No furnace, vent, or ducting...Whoops

[Diogenes]

Last night I added a new item to my list "Things we missed when we bought our Airstream." I was reading about winter camping and realized that we don't have a furnace. No vents. No ducts. A previous owner must've completely removed them.

When we bought it, we thought the only heating system was our ceiling A/C-Heater. Naivety. After a month of use, the heater spewed flames and that ended that. (I posted about thst previosly). Now, we use a little electric heater that we love. However, we want to dry camp and a furnace sure would be great. A thermostat would really be something too.

Thoughts? (Besides "How did you miss THAT?") Ideas?

[J. Morgan]

i use this wall furnace. Might be an alternative to installing everything from scratch.

I run it through my inverter when not on shore power.


Brevi tempore!

[xrvr]

It may have had a catalytic heater in it. Some of thst era did.

[overlander63]

Without ducting, and for dry camping, a catalytic heater would be worth a look.
They don't require a source of power, are quiet, and efficient.

[twolanehwy]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Attachment 255757i use this wall furnace. Might be an alternative to installing everything from scratch.

I run it through my inverter when not on shore power.


Brevi tempore!

That one doesn't require electricity does it?
I thought it was propane powered.

[alantbird]

ARE you sure? there should be a place under the sink on the drivers side for a heater and if they took it out there'd be a patch on the outer wall? the flue vent is just ahead of the wheel well well again on the drivers side and thered be a capped off gas line under there also.

[mccrosti]

I have a furnace and a catalytic. Love em both


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[DreamStreamr]

Originally Posted by mccrosti

I have a furnace and a catalytic. Love em both

Same here, enjoyed using catalytic (Wave6) for many years so far. Furnace is good but really noisy. Catalytic is silent and cozy.





Dreamstreamr
2005 International CCD 25SS
http://Dreamstreamr.com

[ijustlee]

I use my furnace just warm up the trailer fast and then rely on electric portable heaters for the quietness factor. Also for boon docking a standard RV furnace sucks down batteries. I would get something that doesn't need electricity to run if I was in your position. I tried a catalytic heater, it worked great but wasn't vented and I thought it put way too much moisture in the trailer. I'd advise going with a wall heater or some other type of vented propane heater that doesn't run down your battery. It will be worth some trouble to fit something in that won't kill the battery. Boating catalogs have some great heaters and fireplaces if you don't find a home style heater that you can fit in. I've always wanted a furnace that was quiet and charged my battery, they have them now but they are very expensive and not small so I'm still dreaming. Airstreams from the mid 50's to early 60's had nifty heaters by the door that were like a round pipe with a reflector behind and a grill around the front and they vented straight up out the roof. I wish they were still made because they looked like that design worked well. You should be able to find a heater that is quiet and won't kill your battery but it will probably take some work to fit it in. Good luck! Leland

[Silver Hawk]

Mr. J. Morgan,
Really liked the heater in your picture -
Is it gas with outside vent, electric, or what?
Who made it?, etc.

Also, loved your interior treatment of you Airstream - beautiful job!

[Diogenes]

Originally Posted by alantbird

ARE you sure? there should be a place under the sink on the drivers side for a heater and if they took it out there'd be a patch on the outer wall? the flue vent is just ahead of the wheel well well again on the drivers side and thered be a capped off gas line under there also.

There is no evidence of ducting inside the trailer. Outside, I found a patch on the outer wall. Bo evidence of a vent. There is something on the front of the trailer...don't know what it was for originally. I included the picture. (It is sideways).

[68 TWind]

My original furnace had a hole in the heat exchanger. After a lot of thinking and reading here on the forums about heat options, I decided to go with small electric heaters. I do have a small catalytic for emergency use but when we camp in the cold a small electric space heater does a good job keeping us warm. 95% of the time one heater does the job in my Trade Wind but if it gets into the 20's we have a small one for the bathroom. By removing the old furnace it freed up lots of cabinet space under the counter too.

[05ModPod]

Have you considered the Buddy Heater series??

If you will only use it here and there for the odd winter camping you might not want to get into a huge expense for a fully built in vented furnace which all run on propane with electric fan anyway.

I have used my little Buddy in my smaller trailer - 22', They work great. They all come with a self oxygen sensor so no worries about um dying in there.

A few years back when I had owned a 26' 61 Overland - that had the original furnace which looked cool but did not want to mess about with getting it working. I had looked at the larger Buddy heater, which you can attach a proper propane adapter connection. So was going to run a new line and up into the base of the old furnace. And just connect all legal and safely the buddy heater - with the conduit type propane line.

