Propane Heater?

[homeless]

I have a 2000 Suncruser with basement air that I love. I have a gas funerance that I hate. Problem is I don't want the gas funerance to come on at all at anytime. How can I simply cut it out of the system?

[Ranger Smith]

Just disconnect the 12v power to it and it should never come on again.

[Morich]

Much will depend on the what and why of not wanting the furnace. If it smell, then electric is about the only other good option. But if it is the fan noise, it may be harder to avoid and still get the whole RV heated.
My personal thing is to not hear the heat and that drives me more toward electric but not fan forced. I've not fully solved my problem but the convection panel heaters are looking good, but still under study as I have a small RV and limited wall space other than behind the couch where I'm not sure I want the heat coming up my neck!
So what part is bugging you?

[al1florida]

Is the problem when you use the heat pump to warm the RV? If so, just set the thermostat about 2-3 degrees above the room temp. When it warms up a couple of degrees, bump the thermostat up 2 degrees.

Generally if you run the thermostat 4 or more degrees above the temp displayed on the LED readout the gas furnace will come on to supplement the heat pump. Also if the thermostat detects that the heat pump is not warming the RV well enough it will turn on the furnace.

There may be a fuse or CB you and pull to cut off just the gas furnace.

[NeilV]

Originally Posted by homeless

I have a 2000 Suncruser with basement air that I love. I have a gas funerance that I hate. Problem is I don't want the gas funerance to come on at all at anytime. How can I simply cut it out of the system?

Do you have the heat pump option or just the standard basement air? If you have the standard basement air just don't switch the thermostat to heat and the furnace will never come on.

Personally my propane furnace works fine on my 2001 Adventurer even up in the White Mountains when temperatures are in the single digits. What is it about the furnace that you hate? Its a pretty reliable, quiet and odorless system that works well for many, many thousands of RV'ers being a well proven and simple design.

If its in need of repair I would simply fix it so it will work reliably as intended.

You can on the standard system just disconnect the thermostat wire going to the furnace or disconnect the 12 volt power feed to the furnace itself. If you have the heat pump then you'll have the heat stop working once it gets close to freezing out if you defeat the gas furnace making it so you'll need to watch the outside temperature and set out space heaters when it gets cold out.

[Jim_HiTek]

NeilV really covered it well.

Only thing to add maybe is that the TrueAir thermostat has a single wire in the connector that if cut would prevent the gas furnace from operating. It's shown in the heat pump operators guide book. Would be easier than trying to pull the furnace out.

Here's a drawing for the connector going to the furnace from the TrueAir thermostat...assuming you have that...

Schematic for furnace power...

[09 harley]

The fuse is the easiest solution. You don’t want to eliminate it for resale value. Always pick the simple solution.

[HappiHenri]

I agree with NeilV. I live in a 2005 38' Adventurer, and these past few months we have had to use heat quite a bit. If on shore power or on generator, and if >40F, will use the basement HVAC heat pump for heat. If not on 120v or colder will use the propane furnace, which gives out a ton of heat very quickly - though it does use up propane.

So why do you not want to run your propane furnace? Ours is fairly quiet and heats well. The other function of the furnace in Winnebagos is that it will also direct some heat down into the bays which have water supplies (piping or tanks) so if the outside temp falls below freezing this heat will help protect your water system from freezing as well. The heat pump does not.

[NeilV]

Henri that is a good point about no longer having a heated basement when you defeat the propane furnace.

With the propane furnace the usual issue will be from lack of use and not dealing with mud daubers who may build nests in the exterior vent ports to the combustion chamber. If you do not cycle the unit occasionally the bearings on the blower can get sticky however this is true of most any other mechanical device.

The simple solution is to use the furnace a few times a year to keep the parts moving freely and to occasionally take a shop vac out to clean out anything that's gotten into the vent ports.