Propane heater on 2018 View 24V not adequate

[Dougherzog]

I have a 2018 View 24V and noticed if the outside temperature is around freezing, the gas heater warms the cab to about 60F, that's it. Is this what I should expect or am I doing something wrong? Electric heat pump works down to about 36F, but it's noisy. It seems the gas should heat more than it does. Please comment. Thanks a lot. Doug H.

[Winterbagoal]

I din't think the View/Navion units are really built for cold weather camping. I assume you're using the propane furnace (gas heater?) to try to warm up the interior? I think we've used ours maybe once or twice to help out the shore power/electric fan heaters when we were in Yuma 2 years ago, when it was unusually cold. As I recall it did fine. Are the furnace vents/register louvres open and can you feel warm air coming through? They're all located at floor level (the A/C ducts are at ceiling level), you'll have to look around for them and make sure they're functional.

[Dougherzog]

Thanks. The vents do put out heat. We have added an electric space heater that does really help. I think you answered correctly when you said the Views just don't have great gas heaters.

[Winterbagoal]

I actually meant the Views or Navions overall aren't built for cold weather camping, but our furnace does a decent job, for a price. We were using the electric heaters because we were paying for the power anyway at a campground. The once or twice we've used the furnace standalone, we had it set to come on when the cabin temp hit 55F, which was usually early morning, in the Michigan UP on Lake Superior. It warmed up the cabin very quickly, although it's loud. You could spend a lot of money on propane in cold weather, and the holdng tank heaters (if you have them) pull a lot of power, so they aren't really that useful either. It's a small pet peeve of mine, that they didn't enclose and insulate the belly of the motorhome better. My Roadtrek and Sunstar were both much better in cold weather than the Navion, but we didn't plan on hitting close to freezing temps in Yuma in February.

[Seymour2Lane]

On our 2016 View 24V the LPG furnace is located under the driver side twin bed. We have found that the heat vent in the galley toe-kick does not evenly heat the front of the cabin. I found the duct had been crushed (when built?) where it passes under the lower galley drawer. It's now a little better but still has a weaker airflow than the other vents. We have found that on really cold nights we keep the bathroom door open for more even heating. On really, really cold nights we leave the slide in.
We always use an electric space heater when plugged in.
FYI, The ducted vent coming out of the driver side bed has an adjusting knob- on is full flow or, turned off it redirects the air to the wet bay.
Regards, Mike

[Elkman]

There is not the space for a lot of insulation or any for the most part with most RVs. I saw a 4-season 5th wheel that had very thick walls and lots of insulation but it was the rare exception.

One or two small space heaters makes a lot of sense to conserve propane will on shore power and with two of them there is better heat distribution in the motorhome. For the most part we make use of the ability to drive the RV to get to warmer weather locations and elevations in the winter and cooler areas in the summer.

[rprochnow]

We've used our 2021 View 24D multiple times in freezing temperatures.

I was in Galveston during the Texas winter storm - with temperatures down to 20 degrees overnight and below freezing for 48 hours. And our gas heater was able to keep the temperature inside at a comfortable level (though I did burn through the propane pretty quickly with the gas heater running a lot!).

We've also had several trips with overnight freezing temperatures, including to the mid-teens, and the gas heater has been able to keep the coach above 70 degrees.

Our electric heater does struggle when the outside temperatures are below 40 - and when we have the electric heater struggling and running continuously, we'll switch to gas - which will shutoff periodically.

When we're parked with freezing temperatures, we'll have the shades on the front windows (which will fog up and possibly freeze on the inside if it's really cold).

The coach door can be a source of cold air coming into the coach. The new doors on the recent models appear to have difficulty completely sealing. As a temporary solution, I added insulation strips along the rubber molding to eliminate the air gaps - and that helped keep the coach warmer by stopping the flow of cold air into the coach. Though there is still some cold air coming in from the steps (likely the battery compartment).

Another step we take in very cold weather is to close the shower door. The skylight over the shower cools the air. Since colder air is heavier, it drops from the skylight downward and by closing the shower door, it traps a lot of that cold air into the shower.

We get pretty good hot air distribution from the floor vents, though it will be a little cooler at the front (in our 24D) because the coach door and chassis cabin areas are bringing in some cold air.

But overall, we've been pleasantly surprised at how well our View works in cold temperatures. With the only limitation being how much propane we want to burn to keep the coach warm. When the temperature is set to 76 - it's very comfortable - but we burn through propane faster...

[Coffie Drink]

I was in Grand Junction in late Oct last year. 6 inches of snow and 10 at night.I use a drop light in the service bay to keep that from freezing. The gas furnace works well and did not use too much propane. The heat pump is good for 45 and up. A small electric heater helped. We were comfortable. When I left the dump valve was frozen. It has the heaters .

[Accipiter]

Two things we have done to help our view, we put up a blanket from the bunk area to the floor so we don't have heat the driver seat are that has all those windows. That really helped. I also cut a lot of Reflextic insulation to put in the windows to help keep the cold out. We boondocked in the Tetons last year with just the front blanket and stayed warm.

