Winter camping update
Happy Thanksgiving from Bend Oregon. 10 degrees here this morning and I thought I would share our modifications and updates on our 2016 3440rl.
Immediately after we bough it we sealed up the bottom the best we could. After that the basement was approximately 20 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. We were supplementing heat with a 1500 watt ceramic heater in the living area that was running most of the night. The furnace would run for about 6 minutes every 12-20 minutes. Temps averaged 30 outside, 40 in the basement and 62 inside.
Yesterday we completed the following modifications.
1) The outlet on the bottom of the furnace was significantly hotter than the other two above it. So we moved the 4" bedroom ducting to the bottom outlet of the furnace and installed a 4"-4"-2" tee and put the 4" bedroom and the 2" bathroom ducting onto the tee. On the middle outlet we put the duct going to the tank area. We then sealed off the top outlet of the furnace as there was no need for it.
2) installed skirting from Idaho Canvas. Great company with a quality product at a fair price and was delivered 1 week ahead of schedule.
3) left the white plastic behind the convience center off and put a 300 watt heat lamp near it.
4) Moved the 1500 watt ceramic heater from the living room to the basement area.
The results. Last night it got down to 10 degrees outside, basement was 67 and inside was 66. The furnace ran significantly less and the floors were very warm.
I may need to fine tune the heater and the heat lamp combination (may not need both) but it is a good piece of mind when you know it is warmer underneath and the furnace is running less.
Happy Camping!
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