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Cold Bedroom

Heelbilly
Explorer
Explorer
Hey, y'all. I have a quick question. I'm currently camping in my Cruiser RV R24BHDS and using my furnace for the first time in pretty chilly weather. The "bedroom" has one heater vent at the foot of the bed. When the furnace is on it has a weak and cool air flow. Everywhere else has a strong, very warm air flow. It gets pretty chilly in the bedroom while the rest of the camper is warm. Any ideas?

Thanks, as always!
13 REPLIES 13

Heelbilly
Explorer
Explorer
Awesome.

After all y'all's advice I'm wondering if it is possible that everything is working as it was designed and if it isn't really capable of putting out much heat from that vent? It is a 2" of corrugated duct work. It is the only line under the camper. It is the furthest from the furnace. Maybe all is well and I should just expect a cold bedroom without something "helping" the furnace a bit? This is my first travel trailer so I'm learning as I go and not sure what is "normal."

ktmrfs
Explorer
Explorer
couple other things that may help.

Since the bedroom is the furthest run, it also likely has the largest temp drop in furnace air temp. Also, the typical ducting is the flimsy corregated stuff which is VERY restrictive to airflow with all the corregations. really disrupts airflow.
My solution

1) drop the underbelly and replace all the ducting with the 4" solid tubing and flex angle joints. the tubing is available in 4' lengths at home improvement stores. comes flat, you roll it up and snap it together
2) wrap each joint (including the lengthwise snap joint) with the aluminum foil tape for this purpose
3) wrap the completed ducting with either fiberglass insulation or the thinner foam insulation with one side adhesive coated, the other side reflective foil.

That made a HUGE improvement in airflow and air temp in our trailer and cut down furnace run time.

there is also one other likely big heat loss section in your bedroom. If your bed is over the top of a passthrough, there is likely NO insulation in that area. just thin plywood. go into the passthrough and use some 1" or so foam core insulation glued to the plywood.
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JIMNLIN
Explorer
Explorer
op wrote:
Thanks, Gerry! I'll try that. Yes, the furnace is in the living area. The bedroom would be the furthest point. It's also (from what I can tell) the only ductwork that is routed under the pressure. Makes sense it would be the least efficient. I have some airflow so I figured the ducts were at least partially in place. All the other vents are toasty hot and this one is ice cold. Just threw me off! I'll let you know how blocking the vents works out...

My current rear kitchen trailer has four adjustable floor vents. And just like yours the farthest is the bedroom.
I leave the aft one open as thats where the plumbing is for the kitchen.
I restrict the two in the center to move warm air to the front bedroom when it gets 30 degrees and colder with 35-40 mph winds. We both sleep better in a cool bedroom but at some point it simply gets to cold.

Experiment with the air flow and see what helps your situation.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers

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Heelbilly
Explorer
Explorer
myredracer wrote:
The bedroom's flexible duct could be 2" and the rest of the interior ones 4". A smaller duct has a significantly lower CFM output. If you could get to the duct, you could upgrade it to 4" providing it does not impact the furnace specs. as far as CFM goes.

The specs. for your TT say that the underbelly is enclosed so you can't do anything with the duct unless taking down the coroplast which is not a quick job.

We have a 4" duct to our living space which goes under the floor and comes back up. The air output is considerably cooler in colder weather compared to the other grilles. I may pull the duct out and insulate it without removing the underbelly as it's a short enough run to pull out. If your bedroom duct is 4", insulating it could be an option but getting to it might be the problem with that idea.

Heated underbellies are extremely inefficient. The air ends up going outdoors and can leave the inside shortchanged. We don't camp in cold weather when it can get below freezing so I actually blanked off the ducts into the underbelly but have not had a chance to try it out. (I also upped one interior duct from 2" to 4" so the air flow is still relatively balanced the same.) One problem doing that is that the floor can feel uncomfortably cold. We have converted to 100% electric heat and don't use the furnace anymore but have found that the floor does feel cold and we need to wear slippers.


It is a 2" duct for sure. I've inspected every place I can without removing the coroplast. For this trip I may just use my electric space heater to knock the chill off the bedroom. I'm not looking to tackle that coroplast right now. Sounds like no fun!!

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
The bedroom's flexible duct could be 2" and the rest of the interior ones 4". A smaller duct has a significantly lower CFM output. If you could get to the duct, you could upgrade it to 4" providing it does not impact the furnace specs. as far as CFM goes.

The specs. for your TT say that the underbelly is enclosed so you can't do anything with the duct unless taking down the coroplast which is not a quick job.

We have a 4" duct to our living space which goes under the floor and comes back up. The air output is considerably cooler in colder weather compared to the other grilles. I may pull the duct out and insulate it without removing the underbelly as it's a short enough run to pull out. If your bedroom duct is 4", insulating it could be an option but getting to it might be the problem with that idea.

Heated underbellies are extremely inefficient. The air ends up going outdoors and can leave the inside shortchanged. We don't camp in cold weather when it can get below freezing so I actually blanked off the ducts into the underbelly but have not had a chance to try it out. (I also upped one interior duct from 2" to 4" so the air flow is still relatively balanced the same.) One problem doing that is that the floor can feel uncomfortably cold. We have converted to 100% electric heat and don't use the furnace anymore but have found that the floor does feel cold and we need to wear slippers.

Mr__Camper
Explorer
Explorer
Are you complaining or bragging?
Mr. Camper
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Jack_Diane_Free
Explorer
Explorer
We had a similar problem only with the living room area vent. I took the vent out of the floor, from the top to find the duct work not attached, just sitting there. Attached the duct work properly and now it works fine. Might be something as simple as that.

Chuck_thehammer
Explorer
Explorer
like already said.. do not block off.. just tape up PART of the other vents.

mine is the same way... furnace is next to refrigerator at the front... bedroom at the rear... 30 feet. OK, duck work maybe 20 feet. and under the floor.

rockhillmanor
Explorer
Explorer
Not sure if it's applicable with you particular model TT but 'many' RV's have the same problem.

What the manufacture does is divert half of the bedroom vent to where the sewage hook ups are located. So only half the air flow comes out of vent into room. Makes for a very cold bedroom.

It's intent is to send warm air to the sewer hookups to prevent freezing.

Do you have a sewer bay on your TT?

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

DownTheAvenue
Explorer
Explorer
Do not block vents in order to get more air flow to the bedroom. The furnace must have a minimum of vents to move the air or it will overheat and shut down, or worse........

Heelbilly
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks, Gerry! I'll try that. Yes, the furnace is in the living area. The bedroom would be the furthest point. It's also (from what I can tell) the only ductwork that is routed under the pressure. Makes sense it would be the least efficient. I have some airflow so I figured the ducts were at least partially in place. All the other vents are toasty hot and this one is ice cold. Just threw me off! I'll let you know how blocking the vents works out...

Thanks!

fitznj
Explorer
Explorer
Not too uncommon........ Where is the furnace located relative to the furnace?
Mine is the living area and has a long run to the bedroom.

Try a couple of things.
Block off ALL vents except the bedroom, does the flow/heat improve?
If not, the ducting may have come off - check the ducting all the way between
the bedroom and the furnace.

If the flow improves then the ducting is probably okay; You then have to partially block some of the other vents so as to balance all the flow to each of the rooms. I did this putting duct tape to partially cover the vents closest to the furnace.

Been like that for years now and the whole camper stays toasty

gerry
Gerry

Heelbilly
Explorer
Explorer
Also, if the answer is loose duct work somewhere under the camper, how do I remove the coroplast protective cover?