RV Furnace

There are a few different types of RV furnaces available. One of which is propane Furnaces. Propane works by using oxygen because it burns and emits moisture as a by-product of the combustion. Standard RV propane furnaces use a substantial blower process to herald exterior, oxygen-abundant air. Consequently, they vent the moist, oxygen-depleted air from In the rig to the surface. Circulating the air this way retains the oxygen quantity during the air fairly regular and significantly lessens the condensation rate in the insides of the Home windows, as the moisture will get blown outside together with the exhausted air.

Another type of RV furnace is vent-free propane heaters. Vent-free propane heaters are silent and provide heat without using any battery power. This is because they rely on you to give them fresh air: you have to crack open a window while they run. All US-made vent-free heaters are built with an internal oxygen sensor that shuts off the heater if the oxygen level in the room becomes too depleted. In addition, most RVs come equipped with an oxygen sensor and an LP detector that will sound alarms if the oxygen in the air drops too low or if an LP gas leak is detected. You may also need (or choose) to run a small fan to circulate the air. This will use some battery power, but you can decide how much or how little to use the fan.

So, in essence, when using a vent-free heater, you must find a happy balance between several variables. Determine which kind of heater will best suit your needs, figure out where to place it in the RV, which window(s) to crack open, and how often to run a fan (if at all), and if so, which kind of fan to use (a little DC fan, like one used in a computer, a large AC ceiling fan that will require an inverter or generator to run, or an optional blower fan that can be purchased with the heater).

Propane has a fixed capacity for providing heat. One gallon of propane contains 92,000 BTUs of potential heat, which means a 40,000 BTU RV furnace running full blast will burn through about a gallon of propane every two hours or so. During the coldest periods, it is a real pain in the neck to keep having to refill the propane tanks as you fly through propane trying to heat your rig.

Heat rises, so in 5th wheel campers the heat tends to gather in the bedroom. Simply close the door to the bedroom, or crack it slightly open to control the movement of the warm air into that space. Likewise, if you use a ceiling fan, you can experiment with moving it forward or backward, either to draw air up and move it out along the ceiling or to push the warm air down towards the floor. A smaller vent-free heater that burns less propane per hour can effectively heat a given space more quickly than a traditional RV furnace that is twice its size.

What is the Best Vent-Free Heater Type?

When opting for a vent-free propane heater, there are many products in the market. Ceramic and Catalytic heaters produce infrared radiant heat that heats objects close by just as the sun does. They form a warm, baking feeling on your skin, however if you move away that sensation fizzles out. The air in your room warms up gradually as the items in your room warm up.

All these heaters come in various sizes, from 5,000 up to 30,000 BTUs, that are good for heating up 100 square feet to 1,000 square feet. Tiny heaters can be hung on walls, while larger ones that look modest-sized in show rooms suddenly become huge heat sources dominating the floor area when you bring them home.

Blue flame heaters heat air, rather than objects in the room, giving an even, uniform warmth. Slowly, the objects in your room heat up as the temperature of air in the room rises.

Catalytic Infrared Heaters

Catalytic heaters were the first vent-free heaters. These heaters have been operational for years, and have a huge following. Catalytic heaters do not have thermostats, they just have a “high” and “low” setting, so you must switch them on and off or to low or high to control temperatures in the RV.

Catalytic heaters give infrared radiant heat using a large pad on the heater's surface. A chemical reaction occurring in the pad makes heat to radiate from the whole pad. If you happen to stand in front of the heater, your skin will have a nice baking sensation on it. The nearer you sit to the catalytic heater, the more you will bake.

You will require a brass elbow RV furnace part fitting for the catalytic heater installation. You may also need leg stands for the heater to stand on its two feet and you will also need a dust cover to guard the catalytic pads when the catalytic heater is not in use.

Ceramic Infrared Radiant Heaters

Ceramic (BRICK or PLAQUE) infrared heaters are a newer technology which has been warming RVs for some years. These are very popular units and are quite cheap. Most can be bought with a thermostat or without one. One major limitation of them is that the area in front of the bricks becomes hot enough to burn items. Any flammable products that come very close to the bricks may catch fire.

