Draft and cold floor near furnace 3450RL

[Walking thunder]

We had a cold spell here in TX and I couldn’t get the place warm. I felt a draft and did some investigation when we had the furnace serviced. The floor was ice cold and enough draft to blow the cherry on a lit cigarette.

Now keep in mind the “arctic package” I’m supposed to have. The furnace sits just under my dishwasher in the curved center island. All of the heater ducts go down through the floor forward to the bedroom and bathroom as well as the rest of the house. There also is one that empties into the under belly for the plumbing.

When I pulled off the return air grill under my dishwasher I saw the hole in the floor where the ducts were going through. I also saw the underbelly. No spray foam no nothing and with the 15 knot wind blowing outside it was coming in like gang busters.

This explains the ice cold floor in the kitchen. Why is creation would you advertise a four season RV with the arctic package and not bother to seal up a hole about 1 foot square or so???

Typical Forest River. Oh BTW they also ran the water line for the ice maker in the fridge outside of the frame exposed so it froze and broke. Arctic Package??? Really??

[SeaDog]

I believe what folks think an arctic package is and what the MFG thinks and arctic package are two different things. From what I can gather the difference between an arctic package and standard package is tank heaters. Don't quote me I may be wrong just my observation.
Seems like a easy fix now you know the problem

[5picker]

Yep, 'Arctic' package is very misleading and IMHO a marketing ploy only.

R/V's are simply not constructed to be 'Arctic' dwellings.
And ALL manufacturers I've owned/looked at, make a hole 10 times bigger than what will go through it and never seal it up.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Yep, 'Arctic' package is very misleading and IMHO a marketing ploy only.

R/V's are simply not constructed to be 'Arctic' dwellings.
And ALL manufacturers I've owned/looked at, make a hole 10 times bigger than what will go through it and never seal it up.

Here's what's even more frustrating about this... the OP is talking about a "Texas" cold spell... most of the nation wouldn't even describe this as cold, much less "arctic".

[Rich5117]

I feel ya, had to drop underbelly to fix some valves, the insulation job was so poor that I added a complete roll of foil faced insulation before replacing the underbelly.

Forest River test their Arctic package to 0 degrees F. Think other post might be correct, that Arctic Package might give you that warm fuzzy feeling when you buy it, but it sure does not give you the warm cozy feeling once you have it.

[DangerD]

Agree with all who say Artic package is marketing hype not reality. We are living full time in Northern CA and many drafts, insulation where? would take multiple post to list each leak, lack of insulation etc...
As far as furnace intake as post describes, we have a 2017 3456RL and beneath the hutch is where the intake is located and get this its on the floor and no filter or screen of any sort so God forbid if anything gets sucked into that intake and gets torched by the running heater! Talked with FR about this and they said its by design and I can fix it which I did and the rest of the leaks. Sad response yes! and poor quality build.
But you own it now so you can either take it to the shop for the next few months or grab some spray foam, insulation, foam cord etc... and spend the next month weather proofing.
Welcome to the wonderful world of RV ownership, $0.02