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  1. #1
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    Cabin fan to heat underbelly

    Hi everyone!

    My family just bought our first camper and we are very excited to get the most out of it.

    One of our reasons for going with grand designs was that we were hoping it would give us a winter season of camping here in Oregon. From what I’m hearing it sounds like we want to be using an electric space heater as much as I can but that we should also be running the propane heater to keep the underbelly from freezing up. Is it possible to use the circulation fan on the thermostat to pull hot air from out electric heater in the cabin down to the underbelly?

    I’ve got 2 40lb tanks but I’d rather not use them if I don’t have to

    Thanks,
    Devan


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  2. #2
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    Don't fight it. Resistance is futile. Our units are designed with the propane heaters heating the underbelly. Use it as designed. It is OK to use propane. That is what it is for.
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
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  3. #3
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Well the "4 Seasons Package" is misleading. When we had our Imagine 2950RL it was really a 3 seasons RV. Not much insulation, no heated tanks, no heated storage compartment but it did have a very small heat duct from the furnace into the underbelly. Now with our Solitude and it's "Artic Package" its a little more capable but still somewhat misleading, it has better insulation, heated tanks, heated main storage compartment and a much bigger furnace duct into the underbelly.

    We fulltime and have camped with our Solitude in Northern Indiana up to the end of December and thru the 4 day freak winter storm in southern Texas last year with temps down to 0*F wind chill and our Solitude fared well although our single pane windows leaked cold air terribly. We would not have liked to endure the same with our old Imagine.
    In an Imagine you will have to have some kind of electric heater in the storage compartment to keep its water panel connection warm and anything that is in the storage compartment that you don't want to freeze. A fan will not pull warm air from the living quarters down into the storage compartment and underbelly.

    Running the propane furnace is a must to help keep water lines from freezing thru to the back of the coach and even then you are not assured the heat will reach all the way to the back of the coach to keep the water lines safe. It all depends on how cold you intend to camp in the winter time.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
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  4. #4
    Setting Up Camp
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    Thanks for the advice. I hadn’t thought about heating the pass through, any advice on a unit for this? It seems small enough is there something that would be usable off grid?
    2019 Imagine 2800BH
    2018 Ford Expedition XLT w/ Heavy Duty Tow

  5. #5
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Devanl View Post
    Thanks for the advice. I hadn’t thought about heating the pass through, any advice on a unit for this? It seems small enough is there something that would be usable off grid?
    How cold are you talking about?

    And by "off the grid" do you mean without a generator?
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  6. #6
    Seasoned Camper
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    We have some friends that did a couple winters in Kansas and they just put a heat lamp in the crawl thru and it kept things from freezing. They also had a remote thermometer there so they could monitor the temp there.

  7. #7
    Setting Up Camp
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    How cold are you talking about?

    And by "off the grid" do you mean without a generator?
    I’m new to the area but hoping its safe to say mid 20’s (F) would be the lowest. I wasn’t planning on having a generator but still figuring out the equipment.
    2019 Imagine 2800BH
    2018 Ford Expedition XLT w/ Heavy Duty Tow

  8. #8
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Devanl View Post
    Is it possible to use the circulation fan on the thermostat to pull hot air from out electric heater in the cabin down to the underbelly?

    Thanks,
    Devan
    No. Ok, that was kind of an abrupt answer, I apologize. The circulation fan runs from the A/C units that are on the roof. They run through a pretty fancy ventilation system through the roof. Unfortunately, they do not distribute air through the floor. The propane furnace has hoses attached to it that vent into the underbelly side of the RV. Underbelly vs roof. While running ceiling ventilation/fans keeps the air better distributed throughout the cabin, it doesn't distribute air in the underbelly, only the furnace does that.

    My old 5th wheel had ceiling fans, they help a bunch in winter warmth. My GD 376 does not have ceiling fans, I miss them.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
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  9. #9
    Setting Up Camp
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    Quote Originally Posted by D2Reid View Post
    The propane furnace has hoses attached to it that vent into the underbelly side of the RV. Underbelly vs roof. While running ceiling ventilation/fans keeps the air better distributed throughout the cabin, it doesn't distribute air in the underbelly, only the furnace does that.
    Thanks for the details there, perhaps if I took something like an inline booster from a home HVAC system to push air in to the furnace intake? It sounds like I may be stuck with propane but doesn’t hurt to ask.


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  10. #10
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Devanl View Post
    Thanks for the details there, perhaps if I took something like an inline booster from a home HVAC system to push air in to the furnace intake? It sounds like I may be stuck with propane but doesn’t hurt to ask.


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    I think you should take huntingdog's advice and stop fighting the use of the propane heater.

    Every campground we have ever gone to in any place that even remotely gets cold has rigs with large, oversized propane tanks on their sites. Some permanent, some semi-permanent. So, obviously, they use propane, and maybe lots of it.

    We use a small space heater on cold nights but when the temp is predicted to go below 50 degrees I set the propane furnace to come on at 63 degrees as the space heater doesn't keep up. We don't do that for any pipe freezing problems - it is for our comfort.

    Our furnace (supposedly) heats the underbelly, the water bay, and the storage bay but not the frontmost storage compartment.
    Larry KE4DMG
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