Electric Heat for Underbelly of MLS 17MKE

[Thirdmillennium]

Does anyone have photos or a diagram of the underbelly of a 17MKE? I haven't removed the underbelly yet, but I'm trying to see if there is a location that I could place a 300W bilge/engine heater that has a built-in fan. I am on shoreline power all year long and therefore would rather not use the propane heating.

I've seen the other approach in this forum to run an additional force fed air duct into the underbelly and use a space heater in the cabin, but I'd rather not be cutting holes in the floor or cabinets for the vent and ducts.

Any info/suggestions welcome!!

thanks in advance.

 

[FT4NOW]

Welcome to the forum. You could use the duct that already heats the underbelly, it comes off the furnace. Might be able to hook up a space heater/blower to the existing duct and see how it performs.

 

[Soundsailor]

Does anyone have photos or a diagram of the underbelly of a 17MKE? I haven't removed the underbelly yet, but I'm trying to see if there is a location that I could place a 300W bilge/engine heater that has a built-in fan. I am on shoreline power all year long and therefore would rather not use the propane heating.

I've seen the other approach in this forum to run an additional force fed air duct into the underbelly and use a space heater in the cabin, but I'd rather not be cutting holes in the floor or cabinets for the vent and ducts.

Any info/suggestions welcome!!

thanks in advance.

Yes, welcome to the forum, glad to have you with us. As [MENTION=5834]FT4NOW[/MENTION] said, you may have luck connecting the bilge heater to your existing duct from the furnace. Let us know how you make out, I have a bilge heater waiting to be hooked up.

 

[Thirdmillennium]

Thanks both.

Does anyone know if there is a separate duct to warm the underbelly….or is it just the cabin ducts that are routed through and therefore provide heat?

 

[trailrydr]

In our 5er, under/behind the bottom hutch drawer their is an opening that leads to the basement - probably for return air, but one could force warm into that area as well which could have the same effect.

The underbelly (above coroplast) would still need the forced duct work however.

 

[FT4NOW]

Thanks both.

Does anyone know if there is a separate duct to warm the underbelly….or is it just the cabin ducts that are routed through and therefore provide heat?

I don't know about your specific model, but there should be a dedicated duct which heats the underbelly.

 

[Thirdmillennium]

I don't know about your specific model, but there should be a dedicated duct which heats the underbelly.

Thanks - I will check as soon as the weather gets better...in the mean time, if anyone knows for sure it would be helpful.

..and the thread title should be XLS, not MLS...my bad!

 

[FT4NOW]

Thanks - I will check as soon as the weather gets better...in the mean time, if anyone knows for sure it would be helpful.

..and the thread title should be XLS, not MLS...my bad!

I got to thinking...

Is your goal for the underbelly heat to prevent freezing?

If yes, and you are considering an electric heater since you will be on shore power, maybe you can install tank heaters (12v) and heat tape on the plumbing lines (120v). It will be a good amount of work, but will help prevent freezing.

 

[Thirdmillennium]

I got to thinking...

Is your goal for the underbelly heat to prevent freezing?

If yes, and you are considering an electric heater since you will be on shore power, maybe you can install tank heaters (12v) and heat tape on the plumbing lines (120v). It will be a good amount of work, but will help prevent freezing.

Yes- I live in North Texas and for the most part the winters are mild. My hope is just to keep it from freezing. I think the tank heaters might be the route to take. I understand that the propane furnace has a dedicated vent to the underbelly, but my RV is on shore power most of the winter and I would rather use electrical heat. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Stealth13777]

I suspect you would be fine down to sustained well-below-freezing days with what you have - there is a decent amount of air exchange between your heated interior and the underbelly, especially if you open cabinets. Probably only a few of those super cold days a year depending on where you are.

Tank heaters not a bad idea and simple/easy. The heat tape wouldnt be too difficult to pair with foam pipe insulation and set up so you could just plug it in when it’s really cold.

You do have a dedicated heat duct to the belly. It’s the smaller diameter tube off the heater. Fwiw, we were also full-time in NC with electric and we ran all electric except the days where it was really cold. It wasn’t a ton of propane - maybe 14 or so days this winter even further north like we are.

