Which model LP gas furnace is best, queiter and efficient?

[OP827]

Make sure you have some sort of fan to blow the hot air down from the ceiling. It doesn't take much of a fan (120mm PC fan is plenty) but it makes a huge difference. Otherwise you'll singe your eyebrows when you stand up and your feet will still be cold.

Bruce

I am thinking of adding a silent small fan or ducted cold air inlet to the furnace itself. I may provide for the mod possibility, but hold it until the trailer is campable and see whether it is required. I found that quite a few people on fiberglassrv and other forums liked this kind of "gravity" furnace for their TTT, when comparing to later forced air (suburban and atwood) units.

Just for the sake of experiment, I put a hair dryer fan in cold air slow mode and pointed it into the left lower corner of the furnace which has some free space for a potential small fan or an air supply duct inlet. That air reduced the temperature of the furnace cover grill and thus the coming out hot air. It was not as dramatic effect as in forced air furnace though, just a nice, soft hot air coming out the grill. It was coming rather down at an angle of the grill fins, rather than up when in a conventional "gravity" mode as they called it or more correctly a thermal convection mode. So, adding a small fan could be nice.

There is downside to almost any design. In case of this furnace, its front is bigger than of now common forced air units like suburban or atwood. Its size may not be suitable for every TTT arrangement and if there are small children (due to a hotter grill, but that can be addressed with a small fan as I mentioned above).

Apparently, the present days direct vent wall heaters are the same design idea, just newer technology with added features like wall thermostats.

Will see how this unit works for me. Thanks for your input.

Oleg

[bdosborn]

Oleg,

My trailer had a lot of air stratification, even though my furnace is fan ducted, because the Espar would throttle way back to a low level once it was warm inside. I added a couple of computer fans up high, one in the popup, which is the highest point of the trailer and one at the bunk that is hidden in the front cabinets. The fans blow air towards the floor. It made a would of difference, mixing the air enough that it wasn't hot up high, cold down low. The fans are 120mm PC type and draw very little current. BTW, Noctua is probably the best PC fan you buy right now, quiet at full speed and they include a 1/2 speed adapter to slow them down to just about silent. I just turn them on when the furnace is going and run them all night. My hunch is that you could do the same with good results, without having to use a thermostat or modify your furnace. I had an even worse problem in the teardrop when using an electric milk house heater, since it was so much smaller than our current trailer, but a circulating fan made all the difference in the world as well.

Bruce

[OP827]

Bruce,

I absolutely hear you on that and many thanks for the linky, I did not know about that fan.
Do you have some pictures of your PC fans setup?

Thanks!
Oleg

[bdosborn]

Here's the front fan, it's located in the bottom of the cabinet over the a/c. It pulls air in from the silver colored soffit vent and blows it straight down.


Here are the fans in the top, they're in a push-pull configuration:


Bruce

[OP827]

..Here are the fans in the top, they're in a push-pull configuration.

Bruce, thanks very much, your camper is looking great, as usual! Just to clarify, when you said "push-pull" above, does it mean that one fan pushes the air and another one is sucking the air, and there is a duct or void above that's connecting those fans for air movement?

Oleg

[bdosborn]

Bruce, thanks very much, your camper is looking great, as usual! Just to clarify, when you said "push-pull" above, does it mean that one fan pushes the air and another one is sucking the air, and there is a duct or void above that's connecting those fans for air movement?

I framed in a 14"x14" space for a future fantastic fan and covered the opening with 1/8" plywood. The fans and light are mounted on the plywood and there is a 1-3/4" space space under it.

Bruce

[OP827]

[Shadow Catcher]

I would never do an un-vented heater in a very confined space!
I have two alternatives for ours, An Espar diesel heater in a case


An alternative would be a Propex propane heatter http://www.propexheatsource.com/

Our water heater heater using the water from the water heater

[OP827]

I agree 100%, that is why this my build heater is now hydro flame BRC-10A, it is direct vented.
BTW, I really like your water heater^2. I do not have water heater in my build, otherwise I would go for it. What fan did you use for that?
Cheers,
Oleg

[Shadow Catcher]

The fan is a 100 mm case fan. I have two 80mm three speed Antec case fans in our vent. Two iterations with two tears. The tree speed fans work well and when heating we crack the vent just a bit and they hang far enough under to circulate both the heat and the cool from the AC.

[BC Dave]

Heres my 2 cents on a great quality heater with a good install by Gonefishing in the thread ref below. I had a bunch of pics a while ago but seem to have "edit" disappeared from my gallery ... oh there they are!

Dickinson 9000 btu direct vent propane is the nicest option. Depending on chimney length it can be overly warm; but you just open a window; insulating is the other part of the equation ...

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=56858&start=45#p1105230

Gonefishing I'm glad to see your getting good use out of your heater....

caution first ...anything ....around the heater or chiminy hose; or has a chance of contacting / falling on it or combustible materials close to any hot part; you should carefully assess for combustibility; oh and yes the outdoor bell housing can be burning hot too ...peoples seems to want to touch it and burn there fingers ...lol.

...read the manufactures install manual in detail and do as it says. Check for and with with DOt for propane hoses, tank and heater specs ...I'm no expert - better safe than sorry.

I liked the stove so much I bought used larger one (12000 btu I think off hand) for a coach house that Im taking my time building.

Even with a window cracked it can be too warm; plus it allows fresh air; I have a electrical service now so I run a electric oil heater on low at night; keeps it warm enough in cold weather, and use the propane when I really want to warm things up.

Last time I used it as I was closing up the coach house for the winter season; it was wet snow; -5 c about 25F ... but I was toasty warm at 8:30 after dinner in the dark on No16 in the snow at 3600 ft elevation ... best spendy dollars I've ever spent.

[StuckIntheCity]

I installed a Propex HS2000 in my 5x10 conversion. The contained area thats being heated is only 7'x5'x5' high but the furnace works like a charm. It is relatively quite and in a bigger trailer installed far from where your head will be when sleeping you wouldn't notice the noise. It seems to be very efficient though my trailer is pretty well insulated. It is direct vented to the outside and runs on 12V power (just to run the fan). The unit is tiny and install was easy, I'd do it again in an instant. I got a great deal on eBay on a used unit but I think they are a bit spendy, otherwise I would have no hesitation to go with the propex.

[OP827]

I installed a Propex HS2000 in my 5x10 conversion. The contained area thats being heated is only 7'x5'x5' high but the furnace works like a charm. It is relatively quite and in a bigger trailer installed far from where your head will be when sleeping you wouldn't notice the noise. It seems to be very efficient though my trailer is pretty well insulated. It is direct vented to the outside and runs on 12V power (just to run the fan). The unit is tiny and install was easy, I'd do it again in an instant. I got a great deal on eBay on a used unit but I think they are a bit spendy, otherwise I would have no hesitation to go with the propex.

I agree that Propex heater has probably one of the best compact package technology so far on propane, but the price is high, especially if the heater is going to be used only a few times a year. Webasto and such look like another best in a very small package, but for diesel fuel option.