Florida bound end of December, furnace question

[grfranke]

Newbie to posting. We are travelling to Florida from Kingston Canada at the end of December. My question is can I run my furnace in our 5th wheel while driving? We previously had a motorhome and ran the furnace while driving. Thanks in advance.

[partsman01]

Jayco-noslide wrote:
Not sure if anyone mentioned that there is somewhat of an issue of pulling up real close to a gas pump with a flame anywhere near the gas fumes. It's something to keep in mind even if any pilot is on but perhaps more danger if a larger flame(furnace) is on.

Yep, my only concern, many times with camper I had on back of truck I would be just starting to fill with gas and realise my stuff was on and there were pilot lites on and of course the furnace could kick on, so always scared me when I realised I had forgotten to turn off before fueling, so became too risky for me, at least with a camper being right by the pump.

[Jayco-noslide]

Not sure if anyone mentioned that there is somewhat of an issue of pulling up real close to a gas pump with a flame anywhere near the gas fumes. It's something to keep in mind even if any pilot is on but perhaps more danger if a larger flame(furnace) is on.

[Cummins12V98]

Be prepared to refill the propane along the way. You will be sucking heat from the RV while traveling.

[ppine]

I would never do that. I rarely run the heater when parked.
Open the blinds and use solar heat. Weather in Florida is mild most of the time even in the North.l

[IdaD]

Most trailers heat up pretty quick, much quicker than they cool down with AC. I run with my fridge and water heater on but generally wouldn't bother with the furnace. I don't see a problem with it, but I don't see much advantage in most conditions.

[Chrisatthebeach]

When I returned from Northern KY to SC 5 years ago I was living full time for work in mine and left it set at 55 degrees for the entire trip. No vents were blocked by the slides. I debated winterizing but knew I would not make the entire trip in a day and wanted to be able to use everything while overnighting.

I made the trip on February 3rd in between ice storms and the lows were in the teens.

I could not really tell much difference in the propane use, both tanks were full when I left and when I got to SC temps were mild, I did not re-fill until sometime in May.

[lee_worsdell]

drive far enough south the first day. when you stop do some shopping turn the furnace on come back and it will be nice and warm

[Luke_Porter]

pcm1959 wrote:
Just something to keep in mind when running the furnace with the slides in.....if the slides are blocking furnace vents, it can cause issues with the performance and a shut-down.

That's the problem I ran into.

[Rangerman40]

I ran mine from Ohio to southern KY to get out of the freeze on the way to TN last weekend..... no big deal.

[Us_out_West]

grfranke wrote:
Newbie to posting. We are travelling to Florida from Kingston Canada at the end of December. My question is can I run my furnace in our 5th wheel while driving? We previously had a motorhome and ran the furnace while driving. Thanks in advance.

Are you stopping along the way or driving straight thru to Florida?

Not wanting to be smug but need more info.

What are you worried about if you are winterized? If so when you get into warmer temps de-winterize.

How far do you drive in one day? Hours? If you stop say after 4-5 hours for an overnight hookup if available the light your furnace.

To your original question...no we don't run with the propane on so no furnace. I know some do but not us.

Safe travels.

[pcm1959]

Just something to keep in mind when running the furnace with the slides in.....if the slides are blocking furnace vents, it can cause issues with the performance and a shut-down. If you read the manual for the furnace, it states that a minimum number of vents must never be closed or blocked. I'd suggest reading the manual for your furnace in that regard and see how many of your vents will be unobstructed with the slides in. Safe travels!

[GordonThree]

On a long winter road trip I turned my furnace on when I left home and off again 6 weeks later when I returned. Same for the water heater.

Both are equipped with DSI, there's no pilot light to mess with, same as the fridge.

If your trailer is old and still using pilot lights, well, your mileage may vary.

[Jayco-noslide]

Maybe you could but I don't. I have run it for 15 min. or so at a rest stop. Doesn't take much heat to prevent freeze-up unless it's super cold.

[sch911]

DutchmenSport wrote:
I have heard of some doing that. But I think the general conscious is, most do not.

Not positive but from what I've seen and read here I believe this to be exactly the opposite. Most would.