Community Forums

Stan&Jacquie · 11-24-2013, 08:11 PM

MY dashboard heat is worthless when the temperature is low outside.
How does one add heat to the coach when traveling in cold weather? My DW would love to know.

KIX · 11-24-2013, 08:16 PM

We have two options to make the cockpit warmer (or cooler). We had a cloth 'curtain' made to drape ceiling to floor behind the seats. It does not have a track in the ceiling. It fastens to the cabinets on each side of the coach. If it's still cold we run the genset and a 700 watt small space heater.

Meandering Retiree · 11-24-2013, 09:11 PM

we run the generator and the heat pumps. we set the temperature higher for the back pump so there is less noise up front.

LandKinaMoho · 11-24-2013, 09:15 PM

We run the propane furnace, toasty throughout!

BillJinOR · 11-24-2013, 09:17 PM

If needed we run the gas furnace or if not that cold out (40deg) the furnace heat pump with the generator on ... Same if it's hot out with the a/c
Yes we leave the propane tank on while traveling. :-0

Wayne M · 11-24-2013, 09:30 PM

Only once in November traveling from Williams, AZ we turned the generator on and ran the basement heat pump. Now I just stay out of cold weather.

Rich-n-Linda · 11-24-2013, 09:35 PM

We run the furnaces and the dash heat while driving. That's enough to keep the coach at 72 degrees until it gets down to below 30 degrees outside. Then we fire up the generator and add the 5,000 btu's from the electric fireplace. That adds just enough extra heat to keep it toasty when it is really cold.

We've overnighted when it was 17 degrees and remained quite comfortable. The furnaces ran a lot but it stayed nice and warm. We kept the living room slides in on that 17 degree night so we had less area to heat. Fortunately the Mandalay 40E floor plan allows full access to everything even with the slides in.

devans47 · 11-24-2013, 11:11 PM

Might want to check for restrictions, kinks, in the hoses to the heater. In a resent post someone had found valves on the motor that were closed. There is a temp control valve at the heater. Not unusual for them to be improperly adjusted from the factory. Seen one that the cable wasn't hooked to the valve. My RV has 3 heaters and ACs but as someone mentioned were suppose to go where we don't need any of them.

Stan&Jacquie · 11-25-2013, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devans47

Might want to check for restrictions, kinks, in the hoses to the heater. In a resent post someone had found valves on the motor that were closed. There is a temp control valve at the heater. Not unusual for them to be improperly adjusted from the factory. Seen one that the cable wasn't hooked to the valve. My RV has 3 heaters and ACs but as someone mentioned were suppose to go where we don't need any of them.

Very interesting. Might you be able to describe where the heater is located and where on the heater the temp control valve is?

deandec · 11-25-2013, 10:00 AM

My rig is setup to pump coolant from the engine through the dash heater and water heater for temp assist.

It had a shutoff valve that was used when using dash AC most often.

That shutoff valve was just in front of the engine on the coolant line on driver's side.

Perhaps Monaco has a similar set up.

danes-on-tour · 11-25-2013, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KIX

We have two options to make the cockpit warmer (or cooler). We had a cloth 'curtain' made to drape ceiling to floor behind the seats

We tried something like this when going to Breckenridge for some skiing in February this year.

We took a broom handle and suspended it between the slides right behind the front seats. From here we hung a thick blanket whereby we created a temporary room devision.

We can report that it worked well and the new "drivers compartment" remained substantially warmer than it was without this devider.

ctpres · 11-25-2013, 11:05 AM

X3 on curtain behind seats. Ours perm inst and we use to heat cool cockpit when driving and to NOT heat or cool cockpit when parked. Keeps us more comfortable no matter which side we are on.

YC1 · 11-25-2013, 11:20 AM

If it is due to your engine not getting up to temps you can cover part of your radiator.

gruelens · 11-25-2013, 12:33 PM

I second the idea of a curtain. The MH is tooooo large of an area for the dash heat. As stated before, you can add additional heat via heat pumps or furnace. If not, install a curtain (can be temporary) behind cockpit seats that goes floor to ceiling. This will cut down on air exchange between cockpit and the rest of the coach. One more thing, many MHs have rear heat supplied by warm engine coolant.