I haven't picked up the new Scamp yet so I can't get inside of it and see how this works, but can someone tell me if the propane heater will work without the blower on, thus saving battery charge when boondocking? Thanks. Anthony
Sun, 06/11/2017 - 16:34
#1
propane heater with blower question!
Once you turn on the furnace the blower has to be going and activate a sail switch for ignition. The blower continues to run after the burner shuts down for a while until the furnace cools down a little. Scamp uses a NT 16 SE Suburban Furnace. The Atwood used in Casita's operate the same way. You can download the Suburban manual off the net if you want to read up on the unit. I think the fan draws 2.3 amps.
Eddie
Eddie
If you look at the design of the furnace, you will realize that the blower serves two purposes. First, it acts as a fan to circulate warm air into the camper. Additionally, it acts as a blower to provide air that feeds the Propane flame and circulates the hot air into the heat exchanger and forces the exhaust gases out of the flue.
To minimize your battery use when boondocking, you could use a small ceramic (or catalytic heater) like the Mister Buddy Heater in the evening before you go to bed. Thereby, you would only be using your furnace during the time you are actually sleeping.
You don't want to use these "portable type" heaters while you are sleeping for safety reasons.
Also, if you do use this portable type of heater, you want to be sure to open a window or vent to provide fresh air for combustion.
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
Got it. Thank you for the explanation!
Anthony Memoli
Is it to late to add the heat strip to the air conditioner? That allows you to heat without using your gas and battery when not boondocking, and plugged into the campground. Or do you always boondock?
Well, our Scamp is being built right now. We have always tented. We have no experience in an RV area, but know that we like the solitude of a tenting spot, away from the big rigs, so we thought boondocking would be a nice compromise. What would really be nice would be a tenting spot with electricity. That is one of the reasons we wanted the 13 foot Scamp, it will fit in a smaller tenting area. Living in the northeast, we decided we didn't need the air conditioner, so did not order it.
Anthony Memoli
My research has shown that adding the heat strip is only useful for taking the chill out of the air (plus, you have the noise of the fan) in cool weather only.
The heat strip is not hot enough to heat the camper when it is cold outside.
My solution was to simply buy a Honeywell Electric Cube Heater which we only use while we are awake. We rely on the Furnace to keep us warm while we are sleeping. Again, this is for our safety !!!
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
That blower noise can be helpful in masking the sounds of barking dogs, babies crying, generators, and million dollar motorhomes running to warm up for an hour while the owner eats breakfast. But you can get that from the built-in gas heat as well. And yes, I do carry a small electric cube also. I carried 3 in my 5th wheel, one for each room.
Yes, I agree! We will be looking for a small electric cube heater!
Anthony Memoli
This thread brings up an interesting question...
Is it worth the effort to use an alternate heat source (electric) when camping???
I think the answer depends on how cold it is outside and how much effort you want put into avoiding the use of your Propane Furnace.
Certainly when boondocking it is worth every effort to minimize the drain on your battery by using a non-powered heat source like a Mr. Buddy Heater.
However, if you are plugged into the power pedestal, is it worth all the effort to avoid using the onboard Propane Furnace just to save fifty cents worth of Propane?
Granted, if it is really cold outside, and you are camping for a week or more, you would use up quite a bit of Propane, But, on-the-other-hand, if it is just a little bit chilly outside maybe it is better to just relax and use your onboard Furnace.
After All; we are all out camping for the Relaxation !!!!
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!