[Raymondo]

We have a 2017 View 24G. Discovered that the ducts under the lower kitchen drawer were not connected. (Kept the cooking pots quite toasty).
After connecting the ducts the propane heats well.
Have been in temps down to 17 degrees.

[Fritos55]

I see I’m a week behind but maybe this will help. We have a 2019 Intent 29L MotorHome with propane heat. The first Fall/ Winter we were in Neb for the end of football season mid Nov. It got down into the high 30’s and the propane heater couldn’t keep up. We bought an electric space heater for backup but that’s not a good answer when boondocking & needing generator for that much amperage.

I make it a habit to get to the factory service center in Forest City Iowa every 3-4 months so next time I went, I mentioned the poor propane performance. They looked into it and discovered that the regulator was bad & they replaced it - at the time, my RV was less than 6 months old. It’s been working great ever since, even with temps down into the 30’s.

Another thing to keep in mind with propane is that it is rather susceptible to temperature differences. So 20 lbs of propane at 80 deg F is somewhat larger in volume (& thus pressure) than at 40 deg F. If your tank is relatively full, you’ll probably be ok. But if it’s close to empty it will be more empty at 40 deg than at 80 deg. For us engineers, there’s graphs available online for more details.

I don’t have a View, but I hope that helps

[Shedboy]

Have 2012 Navion with Suburban LPG heater with same issues as previously described. Spends most of its life above 8,000 feet where it can be cold!
This is what I have done to stay warm:


1. Un-crushed the heater hose under the cabinets.
2.Put 3/4 foil backed styrofoam betweenr the heater ducts and floor and side of RV

3. Put 3/4 foil backed styrofoamon on interior of slideout floor

4. Put Camco cushions into the overhead vents at night
5. Electric blanket if shore power
6. Added/replaced weatherstrip around door
7. Purchased 110VAC Optimus H-3001 Mini Compact Utility Heater with Thermostat from Amazon, has 2 settings at 600 watt and 1200 watt to complement LPG heater.

8. Vaccum/and/or blow air through Suburban Heater heat exchanger as detailed in manual
9. Hang wool king sized blanket between cab and living area.
10. Use engine heater
11. Installed 12 VDC seat heaters in captains chairs
12. Queen size sleeping bag rather than blankets

[plrude]

If possible we use a ceramic heater when plugged in at a campground. One heater will keep the view warm. We also close all the shades and blinds to reduce heat loss through the windows and pull in the side to reduce the area needed to be heated. A blanket between the cab and the living area can hold more heat in also. By reducing the heat loss, the propane heater keeps us warm.

[rprochnow]

For anyone considering purchase of a new View/Navion - we have been able to keep the interior of our View comfortable (76 degrees), with temperatures below freezing for more than 24 hours - and with outside temperatures as low as 15.

The electric heater works reasonably well (especially after making sealing improvements inside the ceiling unit) until temperatures drop into the low 40s. After that, the gas heater is able to keep the cabin warm.

It does help to eliminate the major sources for bringing cold air into the coach.

Check the coach door to ensure it is sealing all of the way around the door. Insulating strips can provide a temporary solution - service should be able to properly align the door for a more permanent solution.

The shower skylight isn't insulated and leaks cold air - closing the shower door traps most of that inside the shower and keeps it out of the coach.

The large window over the dinette can be a source of cold air. Pulling down both shades helps reduce that. Using command strips to pull in the solid shade towards the outer wall also helps to reduce cold air flow.

The cab sunshades provide some insulation from the cold on the windshield and side windows. But in very cold temperatures, there still is cold air coming in. Hanging a blanket from the overcab to seal off the cab can help reduce cold leaking from the front of the RV.

Even with the coach door sealed properly, there will likely be some cold air coming from the battery compartment in the steps. Putting something (blanket, towels, ...) in that area can reduce that cold.

But - the gas heater does heat the cabin well enough to be comfortable. The above steps will reduce most of the cold air leaking into the coach - and help reduce the amount of time the gas heater has to run - and also keeps the temperature inside the coach more uniform.

[Phil G.]

Of course, one of the most important aspects of how a given propane furnace performs in a given size and model RV is the BTU rating of the propane furnace.

I wonder what BTU capacity Winnebago is putting into their 23-25 ft. View motorhomes? Our 24 ft. Itasca Class C has a 25,000 BTU furnace and it'll blast us out if we set it high enough at any low temperatures we've camped in so far - especially when the full curtain between the cab and coach is drawn closed so only the immediate coach interior has to be heated.

One poster in the forums even has a 24 ft. Class C (I don't recall which brand) that came stock with a 35,000 BTU propane furnace in it!!

For any Class C much larger than our 24 footer I'd want larger than our 24K BTU furnace in it, just so that we had plenty of heat capacity margin for comfort in occasional unexpected cold snaps. Probably most folks pay no attention to the propane furnace capacity versus motorhome size when they shop for a Class C.

[rprochnow]

View/Navion models come with 15K BTU heat pump and 20K BTU gas furnace.

