you have to touch the air intake plastic pipe and the air exhaust plastic pipe a couple of times to be sure which is which.

I'm guessing that 50% of the heat from an RV furnace goes out the exhaust.

This has been a “peeve” of ours, for a long time. We do a lot of winter camping (boondocking), and their poor efficiency is hard on batteries and propane. We recently did a 3 week trip, with about 3 or 4 nights in single digits. For the trip... we averaged approximately 16 pounds ( about 4 gallons) of propane daily. And....had to run the generator more than wanted (overcast days hindered the solar panels) to keep the batteries “happy”!

If someone would produce a high efficiency heater, at a reasonable price, that could be retrofitted to our unit.....I’d certainly be interested!

True you probably head some place warm like the South Rieo Grand Valley.:B
Bill

Bill, If it is below freezing, I won't be there. Note the location

If this is a big concern, then maybe something needs to be done about the fact that 70% of the heat energy produced by your car is completely wasted through the radiator and exhaust???

DReisinger wrote:
If hookups are available prefer electric heater, the furnace is not only inefficient, but in our 2005 Cardinal very noisy

Not picking on you DR just pointing out to the rest that if it is below freezing you need to run your propane furnace to keep a little heat in the basement.
Bill

If hookups are available prefer electric heater, the furnace is not only inefficient, but in our 2005 Cardinal very noisy

SidecarFlip wrote:

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.

Well that is a bit of a stretch, when running on gas our 30,000 btu Suburban puts out 24,600 btu, right on the label 79% efficient.

When running on the Cheap heat add on it is 100% efficient. It is 5,000 watts and that equates to 17,060 btu which is more than enough to keep us at a comfy 70 degrees in PNW winters.

That wasted heat does come in handy thawing out a frozen sewer or water hose. I've also heated up my 50 amp power cord in order to roll it up easier during winter camping.