Forum Discussion

todde278's avatar
todde278
Explorer
Jun 14, 2015

Adding furnace vent in bathroom

I recently bought a 2015 Coleman 314bhs travel trailer. For whatever reason they do not put a furnace vent in the bathroom. On our first outing the bathroom was freezing if the door was left closed.

My furnace sits about 5' away from the tub. I was able to route some 4" flexible ducting from the top of my furnace, behind some drawers and under the bathtub where I plan to put a dampened vent into the paneling below the tub. I plan on using one of the knock outs on top of the furnace for connection.

Question is the flexible vent sits on top of water lines under my tub and will be about an inch away from some electrical cable for the furnace. I know the furnace puts out very hot air but is it a concern that it could melt anything? Any other concerns I should have about doing this?
  • Halmfamily's avatar
    Halmfamily
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    If your air in those ducts got hot enough to melt anything it would melt the cheap duct itself. My only concern would be either rubbing holes in the duct or chafing a wire. I would make sure the duct doesn't move.
  • wlstroud's avatar
    wlstroud
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    A furnace vent in the bathroom will positively pressurize your bathroom and will force moisture and other "fumes' out into the trailer. I would open the roof vent some and turn on the fan to draw under the bathroom door from the warm trailer space. The air will exhaust but the bathroom space will warm up.
  • BillB800si's avatar
    BillB800si
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    If you're camping with electrical hook-ups then I suggest a small electric heater with a temperature adjustment on it. Simple- portable and no worry of fumes or structural modifications.
    Remember the KISS principle...
    Happy trails,
  • budwich's avatar
    budwich
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    Hornnumb2 wrote:
    I seen many trailers with a vent in bathroom, no problem.

    X2

    Our Terry has one, it works fine and is great on cool / cold days. The ducting travels along both water and wiring paths. IF there was an issue, it would have developed a long time ago on this 2007 trailer.
  • mbopp's avatar
    mbopp
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    Out TT has a heater outlet in the bathroom from the factory. It's tapped off the plenum and runs under the 'fridge to a vent in the bathroom. No issues with it.
  • BubbaChris's avatar
    BubbaChris
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    The only problem we had with the furnace vent in the bathroom was it blew onto the little trash can we keep in there (heating the contents). We adjusted the trash and now have no issues.

    Our TT tends to heat fairly evenly from front to back without floor-ducted heat. The large gaps above and below the bathroom door help out.
  • todde278's avatar
    todde278
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2015
    Thanks for all the replies!

    The bathroom door has a large gap at the bottom but nothing on top so there is no way for air to circulate when the door is closed. There is a floor vent right outside the bathroom but it's in front of the bathroom wall so it doesn't blow into the bathroom. My old trailer had a vent in the bathroom and when the heater was running it would heat up the bathroom quickly.

    My furnace adapter and vent should be here this week so I will get it all hooked up and checked out.
  • w8eh's avatar
    w8eh
    Explorer
    Jun 16, 2015
    Our Starcraft Launch 24RLS has ductwork routed under the shower, with a vent in the face of the sink cabinet. From what I saw it is in direct contact with the plastic water lines and a romex 120 volt electric cable.

    If you look in the hidden places in most campers, you would be surprised just what is rubbing around together.....

    You should be able to get plastic "T" pieces to splice into existing duct lines.
  • todde278's avatar
    todde278
    Explorer
    Jun 16, 2015
    All of my furnace venting currently is under the floor so there is no easy way to tap into it without ripping apart the bottom of the trailer. Since so many cutouts are provided in the furnace im going that route. If i read the furnace docs correctly you can use the floor venting and 1 of the round knock outs.

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