Running furnace off battery power

[stevebaz]

Originally Posted by Gerry

Wow only 4 or 8 time a night will the furnace come on.?.
When winter camping in the White Mountains of NH and the temps down to the single digits my furnace will turn on about once every 2 minutes threw-out the night.
I have a 79 Boler 13 so it doesn't take long to heat up but it sure does cool down fast too.
Even after insulation was put on floor 2 nights was max.
The fan does tell the gas valve to turn on but it takes power also to turn gas valve on.
With a week battery I will hear fan run... then when gas valve tries to turn on, the fan will slow down but still run.

How often the heater runs has a variable difference on where the thermostat is located. I set my thermostat at 70 or so and the trailer starts cooling down pretty quickly but the thermostat is mounted on the cabinet next to where the heater is located so the whole trailer gets up to 70 or slightly higher before the thermostat registers shut off temperature. then the trailer starts cooling down and the last thing in the trailer that cools down is the thermostat hanging in the inner cabinet. So the actual temperature swings in the trailer are far greater than they appear on the thermostat. Using the digital thermostat instead of the mechanical magnetic thermostat that came with the furnace greatly improved the operation of the furnace. Another thing to consider camping in the desert where we do day time temps are in the 70 degrees or so and dropping to a low in the 30's or so its not the same as being 30 or below all day long. 2-1/2, 98 degree heaters (2 people and a dog) in a 6 X 10 foot space helps some with the heat too. I don't know the BTU rating for people.

[Gerry]

I found that the new White&Rogers t-stat only has a differential of about 7 degrees I would like to have it more like 15 but there is no way to adjust it.
I do have the thermostat mounted high on the wall so temps up there are a bit warmer then where we are sleeping.
With a digital can you adjust the differential?

[stevebaz]

Read the installation manual. My thermostat has 2 options one about a 2 degree swing and another with a courser swing. There is a wire loop on my thermostat you cut to have the courser setting.

[Gerry]

Thanks Steve I will have to check but if I can not find the paper, just how much of a courser swing will it give. Is it calibrated?

[stevebaz]

On my Thermostat I believe it doubled the swing. I don't have my paperwork with me so I cant be exact. Your biggest change is where your thermostat is mounted and how much radiated heat you get from the thermal mass the thermostat is mounted too. You don't want the thermostat mounted in the direct line of fire from the heater as it will shut off too soon. You want the thermostat at the same level you sleep at since you are trying to keep yourself more comfortable. My Attwood II is twice the heater the trailer needs I wish it was smaller so the trailer would have more time to soak up heat rather than just heating open air and shutting off very rapidly.

[Jon Vermilye]

The wire you are cutting is a heat anticipator. Some mechanical thermostats have adjustable ones, others a choice of on or off (cut). It is a little heater that, by warming the bi metallic strip, determines the on/off cycle. Removing it should increase the cycling time.

Many electronic thermostats use the equivalent, although a timer rather than a heater to save battery power. One problem - the instructions often have you choose the setting by heat source type rather than a delay time. Experimenting with the settings is the best way to go if you want to establish your own cycling time.

In some cases, the setting on electronic thermostats is a number that corresponds to the number of cycles per hour. A tutorial.

[herons]

Originally Posted by floyd

Unless you meant 5 degrees Centigrade I think your two hours a day (5 minutes per hour) is pretty incredible!

At 5 degrees Faherheit the windows let in more cold than a reffer unit on a Monfort truck! At any rate covering the windows helps a lot!
BTW... I wish I had one of those "degree" symbols on my keyboard!
If it IS there I don't how to find it.

ALT 0954 is the degree symbol. Hold down the ALT key and type in 0954. You will get a nice little º

[stude]

Originally Posted by Peter S. in Iowa

Hi all,

Will be taking off on a mostly boondocking trip in mid-October. Given the time of year, we are expecting chilly nights, which brings me to my question:
How much usage can I expect from running the furnace when needed solely on battery power? I have a Scamp 19 foot fifth wheel with one group 24 battery and will likely set the furnace at about 50 degrees or so. I will also be using a Mr. Buddy to warm up the interior before turning in for the night.
Thanks all. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

ell unless you can keep your batteries charged all night you will only get the fan up and running to push the heat into your trailer. Better to plug in and use a electric heater especially if she goes below -20*F I have managed that temperature but you do not want to come out from under the covers as it will take forever to get warm again. When we camped at that temperature we were in Manning Park early November, snow and ice on the ground and I had to go in the Worst way, so I got out and dressed warmly as I could Lifted the lid on the FG Canopy, hustled about 300' to a Porta Potti with a Plastic seat, Brrrrr,
I cannot understand why they do not use wood seats in this weather way warmer. Did my thing and headed back and slipped on a ice patch in the dark, I though I had broke me back, I lay there and moaned and groaned for a bit knowing no one was going to hear me at 4AM. I managed to get back to the truck on my hands and knees climbed back in and my wife did not want me in there with her but I had to get warm so I said either I come in or I steal all the blankets. she decided letting me in was the best choice. As we had a Spare 12V battery hooked up to a electric heater I turned the heater on and put it between the blankets with us until the fan would not run any longer. It warmed us and some of the air around us. I turned it off and snuggled down and was good till around 10aM the next morning. (we were sitting around 5500') when we got to hope the 2" of ice that formed on the fenders and hood had melted off as now around 1200'
Stude

[k0wtz]

I have an A-Liner I have camped in 20d wx the A-Liner is a real drafty camper nothing like the Scamp. Our solution we got a Wave 3 heater yes I know open the windows slightly for ventilation did that but believe me the camper has plenty of draft going.

I wouldn't ever consider using a battery for the furnace in that sort of wx wind blowing 40mph also. We were comfy thoug!