# Furnace On While Towing???



## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

In late Feb, we plan to de-winterize (we're in Baltimore, MD) and tow to Myrtle Beach for a 1/2 Marathon. We then plan to drive back and will hook up the power to our house during March until the threat of frost is gone. I have dual propane tanks and a not-far-away propane dealer so refills are easy.

Can we have the propane furnace and blower on during towing? It's quite likely to be very cold (not like Alberta, of course--grin!) but we'd like to not eat dinner, and go to bed, in a really cold trailer. The thought of crawling into a cold bed gives me the willies. The 268RL has a full underbody panel on it so the ducts, pipes etc., are enclosed, but with a 50 - 60 mph wind from towing, it'll get cold under the floor...

Safety issues? Any opinions?

Thanks!!


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## Hanson (Jul 27, 2009)

Im not an expert by any means, but I "think" when you consider the ouside temp on the plumbing, windchill should not be a factor. The reason I belive that is windchill is based on "skin feel" and I dont think it will have any other effects. Again, I could very well be wrong. Mine too has the underbelly covered, and I would assume that some heat would escape the living area into the underbelly. The only affect of the wind while driving should be sucking out the warm air.


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## ftwildernessguy (Oct 12, 2009)

The furnace is not designed to be used while in motion. It really won't take long to warm up the trailer when you get to your campsite.


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## Camping Fan (Dec 18, 2005)

ftwildernessguy said:


> The furnace is not designed to be used while in motion. It really won't take long to warm up the trailer when you get to your campsite.


X2. It really doesn't take long to heat up the trailer with the furnace, and you can speed things up even more if you use a small ceramic space heater too. You could also think about using an electric blanket to get the bed nice and toasty.


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## bbwb (Apr 4, 2008)

Agree with both of the previous posts above..."wind chill" only affects humans/animals, not inanimate objects. I would also believe that the wind blowing over the exhaust and vent might cause an abnormal burn within the furnace. The trailer will heat up fast once you land in the campsite. We also supplement the heating with a ceramic electric heater to save our propane.
bbwb


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

We have camped on the way back from Florida and stopped in NC to sleep and when we stopped and turned the furnace on it was plenty warm in their in 10 minutes. By the time the family walked to the truck stop and back the camper was totally warm. I don't think you can tow with the furnace on, I would imagine it would blow the flame out. Its not the same as a fridge and probably not very safe. Just make sure you have a good battery so you dont loose power and heat in the middle of the night. One night with a good battery and you will be fine. Thats the main reason we use duel 6V batts, to keep the heat on all night and power the water pump and lights.


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

If the temp is going to be below freezing while you tow then I can see a concern for freezing some of the more exposed pipes. The best thing for that would be to leave it winterized while you tow then flush the lines when you are there. For your way back you could rewinterize again if the temp is going to be below freezing.

As others have said the furnace warms it up very quickly and an electric heater helps to offset the propane once warmed up.

I have towed with the furnace on by mistake and it worked OK but was only for a short time when we stopped for another reason then shut it off. I am not sure but I think some motor homes can run the furnace while traveling. I don't see the engine being able to keep a large cabin warm throughout on very cold days. Maybe some others can comment on this.

Good luck with the marathon!!


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## Dub (Dec 8, 2008)

I've towed with the furnace on as well as the A/C with a generator running on the bumper of my old TT. We were only driving an hour away and thought I'd give it a try...people with Class A's do it all the time and some of them have the same furnace as a TT so I thought why not? Works great, nothing like stopping and while I'm setting up the camper the wife and kid are warm inside. I wouldn't recommend pulling into a gas station with it turned on....


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

bbwb said:


> Agree with both of the previous posts above..."wind chill" only affects humans/animals, not inanimate objects. I would also believe that the wind blowing over the exhaust and vent might cause an abnormal burn within the furnace. The trailer will heat up fast once you land in the campsite. We also supplement the heating with a ceramic electric heater to save our propane.
> bbwb


Again, the furnace isn't designed to be on while towing. Most likely if it would work on battery only, going down the road would blow out the flame and could bring about a dangerous condition.

