In floor radiant heat

[ArgosyRover]

How I love a warm floor!

All you need is a supply of hot water, which we all have, in the way of a hot water heater.
Ditching the nasty old Suburban furnace was a delight and warm cozy heat to boot.

I first glued down 1/2" rigid foam, then cut troughs for the 3/8" pex pipe with a modified soldering gun, snapped in the pex, tossed down a laminate floor and presto, warm toes,...
There's also significant foam insulation under the floor.

Now to be fair, this won't fully heat the coach in cold weather, there just isn't enough floor area.
Supplemental heat will be by automotive heater cores and muffin fans.
Water circulation in both the floor and the heaters is by lovely little 12 volt circulators.

So that I haven't created a whole new winterizing chore, the in floor loop is isolated from the potable hot water via the engine assist heat exchanger built into select Suburban hot water heaters.
This way I can run antifreeze in that loop and never need to drain.

Stay warm,..

Peter

[AWCHIEF]

Great project. I had in floor heating in my house in Maine. It was almost like having free heat and so warm on the tootsies. The same gas heater provided both heating and unlimited hot water.

[Jammer]

Nice work.

What are you going to do if you want to camp and it's really cold?

[ArgosyRover]

I'll also have two hot water heaters at 5000 BTU each.
All driven from a 12000 BTU hot water heater.
Plenty cozy.

Cheers

[slpiotro]

What a great set up. How much propane does the heater take, seems to me the biggest problem, lots of propane use.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by slpiotro

What a great set up. How much propane does the heater take, seems to me the biggest problem, lots of propane use.

Unless the water heater is terribly inefficient, it probably won't be any more propane use than the original furnace. Remember that BTU rating on the furnaces is based on how much propane it burns, not how much heat is transmitted into the cabin of the trailer.

[ArgosyRover]

I'm using a new Suburban 6 gal combination gas electric.
The concept is that I'll have electric heat when on shore power and gas while boondocking.
And only have one big heavy gas burning heater.
I suspect the Suburban hot water is pretty efficient, I prefer it over the Attwood as it has a longer heat tube.
As David said, I don't expect it will be any worse than a gas fired air furnace.

Cheers
Peter

[tyggeln]

It would be interesting to see the real world usage. I expect that you also won't have to worry so much about draining your batteries overnight as with the forced air heater. It will also prob do a better job of keeping your pluming from freezing.

[ArgosyRover]

The circulator I'm using only draws half an amp!
When it's really cold and I need the extra two heater cores I'll have a total of 1.3 amps load.

Peter

[mefly2]

Superb!
Now all our DW will want this ...

[ArgosyRover]

Forgive me,..
What or who is a "DW"?

[RocketCramer]

Is it "Dear Wives"?

[Gearheart]

A bonus would be that it is quieter than the forced air fan. Also put a heat run under the black grey and fresh water tanks to protect from frost.

[ArgosyRover]

Ah the tank warming is included.

I put extra service bungs in the top of all the new tanks when I has them made. I'll put 20' of 3/8" tubing right in the tanks to warm them on critical nights.

The waste plumbing and valves are still vulnerable. they're wrapped in heat tape but then I need shore power or run the genny.

Which I just did crossing the continent, some cold nights on the Canadian prairies,...

I don't plan on any more really cold trips, done with cold,...

Peter

[painterfam]

Brilliant!
Is there a reason why you didn't run the radiant tubes under the furniture? Is it because it was already there?
You mentioned Canadian cold...how chilly are you talking? Colorado is not near as cold, but it's still cold here!

[ArgosyRover]

As my primary intention is to heat the floor, there's no need to put pipe under the cabinets.
Even if I did, it wouldn't heat the living space very well.

Canada can get terribly cold, I just drove across from New York to Victoria British Columbia.
-25F in some spots.

But I won't ever be anywhere that cold again if I can help it.
That's why this winter I'm in Victoria where it rarely drops below freezing.

Peter

[Savage68]

Have you considered the extra weight you will be subjecting the frame to? Have your axles been upgraded?


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[ArgosyRover]

Hi Savage,

The tubing, water, pump and heater core weigh about 16 pounds.
The Suburban furnace I removed weighed 40 pounds.

But yes, I have installed new uprated axles for other much heavier elements of my build.

Peter

[Savage68]

Assuming you will be traveling with 'charged lines', factor in a pound per pint.


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[DarrylElkins]

This is a fascinating project! Curious where the heater cores are placed? Is it where the furnace used to be?