Ceramic heaters give identical infrared radiant heat like catalytic heaters. Across the heater's front there are tiny ceramic "plaques” or “bricks” that heat up to an orange/red color. The heat from the ceramic heater's bricks interacts with your skin as a result you will feel a tingly warmth.

Blue Flame Ceramic Heaters

Blue flame ceramic heaters are the latest technology and give a different type of heat than the ceramic and catalytic heaters. Rather than radiating heat, they operate through convection, drawing cool air in by use of vents at the heater's bottom and removing warm air from the vents in the heater's top. This is a heating technique that is much similar to central heating in a home. Once the temperature in the air has risen sufficiently, items warm up also. If you maintain your RV at warm temperatures all the time, the objects in your room will never become cold.

Blue flame heaters bring cool air in from the floor level by a series of vents at the heater's bottom, heat the air, and emit warm air out of vents located at the top, based on convection to move the air instead of employing a blower. You will be able to warm your body and hands by standing in front of a ceramic heater, however it is more of a warming feeling than a baking sensation. The area situated in front of the heater's blue flame is filled up by fireproof glass (ceramic material) and it isn't burning hot. So, there isn't a danger of items in front of the Blue flame heater catching fire. These heaters are good for people with children or pets.

Portable Heaters

If you don’t desire to struggle with putting up a dedicated gas line for vent-free propane heaters in your RV, you can choose to get a portable heater instead. Portable vent-less heaters are infrared radiant heaters with plaques that have air intake vents situated at the bottom for convection. They have built-in blowers which run on 6 volt a/c adapter or on 4D batteries. Portable vent-less heaters are very popular.

If you choose to run the Portable vent-less heater from a huge propane tank instead of the small propane canisters, they have a companion adjustable gas hose with a regulator in addition to quick release connector on it suited for that purpose.

They come in various sizes ranging from 4,000 to 18,000 BTU. Portable vent-less heaters are run on the tiny Coleman style portable propane canisters however they can also be fixed to a bigger BBQ style propane tank.

RV Furnace Accessories

Thermostat

Usually this choice costs $30-$50, and is worth the cost if you seek to stay in your RV for long durations. A manually controlled heater may have various heat settings (usually three), however you will require to monitor the room's heat and adjust the heat settings as you become cooler or warmer. A thermostatically adjusted heater will oscillate on and off as the thermostat's sensor detects differences in temperature.

The thermostat has an analog dial that may spin from “1” to “5" arbitrary numbers as opposed to fixed Fahrenheit degree markers. Once you discover how “1 1/4” or “2 1/2” connects to temperature, you can maintain the room's temperature tightly controlled by moving the dial to the setting needed. This is especially good if you require to keep the heater switched on all night, because the RV's temperature will remain fixed while the exterior temperature drops.

Blower

Majority of vent-less gas heaters may be bought with an optional blower. One you begin blowing the air close to the RV, you are pushing to use the batteries to have the rig warm, which is actually what the vent-free solution was seeking to avoid. Nevertheless, the power usage should be less than of a furnace. A variety of blowers are thermostatically controlled, permitting them to oscillate on and off as required. This is effective, as the batteries and the blower won’t be in use each time the heater is switched on. Instead of a built-in blower, most people choose to install a tiny DC fan which consumes little power. A ceiling fan in your rig, may also be an option, however it will need the generator or inverter to be switched on.

Feet

Most heater units are made to be put on a wall, most also have a stand so they can be put on the floor. Most tiny heater units incorporate the feet as an alternative while most bigger heater units come fitted with the feet at no additional charge. The great benefit to hanging a heater unit on the wall is it is always available, ready for use. In case you use your RV in all four seasons, it is good to realize that if you suddenly get yourself in a chilly place, you can easily move the switch and have the unit working for you, instead of digging it off the back of the closet. The Camco Manufacturing inc Leg Stands F/Olympian are a great choice of RV Furnace parts for your RV Furnace.

The benefit of having the RV unit standing on its two feet is that you are able to move it around the heater's rig. This is typically true if you don’t incorporate a fan to move warm air around the rig. You need to make sure you have a lot of flexible gas hose in case you go this route, as a result you get maximum range for putting the heater in various spots in the rig.