The portable heaters are great because you can pull them and use them in your home or garage and such. They are nice and quiet and heat up pretty good and fast.

Buddy Series - Heaters - Product

[Jacob D]

Originally Posted by Diogenes

There is no evidence of ducting inside the trailer. Outside, I found a patch on the outer wall. Bo evidence of a vent. There is something on the front of the trailer...don't know what it was for originally. I included the picture. (It is sideways).

On my '67 Overlander, the item in your pic is the fill pipe for fresh water. It is atop the water tank, the cap screws off and you can fill the tank with a potable water hose. There should be a strainer under the cap to catch any debris that might fall in while doing that. I advise you make sure someone didn't remove or puncture the water tank at some point before running water into it. The water pump should be in the roadside front corner on the floor beside the tank. In mine you access the pump by removing the sofa cushions and lifting a small ply-wood hatch. The valve for draining the tank is also in that small compartment.

[Caroyl]

Originally Posted by Diogenes

Last night I added a new item to my list "Things we missed when we bought our Airstream." I was reading about winter camping and realized that we don't have a furnace. No vents. No ducts. A previous owner must've completely removed them.

When we bought it, we thought the only heating system was our ceiling A/C-Heater. Naivety. After a month of use, the heater spewed flames and that ended that. (I posted about thst previosly). Now, we use a little electric heater that we love. However, we want to dry camp and a furnace sure would be great. A thermostat would really be something too.

Thoughts? (Besides "How did you miss THAT?") Ideas?

You should consider the Platinum Cat. It's a vented catalytic heater that uses very little 12v power to exhaust the combustion byproducts and is easy in propane too. I have ordered one for our '64 Overlander that is getting a total renovation this year. For more info, check with Arnie, platcat@att.net

[Rolland]

Mine had also been removed. I found a used heater, same as it came with (1967) and installed it in the same place it came from, with the wall vent. (Under the sink cabinet in mine) and put the thermostat in the back center of the trailer, where the original wires were. It required a propane connection, thermostat and wires, and a 12v connection, on a circuit breaker. No ductwork. I use 2 deep cycle batteries, and even at 20 degrees it will run overnight without running down the batteries, keeping it 65 degrees inside for me. If hooked up, I use a small portable heater or the a/c heat pump. But spending all of December and part of January with solar and a occasional generator hookup, it worked fine. Good luck! Rolland


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[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Diogenes

Last night I added a new item to my list "Things we missed when we bought our Airstream." I was reading about winter camping and realized that we don't have a furnace. No vents. No ducts. A previous owner must've completely removed them.

When we bought it, we thought the only heating system was our ceiling A/C-Heater. Naivety. After a month of use, the heater spewed flames and that ended that. (I posted about thst previosly). Now, we use a little electric heater that we love. However, we want to dry camp and a furnace sure would be great. A thermostat would really be something too.

Thoughts? (Besides "How did you miss THAT?") Ideas?

Hello Beth

I do not believe catalytics are safe and would not have one in my trailer. There are better alternatives.

Yes, you can install a ducted furnace. Atwood and Suburban make them, different shapes, pick what works best for your situation. Atwood is generally serviced through a large door to the exterior, Suburban just has intake/exhaust ports and is serviced from the interior of the trailer.

There are also non-ducted furnaces, look at the Atwood everest for example.

Some people like the Dickenson propane fireplace. It's tricky to get the right space for it, but it's quiet and looks good. It would provide less heat than a ducted furnace, but still be good down to 40 degrees or so.

If you plan to use your trailer in truly cold weather, electric heat will be insufficient, because there isn't enough power available to do the job. It will help up to a point. I have a 1500w wall mounted heater in my trailer which is good down to about 55 degrees outside with no wind.

Be careful, and be safe.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Hello Beth

I do not believe catalytics are safe and would not have one in my trailer. There are better alternatives.

Can you please tell us why you make that statement?

All the catalytic heaters are RIVA and UL certified. Are they both wrong? I do agree there are alternatives but nothing beats a catalytic heater for boon docking.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by twolanehwy

That one doesn't require electricity does it?

I thought it was propane powered.

It heats with propane but requires electricity for the fan.


Brevi tempore!

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by Silver Hawk

Mr. J. Morgan,
Really liked the heater in your picture -
Is it gas with outside vent, electric, or what?
Who made it?, etc.

Also, loved your interior treatment of you Airstream - beautiful job!

It is a direct vent Williams. It intakes fresh air and exhausts combustion gases through a single two inch tube directly behind the unit.

It burns propane, but 120V is required for the combustion fan and the circulation fan.

When not on shore power I run it via my inverter.


Brevi tempore!