Heating the plumbing convenience panel

[Icehouse]

As you are well aware, we live in the cold Even though our basement is heated, at below zero temps, the basement (and thus the plumbing convenience center) stay cold - about 10-12 degrees above outside temp. For the quick of mind, this often means a slightly frozen plumbing center that takes about 15 minutes with the hair dryer to make my water flow (I am sure there is a pun in there somewhere!) I modified the flexible heater duct running from the heater to the toilet room (for reference I own a 3650RK). This duct runs directly next to the convenience center. I could NOT find 2 inch flexible ducting anywhere in rural Alaska, so I used typical Alaskan ingenuity - DUCT TAPE. I purchase a 2 inch PVC 'Y' and spliced into the flexible duct and sealed with duct tape. I then attached a 2.5 foot of 2 inch PVC pipe and placed a round plastic grill on the end. This additional 'vent' runs directly to the back of the convenience center. The heat loss from the toilet room is minimal and delivers a sufficient amount of heat to the plumbing. I feel this should help keep the water flowing at lower temps. See photos here: http://s246.photobucket.com/albums/gg96/
bjarriel/heating%20duct%20mods/?action=
view&current=db9ec4a7.pbw

[ole dude]

Need is the Mother of Invention. Y'all keep doing well in living with the special circumstances (cold) up there. My hats off to you, however not long, don't want to get sunburn on my head.

[DONnANNIE]

Hi Bernie,

Nice job with redirecting some the bathroom heat. That should ease your freezing problems with the convenience center. I will file that mod info away for a future job. I did change my bathroom register to an adjustable register. That would definitely direct more heat to the convenience center when needed.

Stay warm, it's still snowing here in the Spokane area.(I think it is SPRING?)

[Exnavydiver]

Icehouse, I was think about that same method of heating the service panel. While checking for Gak in the basement after the black tank event I noticed that there are two 2" hoses coming out of the back of the furnace and one 3 or 4 inch flex duct. the big one goes into a floor duct for the bedroom and is held up with silver duct tape and it is not really being held up. It is kind of half hanging up. So that huge leak does a great job of heating the service panel. The other two ducts (2")go to the basement/ living room area and the other goes to the bathroom. Right after I got the rig I knew I wanted some control on the heat other than the thermostat so I dumped two of the vents and got adjustable vents. One in the bedroom and one in the back by the recliners. I think the one in the bedroom caused a pressure build up in the large flex duct and the tape pulled loose. If we get into a very cold area I will also pull the bathroom duct loose and shove it into the area by the service panel. On our rig the service panel is about under where your toilet is. The furnace is less than a foot aft of the panel... Dave

[Icehouse]

Exnavydiver, for the bedroom to heat the basement more, I drilled about 9 good size holes in the ductwork in the basement. That helped raise the temperature about 15 degrees without substantial loss of pressure to the bedroom. However, my wife would be perfectly happy if I took the heat duct OUT OF THE BEDROOM.
Bernie

[Exnavydiver]

Sort of the same thing here, we both like the bedroom cold. I usually get up first and kick the furnace on to take the chill off. If it is gonna get to the freeze zone I set the furnace to 55 and fire up the fireplace and maybe the ceramic heater. It has taken some practice but I can usually keep the rig above 50 even at 25 without using the furnace too much. If it is gonna get that cold I fill the freshwater tank about half full so we can shut off the city water and drain the filters and hoses. Most CGs down here want you to turn off the hose if it is gonna freeze so their system doesn't bust.. Dave and Betsy

[sreigle]

I am yet again impressed with your ability to adapt your Montana to your extreme environment. We never had the freezing problem in the connection center you had but we never got colder than 5 below zero, either. Good job. Thanks for sharing.

[Bob & Lee]

That is a great idea, I had my service center almost freeze the water was real slow and as I ran it it became stronger, to find out the breaker blew on the heat tape.Fixed that but was thinking of puting my water filter system in the center and a little more heat would work good and to be able to control it..This summer I want to drop the bottom out the RV and check and protect all the wiring under there to prevent the problems others have had. At the same time want to get some pink fiberglass and staple it to the wood floor next to the I beam frame and drop it down to the black plastic that covers the bottom and across to the other side and up to the wood floor and staple, will know for sure when I open it up but want to run it cross ways so that if I need to open it up I wont need to take a lot out hoping this will retain more heat in the bottom, heating the floor and may not need to heat as much inside.

Bob

[Icehouse]

Bob, Re-think your choice of using pink fiberglass. 1. If it ever gets wet, it is really nasty and very heavy. 2. it is very bulky and heavy even when dry. I do not think you will be able to close the belly back up with that much bulk.
I have used the metalic Reflectix insulation. It is much lighter and thinner. There were places where I was challenged even with this thin layer. In other critical areas, I used multiple layers. ALSO, one of the easiest and best things was I insulated the TOP of my basement - the BOTTOM of the bedroom floor (in my model) with a water heater blanket cut to fit. The thick plastic backing holds up well in the basement. I also attached Reflectix to EACH basement door. This alone raised the temp in the basement about 6 degrees.
Bernie

[Bob & Lee]

thanks for the info Icehouse, I was talking to others and there thought was to use the foam sheets the siza of plywood and lay them up on the I of the beam of the frame. I had looked at the metalic Reflectix insulation is that not what is in ther stock ? or is it better when you dubble layer it? Great info on the basement hadn't thought of the top being the bedroom floor. How did you fasten the foil wrap to the cargo doors?
I know if this is Alaska tested it will sure keep us like toast in Colorado

Thanks
Bob

[Rondo]

Good job Bernie! This will be filed away in my midget mind for future reference when we get to go longtiming or fulltiming! Keeping the service center warm is important especially in the cooler weather! I agree with you on the use of the metal bubblewrap insulation. Good R value for the size or thickness and easy to work with.

[Icehouse]

Bob, the Reflectix on the doors is secured using 1/2" sheet metal screws. Easy to install. The insulation on the basement ceiling (bedroom floor) is actually held in place with Arctic grade duct tape. In my rig, the floor sits directly on the I beams and the tanks are supported between the I beams. In other words, I had no room with which to prop anything. I had to wrap it. We did heat tape our tank valves and our water filter as well while I had the belly down. I also made a "pouch" out of the Reflectix for my water heater to sit in. That way, the heat tape on the in/out hose warms the plastic casing the filter sits in. Our filter actually froze and cracked the plastic casing this winter. So, I had to do something!!!!
Bernie

[Bob & Lee]

Icehouse, sounds like when I open the belly it is not what I thought it would be. So prior to opening the bottom I'm going to put Reflectix on the cargo doors and get the water heater blankets for the BR floor. and when I open the belly this summer and protect and check the connections of all the wireing I will figure out how to put more insulation in there. Thanks again
Bob