Do you vent when using furnace?

[DonC]

Do you vent the camper when using the FWC furnace - ceiling vent open an inch, open a turnbuckle door, or crack a window?

 

[NorCalSteve]

The heater is designed so that the combusted propane, which is carbon dioxide and water, with some carbon monoxide if the burn was not clean, acording to the web, goes out the vent. So I don't open any vents.

Steve

 

[KILR0Y]

+1 Why Let The Heat Out?

 

[Smokecreek1]

+1 Why Let The Heat Out?

Yep, that's right, that is what the buzzer and rear inside lights are for! However, when I crawl into the sack at night---I still open the window flap; I have a thing about breathing air at night, but again I usually don't run the heater at night unless it is real bad outside . I do open the vent when I cook inside-when I remember that is! Just wait for that first time in the middle of the night when the battery runs down and the buzzers start and out of a sound sleep you have to run to the front of the truck and start it and all the buzzers stop! Yep the first time those things go off, you realize what they are there for, so don't worry, enjoy !

Smoke

 

[DonC]

Great, thanks. Yea, cooking is a whole other thing - I like popcorn at night and its pretty hard to keep the smoke alarm to not beep at least a few times, even with everything open!

What's this about buzzers going off when the battery is down?

 

[craig333]

I do, more to exhaust any moisture than any need for fresh air.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Great, thanks. Yea, cooking is a whole other thing - I like popcorn at night and its pretty hard to keep the smoke alarm to not beep at least a few times, even with everything open!

What's this about buzzers going off when the battery is down?

Yep-some sort of safty thing I think, always check the battery meter before you hit the rack, when the power drops below a certain leven it must set the damn things off. It happened to me one of my first times out, like after 5 or 6 days camping, never thought about batteries and things, I'm a back packer, don't worry about those types of things, yep do now, when all the things went off in the middle of the night, didn;t know what to do,l then i noticed the battery gage was red and even i figured it out--the bat was almost dead so i'd better start the truck and the buzzer ended-learned a lesson then about watching the meter--by the way when my dog got sick last time out, and a i hit the spray can really heavy to clear the FWC out, , it also set off the alarm! Live and learn!!

Smoke

 

[takesiteasy]

We use ventilation to try to control condensation. Not too worried about combustion products but do appreciate having the alarms. Like others, we don't usually run the furnace at night- just heat things up before bed and in the morning. I like sleeping with my toes warm and my nose cold.

 

[ski3pin]

We use ventilation to try to control condensation. Not too worried about combustion products but do appreciate having the alarms. Like others, we don't usually run the furnace at night- just heat things up before bed and in the morning. I like sleeping with my toes warm and my nose cold.

Same here. We usually leave the roof vent open a bit all the time except in a big rain event. We like to have a little air movement. And like takesiteasy, we don't run the furnace when we are in the sack.

 

[Lighthawk]

Furnace worked great to dry out my shoes, when I left them out in the 2" of rain Sunday night!
We don't feel the need to vent, but often have something cracked open as SOP.

 

[AK Nomad]

Not too worried about combustion products

Not to pick on you, but just pointing out to everyone that the factory propane furnace is a direct vent unit which means 100% of the combustion gasses are vented to the outside of the camper. I've read on this site where several of you have changed furnaces or installed your own (remodel or shell or whatever). I live in a heating climate (far north) and we are ALWAYS concerned about combustion products because people die every year due to faulty or poorly designed or installed heating units. I personally do not rely on alarms to keep me safe. I encourage everyone to understand how your heating appliance works, keep it maintained, and stay safe.

My response to the OP is that with a direct vent appliance, there is no need to ventilate when using it by cracking the top vent, access door, window, whatever. It will have absolutely no bearing on how the furnace operates. The furnace gets its combustion air from the outside and returns the combustion gasses to outside.

You can ventilate for other reasons, but not for the FWC furnace.

 

[sourdough]

X2, good stuff, well said.