Electrically Heating TT Underbelly
Has anyone made or found a way to electrically heat the enclosed underbelly of a travel trailer? We just finished a trip to Ruidoso during which the temperatures were below freezing for much of it, do...
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I keep my water lines from freezing while heating 100% electrically by replacing the return air grill for the furnace with dual window fans controlled by a mechanical thermostat. The placement of the thermostat is under the cabinets close to the outside wall. This, happily in my case, does push some air through the heating duct work.
I developed this method because when I was trundling down the road in my class C the furnace would not cycle because of heat from the cab, so the water lines would freeze, even though the living quarters were at 20 C (68 f).
Dual Window Fans
The fans draw a scant 23 watts, so are easily run by a small inverter. This has been used at -34 C (-30 f).
The waste tank area is enclosed but unheated, so I added a 120 volt outlet and run 200 watts of heat controlled by a thermostat. This has been live tested to -27 C (-16.6 f), with no other heating of the RV.
If you plan to camp in extreme temperatures do not forget to protect the fridge. There is a great thread on Winter Camping in the full time forum.
It is important to not use a computerized thermostat as they reset to off when power is interrupted for a second or two.
I developed this method because when I was trundling down the road in my class C the furnace would not cycle because of heat from the cab, so the water lines would freeze, even though the living quarters were at 20 C (68 f).
Dual Window Fans
The fans draw a scant 23 watts, so are easily run by a small inverter. This has been used at -34 C (-30 f).
The waste tank area is enclosed but unheated, so I added a 120 volt outlet and run 200 watts of heat controlled by a thermostat. This has been live tested to -27 C (-16.6 f), with no other heating of the RV.
If you plan to camp in extreme temperatures do not forget to protect the fridge. There is a great thread on Winter Camping in the full time forum.
It is important to not use a computerized thermostat as they reset to off when power is interrupted for a second or two.