 

[Thirdmillennium]

I suspect you would be fine down to sustained well-below-freezing days with what you have - there is a decent amount of air exchange between your heated interior and the underbelly, especially if you open cabinets. Probably only a few of those super cold days a year depending on where you are.

Tank heaters not a bad idea and simple/easy. The heat tape wouldnt be too difficult to pair with foam pipe insulation and set up so you could just plug it in when it’s really cold.

You do have a dedicated heat duct to the belly. It’s the smaller diameter tube off the heater. Fwiw, we were also full-time in NC with electric and we ran all electric except the days where it was really cold. It wasn’t a ton of propane - maybe 14 or so days this winter even further north like we are.

That's incredibly useful info, thanks!

 

[DC22RBE]

Remove the 4 Screws that holds the intake grill off that is right under your refrigerator. We have a 22RBE XLS - and it is fed by a separate duct from heater that goes thru floor - you should be able to see this with grill cover off.

 

[MG17MKE]

Does anyone have photos or a diagram of the underbelly of a 17MKE? I haven't removed the underbelly yet, but I'm trying to see if there is a location that I could place a 300W bilge/engine heater that has a built-in fan. I am on shoreline power all year long and therefore would rather not use the propane heating.

I've seen the other approach in this forum to run an additional force fed air duct into the underbelly and use a space heater in the cabin, but I'd rather not be cutting holes in the floor or cabinets for the vent and ducts.

Any info/suggestions welcome!!

thanks in advance.

You may want to check this out, it's a hybrid electric heater that is installed in conjunction with your existing propane furnace.

https://www.rvcomfortsystems.com/

There is a YouTube video as well:

https://youtu.be/7NZtY6EpAn4

May be more than you want to spend but
like it will solve your problem.

Good luck!

 

[RickLight]

I found 'self regulating heat tape'
https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Freeze-Protection-Heating-Regulating-Electric/dp/B096D8QP2G/

None of the overheating or electrical dangers of standard stuff. It's 12v and can't get hot spots! Far better than tank heaters.

 

[Thirdmillennium]

You may want to check this out, it's a hybrid electric heater that is installed in conjunction with your existing propane furnace.

https://www.rvcomfortsystems.com/

There is a YouTube video as well:

https://youtu.be/7NZtY6EpAn4

May be more than you want to spend but
like it will solve your problem.

Good luck!

Thanks, I saw this but it looks expensive.. has anyone had experience with these?

 

[Thirdmillennium]

I found 'self regulating heat tape'
https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Freeze-Protection-Heating-Regulating-Electric/dp/B096D8QP2G/

None of the overheating or electrical dangers of standard stuff. It's 12v and can't get hot spots! Far better than tank heaters.

Have you installed this? How is it better than tank heaters etc? Thanks!

 

[RickLight]

Have you installed this? How is it better than tank heaters etc? Thanks!

It's been for 2 winters. My first cold camping (about 20F overnight) the water lines to my rear sink froze. Yes I have a heated underbelly and was running my furnace. I later discovered they went under a tank so the only insulation was the belly cover.

Water lines are small will freeze far faster than tanks unless the tank is nearly empty. If I was full time in Canada I would want both! I made many small insulation improvements while the belly was open for other reasons so I'm confident the furnace will prevent total freezing. The heat tape keeps the water flowing.

 

[Thirdmillennium]

It's been for 2 winters. My first cold camping (about 20F overnight) the water lines to my rear sink froze. Yes I have a heated underbelly and was running my furnace. I later discovered they went under a tank so the only insulation was the belly cover.

Water lines are small will freeze far faster than tanks unless the tank is nearly empty. If I was full time in Canada I would want both! I made many small insulation improvements while the belly was open for other reasons so I'm confident the furnace will prevent total freezing. The heat tape keeps the water flowing.

Thanks Rick - I spend last week in Calgary at -20F and am glad I wasn't in my RV! I'm based in North Texas, so it's rare to have incredibly cold temps (2 years ago we got down to 1F though). I am reluctant to winterize if possible as the RV is on a piece of land I own and is really a getaway. I am going to look into using the heat tape you recommended this winter.