Even though you are correct that "wind Chill" affects humans, it also does effect other objects. What wind chill is, is the air removing heat faster from an object, whether it is a human or an object. Any object gets cold because it losses heat and it will loss heat faster with an increase in flow of the cold air. Just like it super cools the skin, it will also super cool objects, that is why a body of water will freeze over faster with a cold winter wind blowing as it would on a equally cold sunny day, and that is why people put skirting around their trailers to protect the bottom from the cold wind, not just the cold. So Yes it will be cold in the camper. You might be smart to blow out the water lines before towing towards the north just to be safe.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Lmbevard said:


> Even though you are correct that "wind Chill" affects humans, it also does effect other objects. What wind chill is, is the air removing heat faster from an object, whether it is a human or an object. Any object gets cold because it losses heat and it will loss heat faster with an increase in flow of the cold air. Just like it super cools the skin, it will also super cool objects, that is why a body of water will freeze over faster with a cold winter wind blowing as it would on a equally cold sunny day, and that is why people put skirting around their trailers to protect the bottom from the cold wind, not just the cold. So Yes it will be cold in the camper. You might be smart to blow out the water lines before towing towards the north just to be safe.


Yep, Heat transfer strikes again.








Forced Convection would be the technical term and yes it is much more effective for transferring heat than convection in a still fluid.









I have forgotten and left the furnace on, but I'm not sure if it ever ignited while I was towing.


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## bbwb (Apr 4, 2008)

Lmbevard said:


> Agree with both of the previous posts above..."wind chill" only affects humans/animals, not inanimate objects. I would also believe that the wind blowing over the exhaust and vent might cause an abnormal burn within the furnace. The trailer will heat up fast once you land in the campsite. We also supplement the heating with a ceramic electric heater to save our propane.
> bbwb


Again, the furnace isn't designed to be on while towing. Most likely if it would work on battery only, going down the road would blow out the flame and could bring about a dangerous condition.

Even though you are correct that "wind Chill" affects humans, it also does effect other objects. What wind chill is, is the air removing heat faster from an object, whether it is a human or an object. Any object gets cold because it losses heat and it will loss heat faster with an increase in flow of the cold air. Just like it super cools the skin, it will also super cool objects, that is why a body of water will freeze over faster with a cold winter wind blowing as it would on a equally cold sunny day, and that is why people put skirting around their trailers to protect the bottom from the cold wind, not just the cold. So Yes it will be cold in the camper. You might be smart to blow out the water lines before towing towards the north just to be safe.
[/quote]

Agree with the speed of the cool down but disagree with the wind making it colder. Using your theory, if I place an electic fan in my freezer that is set a -10F the air movement will make the temperature colder...nope, will only get to the ambient temperature. The windchill system was developed in WWII to give a "feels like" temperature comparison.

bbwb


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

bbwb said:


> Agree with both of the previous posts above..."wind chill" only affects humans/animals, not inanimate objects. I would also believe that the wind blowing over the exhaust and vent might cause an abnormal burn within the furnace. The trailer will heat up fast once you land in the campsite. We also supplement the heating with a ceramic electric heater to save our propane.
> bbwb


Again, the furnace isn't designed to be on while towing. Most likely if it would work on battery only, going down the road would blow out the flame and could bring about a dangerous condition.

Even though you are correct that "wind Chill" affects humans, it also does effect other objects. What wind chill is, is the air removing heat faster from an object, whether it is a human or an object. Any object gets cold because it losses heat and it will loss heat faster with an increase in flow of the cold air. Just like it super cools the skin, it will also super cool objects, that is why a body of water will freeze over faster with a cold winter wind blowing as it would on a equally cold sunny day, and that is why people put skirting around their trailers to protect the bottom from the cold wind, not just the cold. So Yes it will be cold in the camper. You might be smart to blow out the water lines before towing towards the north just to be safe.
[/quote]

Agree with the speed of the cool down but disagree with the wind making it colder. Using your theory, if I place an electic fan in my freezer that is set a -10F the air movement will make the temperature colder...nope, will only get to the ambient temperature. The windchill system was developed in WWII to give a "feels like" temperature comparison.

bbwb
[/quote]
Uh Oh, is this thread headed the way of the Airplane/Conveyor belt thread?!?!









Ok, evaporation of persperation allows your body to cool down below the ambient temperature, but that's Thermodynamics, not Heat Transfer!


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## bbwb (Apr 4, 2008)

Nathan said:


> Agree with both of the previous posts above..."wind chill" only affects humans/animals, not inanimate objects. I would also believe that the wind blowing over the exhaust and vent might cause an abnormal burn within the furnace. The trailer will heat up fast once you land in the campsite. We also supplement the heating with a ceramic electric heater to save our propane.
> bbwb


Again, the furnace isn't designed to be on while towing. Most likely if it would work on battery only, going down the road would blow out the flame and could bring about a dangerous condition.