With the large slide, our 24D floor plan has the greatest volume to heat - and we've been able to keep the inside at 76 even with the outside in the mid-teens.

Heating hasn't been a problem - a bigger issue is cooling in the Texas heat. If we leave our View in 90-100 degree temperatures without the air conditioner running, the air conditioner can take hours to cool the interior. When we drive our View for a daytime activity during the summer, parking without shore power or the generator running, we'll set the exhaust fan on auto to run when temperatures get above 85 degrees inside. That helps, but since it's 90+ outside, the inside will get hot after a few hours.

To help accelerate cooling of the interior after we return, we've found that while we're driving back to the RV park (where we have shore power), we'll run the Sprinter A/C at full and run our View's diesel generator to get the coach A/C running - and that combination helps considerably to bring the coach temperature down.

One of the early "upgrades" we did after getting our View was taking the cover off the ceiling HVAC unit and using HVAC tape and sticky-back insulation to completely seal the inside of the unit and lock the flimsy divider in place - that has helped improve the efficiency of both the A/C and the heat pump, while also reducing noise. It appears we may still have an air leak in the ceiling panel leading to the overcab bunk vent - since I feel hot/cold air leaking out from that panel while the ceiling unit is running - and plan to pull that panel down to see if I can seal that air leak up, so all of the air is going into the ceiling ducts.

At least for us - in sub-freezing temperatures, the current View/Navion gas furnace seems to be sufficient (if operating correctly) for the size of those models, and that a larger challenge is getting it to cool down quickly when outside temperatures are very high and the RV is parked without power for the A/C for an extended period.

[Rick 99037]

You've gotten a lot of good responses. The summation is at near freezing, you should be able to keep comfortable temps using propane, and most of us add a portable electric heater in the mix; just because we're already paying for the electricity anyway. Got a 50 amp service? use 2 of them. Don't put them near the thermostat. It will then shut off the heat thinking it's warmer than it really is.
Putting the thermostat setting on constant fan can be helpful in very cold temps, to minimize cold spots which are a given in an RV; between high heat loss zones, and poor ducting placement.
You saw enough mentions of crushed or disconnected ducts to know that might be part of your problems. Something's off in the formula if you only get up to 60 degrees on propane.
We took out our older 30ft class A out recently for 4 days. It got close to freezing each night. We were fine. We used 2.5 gallons of propane in those 4 days. And yes, most trailers and motorhomes are poorly insulated, and have a lot of glass too. So heat pumps are of limited practical value when it's cold, as the heat they put into the vents is much cooler, so they require more volume to compensate, and that's a challenge when competing with poor insulation.

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by rprochnow

View/Navion models come with 15K BTU heat pump and 20K BTU gas furnace.

With the large slide, our 24D floor plan has the greatest volume to heat - and we've been able to keep the inside at 76 even with the outside in the mid-teens.

Heating hasn't been a problem - a bigger issue is cooling in the Texas heat. If we leave our View in 90-100 degree temperatures without the air conditioner running, the air conditioner can take hours to cool the interior. When we drive our View for a daytime activity during the summer, parking without shore power or the generator running, we'll set the exhaust fan on auto to run when temperatures get above 85 degrees inside. That helps, but since it's 90+ outside, the inside will get hot after a few hours.

To help accelerate cooling of the interior after we return, we've found that while we're driving back to the RV park (where we have shore power), we'll run the Sprinter A/C at full and run our View's diesel generator to get the coach A/C running - and that combination helps considerably to bring the coach temperature down.

One of the early "upgrades" we did after getting our View was taking the cover off the ceiling HVAC unit and using HVAC tape and sticky-back insulation to completely seal the inside of the unit and lock the flimsy divider in place - that has helped improve the efficiency of both the A/C and the heat pump, while also reducing noise. It appears we may still have an air leak in the ceiling panel leading to the overcab bunk vent - since I feel hot/cold air leaking out from that panel while the ceiling unit is running - and plan to pull that panel down to see if I can seal that air leak up, so all of the air is going into the ceiling ducts.

At least for us - in sub-freezing temperatures, the current View/Navion gas furnace seems to be sufficient (if operating correctly) for the size of those models, and that a larger challenge is getting it to cool down quickly when outside temperatures are very high and the RV is parked without power for the A/C for an extended period.

FWIW, what you talk about above highlights both a heating and cooling advantage that motorhomes have over travel trailers and 5th wheels: A motorhome's chassis heating and cooling systems can be used (while idling the engine) to boost the built-in coach powered systems for backup during extreme cold or hot drycamping conditions - assuming you arrive at your camping location with a fairly full main fuel tank to support idling of the chassis engine.

i.e. Once when exploring in our Class C during August in the Texas Panhande, we used both the cab A/C, and rooftop A/C with the coach generator, to stay comfortably cool inside during scorching triple-digit outside temperatures. The same approach could be used for heating.

We pressurize the coach interior when using the built-in generator or idling the chassis engine during long run times - so as prevent any fumes from entering the interior.