How warm should a Hurricane heating system keep a MH

[Carl Boger]

Over the last two days it has gotten cold here,for us ( lows in the low 20's Highs in the low 40's), and it is the first time I have used the Hurricane heating system.  I have turned it on two mornings while it was still in the 20's and gone out to work in it a couple of hours later.  By then it was in the 30's outside and maybe 60ish inside.  As the day warmed up so did the inside temperatures to about the low to middle 70's.  It seems that it will heat the inside to about 30 degrees warmer than the outside temperatures. 

To be fair I did discover that one fan was broken, (crayon got past the drawer and broke/jammed the fan), and I did not do anything to add insulation around the windows,windshield, bathroom skylight, or fantastic fans.  I also only let it run 6 to 8 hours each day and if I left it on longer it may have retained more heat.

I was just interested in what to expect from this system.  I am not planning to go out in sub zero temps, but it would be nice to stay toasty in cold temps if ever needed.











 

[Fred Brooks]

   Carl, are you in a campground and plugged into shore power? Fred

[Fred Cook]

Although our aqua hot does a fine by itself... I still use a couple infrared heaters in the coach to assist and to cut down the use of the burner and the use of diesel fuel.

[Fred Brooks]

    Fred, That is what Cindy and I do, We use a couple of 1500 watt portable electric heaters when the outside temp is around 20 degrees. We like sleeping with the bedroom windows open, the hurricane is on and the t-stat set for 50 degrees. Once we get up, we turn on the space heaters and turn the t-stat up to 70 to get things going.
  A word of caution: make sure the space heaters are not plugged into "inverter circuits". Not sure which duplex recepts are on the inverter circuit? Go to the main circuit breaker box in the bedroom and turn off the 30 amp breaker(s) that say "inverter" and go and find which duplex recepts still work. You should find one in the kitchen floor area and another in the bedroom. Fred

[Carl Boger]

Fred not camping, its plugged into a 120 outlet at home, and the seaward electric hot water heater has been drained.  The front radiator that fits under the cabinet between the pilots and co-pilot seats is the one that has the broken fan.  I have a new one coming.  I did pull the pocket door between the bedroom and the front of the coach closed and there was a noticeable difference in the heat in the bedroom/bathroom area  and the heat in the front.  Hopefully the new fan will push the heat up front to where temperatures should be.  I am getting radiator temps in the 120 to 150 degree range with my infrared thermometer depending on if the burner was on or off so I feel that is all working right. 

I am just trying to get everything on this in top shape right now to avoid any problems down the road.

[Gerald Farris]

Carl,
Even though cold is one of the four letter words that I try to avoid, I was in temperatures in the low teens a time or two with the Marquis that I formally owned  that had a Hurricane, and it was not a problem to maintain an interior temp of 70 degrees. The inoperative fan that you have is taking away about 20% of your heating potential, and you should run the Hurricane 24 hours a day at those temperatures to prevent basement plumbing from freezing. If you like to sleep in a cool coach, just cut the thermostat down to 50 degrees, and up to 70 when you get up, and you will have a comfortable coach.

Gerald

[Carl Boger]

Thanks Gerald,
Wife likes to be warm and happy wife ....,   Hopefully the new fan will get here today in time to put it in.  I could tell that without the fan the heat was not getting out in that area.  I will say that I did not feel any drafts inside which is great.  The blinds are mostly up and the windshield curtain is not in place so heat is going out there.  I also was only using heat while working inside since the water is drained.  Even my house in the mountains takes a while to warm up if it is cold inside when I get there and really 24 hours to be at normal temps on everywhere since the cabinets and closed off area don't warm up for a while.

[John Compton]

There is a lot of cold transfer through the windshield. My front fan is inoperable right now and it is difficult to keep the front living area warm without it.

[Fred Brooks]

  John, you are correct. Basic physics is heat moves toward cold and that is where it is going right thru the windshield and any other exposed glass. Perhaps you could temporarily hang a blanket inside or outside over the windshield would help. I noticed on my marquis when I removed the windshield curtains and installed MCD shades a big loss in interior heat retension. The dash heat exchanger will make a big difference. Fred

[Carl Boger]

While this post is still open can anyone tell me what the water pump switch in the picture does?  I figure it is part of the Hurricane system and probably for the heat ex-changer when using it for hot water.  I haven't used it yet so thought I would ask. 

[John Compton]

Carl,
Unless you have another switch somewhere that says water pump, that should be your 12volt water pump switch for domestic water from your onboard water storage tank when you’re not hooked up to city water.

[Carl Boger]

I have another water switch over the door that turns on water from the on board tank that is located over the co-pilots seat area.  I thought this one was probably used with the Hurricane heating since it is in the same panel that preheats the engine. 

This coach has so many redundant systems the learning curve is hard to figure everything out.

[David T. Richelderfer]

Our coach has four freshwater pump switches - one each at the kitchen faucet, the loo faucet, the bedroom faucet, and the water bay faucet.

[Carl Boger]

You are correct, I only have 2 switches and that is one of them.  I had to listen hard to hear the pump turn on, could not hear it with the hurricane on.