Even though you are correct that "wind Chill" affects humans, it also does effect other objects. What wind chill is, is the air removing heat faster from an object, whether it is a human or an object. Any object gets cold because it losses heat and it will loss heat faster with an increase in flow of the cold air. Just like it super cools the skin, it will also super cool objects, that is why a body of water will freeze over faster with a cold winter wind blowing as it would on a equally cold sunny day, and that is why people put skirting around their trailers to protect the bottom from the cold wind, not just the cold. So Yes it will be cold in the camper. You might be smart to blow out the water lines before towing towards the north just to be safe.
[/quote]

Agree with the speed of the cool down but disagree with the wind making it colder. Using your theory, if I place an electic fan in my freezer that is set a -10F the air movement will make the temperature colder...nope, will only get to the ambient temperature. The windchill system was developed in WWII to give a "feels like" temperature comparison.

bbwb
[/quote]
Uh Oh, is this thread headed the way of the Airplane/Conveyor belt thread?!?!









Ok, evaporation of persperation allows your body to cool down below the ambient temperature, but that's Thermodynamics, not Heat Transfer!








[/quote]

Now my question is...if the airplane was on the conveyor, did the speed of the conveyor belt increase due to lack of friction/download of the plane?








bbwb


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## Dub (Dec 8, 2008)

Here you go, straight from the horses mouth: http://www.rvcomfort.com/suburban/service/furnaces_questions.php#Anchor-Question-43793

I called Dometic 574.294.2511 (option 0, transfer to customer support, tell them you are an RV owner, not dealer) who makes the boards for Suburban, and called Suburban (423) 775-2131 to see if they knew of anyone safely driving with them on. Both told me that people do drive with them on (as I have) but they cannot recommend it because of the open flame. I asked the rep at Dometic if they have ever heard of someone dying or their rig burning down because of it and she said no.

But like I said above, if you know anyone who owns a Class C or a Class A and has taken it somewhere in the winter...well, just like the front/engine A/C can't cool the entire rig, that same heater can't keep everyone warm either so people drive with their furnaces (same model as ours) all the time. There is a safety switch that if the flame goes out the gas valve shuts off (if it's working properly).


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## vtxbud (Apr 4, 2009)

I have towed many times with the furnace on-----NO problems.

We have extreme cold here, my neighbor heads to Arizona every January and tows with the furnace running. Prevents things from breaking inside the trailer. There is so much plastic in these units it makes sense to keep the frost off while the OB is swaying and bumping down the highway.

Safety TIP: Turn furnace off while re-fueling, otherwise one could experience a burst of heat that would far exceed what the furnace puts out !!!


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

bbwb said:


> Agree with both of the previous posts above..."wind chill" only affects humans/animals, not inanimate objects. I would also believe that the wind blowing over the exhaust and vent might cause an abnormal burn within the furnace. The trailer will heat up fast once you land in the campsite. We also supplement the heating with a ceramic electric heater to save our propane.
> bbwb


Again, the furnace isn't designed to be on while towing. Most likely if it would work on battery only, going down the road would blow out the flame and could bring about a dangerous condition.

Even though you are correct that "wind Chill" affects humans, it also does effect other objects. What wind chill is, is the air removing heat faster from an object, whether it is a human or an object. Any object gets cold because it losses heat and it will loss heat faster with an increase in flow of the cold air. Just like it super cools the skin, it will also super cool objects, that is why a body of water will freeze over faster with a cold winter wind blowing as it would on a equally cold sunny day, and that is why people put skirting around their trailers to protect the bottom from the cold wind, not just the cold. So Yes it will be cold in the camper. You might be smart to blow out the water lines before towing towards the north just to be safe.
[/quote]

Agree with the speed of the cool down but disagree with the wind making it colder. Using your theory, if I place an electic fan in my freezer that is set a -10F the air movement will make the temperature colder...nope, will only get to the ambient temperature. The windchill system was developed in WWII to give a "feels like" temperature comparison.

bbwb
[/quote]
Uh Oh, is this thread headed the way of the Airplane/Conveyor belt thread?!?!









Ok, evaporation of persperation allows your body to cool down below the ambient temperature, but that's Thermodynamics, not Heat Transfer!








[/quote]

Now my question is...if the airplane was on the conveyor, did the speed of the conveyor belt increase due to lack of friction/download of the plane?








bbwb
[/quote]








NO!NO! not the conveyor belt again! Doug-stop this before it gets a life of it's own....again!


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## OutbackBrat (Oct 13, 2009)

wish i would have known I could tow with it on. Wouldnt br freezing. -12 just south of lethbridge on my way back from utah to red deer.


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