Traveling in cold weather

[Teich]

Is it reasonable to think we could travel in our Isata 5, that has 4 agm house batteries, and run an 120 volt electric heater and furnace fan to keep the bays warm enough not to freeze? Would the engine alternators deliver enough to recharge to the batteries while in motion to satisfy the inverter? Thanks

[bclemens]

Dual alternators on the 5 crank out some amps...but that is also a power hungry chassis. Some of that will depend on the heater power draw....furnace is not terrible because it is LP. Smaller heater is going to be electric which can eat up some amps.

[Teich]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Dual alternators on the 5 crank out some amps...but that is also a power hungry chassis. Some of that will depend on the heater power draw....furnace is not terrible because it is LP. Smaller heater is going to be electric which can eat up some amps.

I just think it's safer than running the furnace for heat while moving at highway speeds to avoid backdraft of CO and possible furnace outage.

[Kenny kustom]

How big is your inverter?

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

How big is your inverter?

That's kinda personal ya think?

[ScottBrownstein]

CO ingest is pretty hard considering how the furnace is designed. Most coaches run the furnace at highway speed with no issues when the temps are low. If you only run the electric heater when running down the road is going to pretty much match or overload the alternator and not really give you that much heat (assuming portable which is around 1000 watts.)

Stick with the furnace.

[Webefine]

I installed a 12 volt heater in the wet bay of my DX3. I went with a 12 volt since it is less draw (300 watts) and doesn't run through the inverter which also uses some power. I haven't traveled in real cold temps with it yet but I have used it while parked in 20 degree temps and it kept the wet bay very warm.

[RV Randy]

Originally Posted by Teich

Is it reasonable to think we could travel in our Isata 5, that has 4 agm house batteries, and run an 120 volt electric heater and furnace fan to keep the bays warm enough not to freeze? Would the engine alternators deliver enough to recharge to the batteries while in motion to satisfy the inverter? Thanks

The best thing to do is always add RV anti-freeze to your gray and black tanks to protect the valves and piping from freezing even if your heating solution is marginal.

If you are going to use a 110v solution you could run down the road with your generator running instead of putting the load on your inverter. If you are using a smaller ceramic type heater just in the wet bay, the inverter should handle it if your inverter is at least 2000 watts and you have no other load on it. Personally, my choice would be to use the 12v heater option. Just make sure you run a proper gauge wire with an in-line fuse from the DC power panel or batteries. Even the smaller 12v heaters can draw 25 to 30 amps of DC current.

[cariboo camper]

Originally Posted by Teich

I just think it's safer than running the furnace for heat while moving at highway speeds to avoid backdraft of CO and possible furnace outage.

Very important, I would never run furnace that uses LP while driving. There are pictures out there to prove my point. Exhaust port can burn side of motorhome and cause damage and even fire.

Your question is interesting to me because I am wondering the same thing. Maybe I will try it for a short drive and check battery condition.

Are you planning to run a power cord from inverter to shore power plug or separate power cord from inverter directly to heater?

If you do use shore power cord do not leave converter on, unplug it. If you don't your inverter will be powering your converter to charge your batteries for a net loss of battery capacity.

[Kenny kustom]

These units all have transfer switches. All they need to do is plug in a heater to an outlet that is powered by the inverter.

[formerFR]

yes

- plug in the heater
- set up your AGS(automatic generator starter) to 'Enable' (to turn on when it needs to)
- set your AGS 'Volts' setting to 12.0 (will start the Gen when the batteries get low)
- set your AGS 'Run Time' to 1 hour (time before the Gen will automatically shut down)
- set your 'SHORE' setting to 40 (max amps to charge the batteries, but still allow the heater and other items to run at the same time)

so:
- if you are traveling, your alternator will help recharge the batteries
but
- your AGS will start your Generator IF / WHEN the batteries need charging, even while traveling
and
- your AGS will start your Generator IF you are at a park or campground with electricity, but the electricity goes off(loss of shore power), and your batteries fall far enough to need recharging while your Inverter is still powering everything.


