Furnace in Scamp - is it safe?

[ShelleyZen]

Hi, my husband is pretty safety conscious - which I'm very happy about, but I'm wondering if other Scamp owners do this: do you unscrew the furnace cover every night and switch the gas off, or just switch the thermostat down to off until the morning?

[steve dunham]

I run my furnace at night . I sleep at night and that's when the temps are usually the coolest . Living in Northern Wisconsin our house furnace is on 24/7 ,8 months of the year and it is of no concern except for the gas bill. Since trailer furnaces take in outside air for combustion , carbon monoxide should not be an issue and you could add a CO detector if you are concerned . It was 41 Deg F here last Saturday morning so heat is a necessary luxury in our part of the country

[Byron Kinnaman]

There's millions of RV with furnaces in them. A pretty large majority run the furnaces when it's cold day or night. Mine gets set to 55° every night. Sometimes it runs because it's cold enough sometimes it doesn't. We've been in 5° lows where the furnace ran most of the night.

If the furnace wasn't safe there's wouldn't be many RV left.

Don't worry about and use as needed. If your concerned add a smoke detector and a CO detector to the trailer.

[cpaharley2008]

if you want, just turn off the propane at the tank, that should take care of all the safety issues.

[stevebaz]

When I camp I turn on the propane bottle and remove the cover and turn on the master switch. After that I use the thermostat it has an on and off switch in addition to the temperature slide setting. I only turn on the thermostat when needed and turn off the thermostat when I leave. no need to run the heater when you not there as the heater is instant warm up when you turn it on. Its alot of overkill in Btu's than are really needed. When I am done camping and going home I shut off the master switch and the propane bottle until the next trip. I fear the electric cube heater more than I do the furnace.

[Kevin K]

Safe YES
Quiet NO

[Mike Magee]

I ask myself, is it safe to run a furnace in my home? (furnaces anywhere can malfunction and gas anywhere can leak, after all.) Then I go to sleep, and I sleep soundly.

In other words, I don't worry!

[Cyndi B.]

Kevin K's got it right! You can't be a light sleeper. It wakes me up when it kicks on then I wake my husband up when I finally land back in bed. We use electric heaters when hooked up to electric.

[Ice-breaker]

It is much easier to get used to and sleep through a little furnace noise than it is to try to sleep when you are too cold.

Of course I have spent my entire life living in climates where the furnace running at night (and during the day time) provides you with that warm fuzzy feeling that everything is alright.

Do any of you who have grown up with air conditioners have the same problem with too much noise to sleep with the a/c on?

[cpaharley2008]

By the way Shelley, welcome to FGRV.......

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I ask myself, is it safe to run a furnace in my home? (furnaces anywhere can malfunction and gas anywhere can leak, after all.) Then I go to sleep, and I sleep soundly.

In other words, I don't worry!

Well said, Mike.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Cyndi B.

Kevin K's got it right! You can't be a light sleeper. It wakes me up when it kicks on then I wake my husband up when I finally land back in bed. We use electric heaters when hooked up to electric.

Sometime it is a blessing to be hard of hearing plus I snore so loud my wife says she never hears the furnace . Everything is good

[Cyndi B.]

Steve:

Yes. Sometimes I have to poke my husband in the ribs more then the furnace comes on.

[Donna D.]

Hi Shelley, to FiberglassRV, we're glad you're here

I'm always hooked up, never run the LOUD Suburban furnace... prefer the quiet electric cube. But I don't do that due to a fear factor.

A propane furance is just like everything else in these trailers, it's a maintenance issue. Take care of it and it will provide you years of safe warmth.

[lamimartin]

Originally Posted by ShelleyZen

Hi, my husband is pretty safety conscious - which I'm very happy about, but I'm wondering if other Scamp owners do this: do you unscrew the furnace cover every night and switch the gas off, or just switch the thermostat down to off until the morning?

If you are talking of an integrated propane furnace with outside vent there is no reason to worry if the installation and maintenance is OK. Such furnace keep the exhaust cool by sucking air from outside and reject the burned gas outdoor by the middle part of the exhaust pipe. The interior air of the RV is heated by circulating around the combustion chamber. Unless there is a hole in the combustion chamber exhaust gas never get in touch with the RV air.

You could simply have your furnace installation inspected for leaks and proper installation, open sligntly two windows to expell your own breathing gases and prevent condensation and have a warm and quiet night of sleep.

Portable furnaces without an exterior exhaust are dangerous to run at night without significant ventilation, but permanent installations prevent such risk and should help protect a good night of sleep.

[Darwin Maring]

Install a carbon monoxide / propane detector and B safe.

[RogerDat]

Modern RV furnace has a cut off if the pilot goes out to prevent the pilot light gas from leaking, a low oxygen sensor in case the burner uses up too much of the available oxygen so pretty safe overall.

Some folks that don't like the noise install catalytic heaters that just produce radiant heat without a blower. Several threads on it, use the forum google search and you should find some.

Me I figure if it's maintained and UL listed it's safer than driving on the roads to get to the campsite.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Almost every RV on the road or in storage has a similar furnace. I don't hear a lot in the news about RV's burning up or people being killed because of an RV furnace. Even less than you hear of space heaters burning down houses. I think I'll use my built in furnace and shun the space thing.

[redheadkelly]

Curious about the fact the heater in the 13' foot Scamp is right next to the bed. It doesn't feel safe to fall asleep with the blankets that close to a running heater. Any thoughts on that aspect of it?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Ya! Every Scamp that's been built in the past 40 years has burned up...

Not really. I did a temperature profile on and around the furnace. I couldn't find anyplace that was close to even paper ignition temperatures. In fact there was only spot behind the grill that got hot enough to burn flesh. I think the hottest was around 145°F.

We've had our Scamp for 10 Years and camp year around. The coldest was 5°F.

I haven't heard of anybody having problems with it in the manner you're concerned about.