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  1. #1
    Fireside Member SKI367BHS's Avatar
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    Open duct into basement

    I've been ruminating on why I have been going through propane like crazy during my last hunting trip.

    I took it in last month to have the dealer look at it and they performed a leak down test and tested my appliances for proper operation. Nothing crazy or off spec. However, the tech did say they topped off my propane tanks and set my thermostat to 70 and ran it over night. In my area at that time we were still seeing temps over night in the low 30's and high 20's. They said it ran fine. When I got home one of my propane tanks is almost empty. Mopeka shows 16% remaining. It used almost 30 lbs of propane over night! This squares with my first two nights of hunting and running out of 60 lbs of propane.

    So, I decided to crawl in the basement and poke around. I found that the end of the heating duct that supplies the front bedroom and some to the basement was not sealed off at the end. It was completely open. This means that the weak flow to the main area was not heating that space as it should (where my t-stat is mounted) and my basement was getting a good deal of the air. Now I know why my boots were so warm each morning. LOL!

    I cut the vent back a bit and made some folds and cuts to enclose it and sealed it up with aluminum tape. While under there, I poked around the furnace as well and noticed that many of the mating areas between ducts and the plenum were not sealed well or poorly cut. I addressed those as well. In some places the gaps were over 1/2 an inch. So, with those areas and the open duct it's no wonder why the furnace was running like crazy.

    I forgot to take my phone and take some pictures as I was focused on fixing what I found. My apologies.
    I'll test it out this weekend and see how it works and my hope is that the consumption is much less. Fingers crossed.
    Just wanted to post what I found so that if anyone else finds the furnace running excessively or happens to be poking around underneath you might eyeball your ducts and those plenum connections.

    Sean
    2019 Reflection 367BHS with a few mods
    2018 F350 6.7 SRWD CCSB
    1971 F250 Highboy with lots & lots of mods...

  2. #2
    Commercial Member huntr70's Avatar
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    Also remember that LP tanks should only be filled to 80%, so you aren't using what you think you are using.
    Steve- Inventory Manager at Tom Schaeffer's RV, Shoemakersville, PA www.tomschaeffers.com
    [email protected]
    2011 RAM 3500 SRW Outdoorsman Edition 4X4, 6.7 Cummins--TWEAKED!
    2021 Reflection 310RLS

  3. #3
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
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    Thanks @SKI367BHS Sean, that's a word to the wise for sure.

    We found similar carelessness in our 2018 Reflection. Obviously-deficient aluminum sealing tape was falling off in several places after the first two nights using the furnace. The tape failed on the main duct supplying the living area of the trailer so that its supply line fell off and it was receiving no hot air. Several other ducts were loosely-taped or so kinked that little air was getting through.

    Our 2018 Solitude seems to have been assembled with more care, but checking duct-work is a worthwhile exercise for both cost savings and comfort.
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

  4. #4
    Fireside Member SKI367BHS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntr70 View Post
    Also remember that LP tanks should only be filled to 80%, so you aren't using what you think you are using.
    Very true, I should have worded that better. Thanks for posting that. Even though they are 80% full that's still a good deal of propane to use in one night. We'll see how it does this weekend.
    2019 Reflection 367BHS with a few mods
    2018 F350 6.7 SRWD CCSB
    1971 F250 Highboy with lots & lots of mods...

  5. #5
    New Member
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    We are just getting our new Solitude 3350 RL setup and the DW wanted to put filters in the air vents. A total of 9 ceiling vents in bedroom, bathroom and living room. found two of the 9 had the ceiling cutouts still in the vent. Removed the cutouts and put the filters in. Based on your post I am planning on getting into the furnace ducts and making sure they are all connected properly as well..

  6. #6
    Fireside Member SKI367BHS's Avatar
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    Think I might need to get into the ceiling vents as well as pull the cover off the AC duct and inspect that. See lots of posts where stuff isn't sealed or finished correctly.
    A few more things to add to the list right?

    What filters are you using in the ceiling vents?
    2019 Reflection 367BHS with a few mods
    2018 F350 6.7 SRWD CCSB
    1971 F250 Highboy with lots & lots of mods...

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