: always leave your Inverter ON, it is not only for use when you don't have Shore Power or Generator, but as your 'back up' power.
: always leave your AGS to 'Enable'(ON), it is your 'back up' to your 'back up'!
: always leave your Charger ON, as this will allow the AGS/Generator to recharge your batteries when they need it

(I'm not sure about the previous comments about 'unplugging' your converter when you are on shore power - never heard of such, and we've had our setup like this for 3 years of full-timing and traveling 80,000 miles, both with and without shore power! by the way, how(?) would you even 'unplug' your converter?? Nonsense.)

enjoy !

[Cold Lake Kid]

I have a Forest River 2300 motor home I was planning on taking to Florida, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
I was thinking of running the propane furnace to help heat the interior, behind the front seats, until we get into warmer weather, past Washington etc.
From the comment(s) here, do I understand running the furnace while driving is not a good idea?
Thanks for the input.

[Webefine]

formerFR
You didn't read the comment throughly, they asked if they were going to plug the shore power cord into the inverter which would power the entire rv through through the inverter. This is why they said to turn off the converter.

[formerFR]

I've not seen any comment from the OP about 'plug the shore power cord into the inverter'.... also, this is not possible with their coach, the inverter is integrated, and there is no 'way' to plug the shore cord into the inverter ... that sounds more like some older coaches where you plugged in your shore power cord to the GENERATOR.

[cariboo camper]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

These units all have transfer switches. All they need to do is plug in a heater to an outlet that is powered by the inverter.

It is my understanding that the transfer switch switches from shore power or generator to battery. Do not think converter is shut off because if it was, then when plugged into shore power the converter would not charge batteries. That would be assuming the inverter is plugged into shore power cord to run aux heater.

[RV Randy]

Originally Posted by Cold Lake Kid

I have a Forest River 2300 motor home I was planning on taking to Florida, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
I was thinking of running the propane furnace to help heat the interior, behind the front seats, until we get into warmer weather, past Washington etc.
From the comment(s) here, do I understand running the furnace while driving is not a good idea?
Thanks for the input.

That is an opinion some people have expressed. Others, like me, have used the RV furnace while driving with no issues. If you have a modern unit with auto-igniter function, it will shut the fuel supply off if the burner goes out and it won't re-light. Your rig should also be equipped with a Co2 detector. The thing to be careful of is turning the furnace off when you pull in to re-fuel. This is to eliminate the risk of the furnace igniting gas fumes in the vicinity of the fuel pumps.

If your rig has a 110v inverter you can also run a small electric ceramic heater. They put out a fair amount of heat and should not overload your inverter. As long as the engine is running you will be charging the house batteries that the inverter operates on.

[Bill Davis]

I traveled for years with the furnace running and have never had a problem.

[Kenny kustom]

My Isata was returned to me last night, from a visit back to the factory.
-20c and the driver only had the cab heat going. I walked into the back, and was quite surprised how warm it was back there.
A small ceramic heater would work just fine ( 1000w).
Turn on the inverter and run it.

[Delco Bobby]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

My Isata was returned to me last night, from a visit back to the factory.
-20c and the driver only had the cab heat going. I walked into the back, and was quite surprised how warm it was back there.
A small ceramic heater would work just fine ( 1000w).
Turn on the inverter and run it.

The cab heater in my REV heats the cabin in very cold weather while under way. I can feel the current of warm air in the bathroom if the door is open.

I have seen posts about this heater in the forums and bought one last week from Amazon. This is tiny and stable.

Broan-NuTone 6201 Big Heat Heater

I tried it in my home dining room and it kicked butt. Tried it this morning in the REV after I had the built in heater running for over an hour which brought the temp up from 27° F to 57°F. In a few minutes the Broan raised the temp to 68°.

This is one of the better purchases of my life.