Heat in coach when driving?

In 1979 we bought a used "C" mh for a trip to Alaska. It had one of the things that I wanted, 2-20 pound LP tanks, so we could do an exchange if we could not find a place to get them filled.
On that whole trip we never had a problem getting those tanks filled.

Dusty

pnichols...Propane fill-ups are no issue to those traveling anywhere in BC or Alberta, Yukon, Alaska. You may find a small town/village that doesn't have a propane fuel point, but you are going to be going thru major (major to us) centres. Everyone up here has a propane consumer, starting with bbq's, campers, trailer, motorhomes, hot water tanks..believe when I say...getting propane is not an issue. And you are only going to be fueling what...twice? in your trip north.

As for touristy bucks...at the rate that our loonie is falling in comparison to the yankee greenback, we'll need to be paying you to come.


Gary Haupt

Thanks, JaxDad--I'll try that the next time I'm out and about! If it works in Toronto, it should be OK here in New England.

pianotuna wrote:
JaxDad, I've tried the rear vent trick, but it seems ineffective in the extreme cold I need to combat.

I realize it might not work as well up there Don, but for the OP down in Massachusetts it would be fine I'm sure.

Hi Phil,

By going through small cities which do have the necessary facilities. By small town I mean populations under 1000 souls.

pnichols wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Most of the small towns I visit can not deal with filling a fixed tank.

Huuuuuh???

How are we going to take our dream RV trip to Alaska by wandering up and back through Canadian towns if we can't get our 18 gallon propane tank filled? :h and :( -> a real bummer.

We were going too, of course, "have to" drop a bundle of tourist cash in Canada while doing this. Maybe we need to rethink the trip. :?

pianotuna wrote:
Most of the small towns I visit can not deal with filling a fixed tank.

Huuuuuh???

How are we going to take our dream RV trip to Alaska by wandering up and back through Canadian towns if we can't get our 18 gallon propane tank filled? :h and :( -> a real bummer.

We were going too, of course, "have to" drop a bundle of tourist cash in Canada while doing this. Maybe we need to rethink the trip. :?

Hi Phil and Gary,

Thanks.

Phil, my Ford E-450 won't run the air conditioner in defrost mode. I've toyed with the idea of having a switch added so I could do so. That would bring in outside (hot) air which often might require more "cooling power".

JaxDad, I've tried the rear vent trick, but it seems ineffective in the extreme cold I need to combat.

BoarderCollie, running the generator to produce heat via electrical resistance heating is more expensive than burning propane. It is DEFINITELY more convenient, especially if you are in a self propelled RV where the propane tank is fixed. Most of the small towns I visit can not deal with filling a fixed tank.

Bordercollie wrote:
My previous reply about running the generator and an electric heater underway was semi-serious. I was honestly wondering whether running the generator and an electric heater would be more convenient, maybe more cost effective, than using furnace, running out of propane, finding a propane dealer, etc. Of course you'd want to keep electric heater from turning over or igniting something, but most have turnover shutoff features. I'd expect that the dash heater plus dog jackets would keep the guys comfortable though.

As I mentioned earlier, the generator needs a monthly exercise run anyway so why not make it useful. If the trip distance isn't long enough for exercise period, I'll fire up generator/heater at home before leaving to get extra time. MH is nice and warm when we load final supplies and head out.

Bordercollie wrote:
My previous reply about running the generator and an electric heater underway was semi-serious. I was honestly wondering whether running the generator and an electric heater would be more convenient, maybe more cost effective, than using furnace, running out of propane, finding a propane dealer, etc.

It's even more convenient and cost effective to merely set the heat to dash position and open the rearmost roof vent.

The vacuum created by the open vent pulls the heat down the back and away from the front seats so you can leave the heat set higher and still be comfortable.

I have no problem keeping the back of mine above 60 deg. even when it's down WELL below freezing.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Jillhop,

My solution to winter class C heating is to run the dash heat on defrost, and run the roof air conditioner on the fan only setting.

Doing so requires medium size pure sine wave inverter. As a bonus I get to run my fridge on 120 volts. 1000 watts may be more than enough. I have an outlet in the shore power cord box that is powered by the inverter. I simply plug in the cord, turn off the converter, then turn on the inverter.

Bestconverters has the Prowatt line from Xantrex which costs $355.00 for a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter.

I did replace the return air grill for the furnace with a dual window fan. That pushes a small amount of air through the duct work and keeps the fresh water system from freezing up.

And I thought you were just a pretty face, Don. Good ideas!!


Gary Haupt