Community Forums

tom chelbana · 10-12-2015, 02:34 PM

With most Newmars having either Hydro-Hot or Oasis furnaces and cold weather ahead ,if not here now, wanted to share something we learned 3 years ago. You can heat your whole coach when traveling and not use your gen. or diesel/propane fuel. With engine assist which draws it heat from the engine coolant once your engine is warm you can turn your furnace heat on and use your engine hot coolant to keep your system hot so the whole coach can stay warm and you don't use any fuel to keep boiler hot. Have never heard at any seminars or in print about doing this but with the cooler weather coming good info to know. Furnace runs on 12 volt so need for running gen. to keep warm.

Stealth01 · 10-12-2015, 04:14 PM

You should have attended the Hoots II gathering in Sevierville, TN. The Oasis Reps that joined us gave a detailed briefing on doing that very thing!!

soundsuperio · 10-12-2015, 04:30 PM

How do you do it in a ventana with propane hydronic heat?

tom chelbana · 10-12-2015, 06:27 PM

It shouldn't matter if it is diesel or propane for boiler. What is important is that you have engine assist which means your engine coolant is heating your boiler when going down the road. You know f you have engine assist if your hot water is hot after you have been traveling down the road. Next timeout check to see if hot water is hot when you pull into a RV park.

denlock · 10-12-2015, 06:30 PM

Soundsuperio, you would do like Tom says if you have the engine loop. My Ventana has the loop, and I was told once the engine is warmed up, turn the furnace on at the thermostat. I have not tried it yet though.

twojayhawks · 10-12-2015, 07:31 PM

So if you are traveling in cooler climates and require heat just turn on one of the furnaces and it won't need to burn propane or diesel? Cool I'll give it a whirl thanks for the tip!

Mr_D · 10-12-2015, 07:36 PM

Won't work on the older rigs. Our '02 DSDP only had the propane furnace, no AquaHot or Oasis way back then! Tried to get Newmar to put the hydronic system in that the MADP's used and they flat out refused. Told me I had to upgrade to a MADP to get it.

CJ7365 · 10-12-2015, 07:37 PM

Yup even an old RV like mine, has the coolant loop for the coach heater, as well as a loop for water heater

soundsuperio · 10-12-2015, 08:09 PM

Thanks for the tip.
I will give it a try.
I have a hydronic switch on the dash, will this turn on the loop?
It is separate from the furnace switches in the control panel.
If not, what does it do.

dons2346 · 10-12-2015, 08:17 PM

Been doing it that way since purchase of the coach 13 years ago.

tom chelbana · 10-13-2015, 03:28 PM

You don't have to do anything for furnace operation if you have either Hydro-Hot or Oasis furnace operation. The engine assist works any time engine is running. Again check to see if you have hot water after driving and if so then you should be able to heat your coach. Have shared this numerous times at camp grounds and most owners didn't know it.

twojayhawks · 10-14-2015, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom chelbana

You don't have to do anything for furnace operation if you have either Hydro-Hot or Oasis furnace operation. The engine assist works any time engine is running. Again check to see if you have hot water after driving and if so then you should be able to heat your coach. Have shared this numerous times at camp grounds and most owners didn't know it.

Question, when camping and using hot water/furnace is it also keeping engine warm eliminating the need to use the block heater?

TinMan Trvlr · 10-14-2015, 07:46 AM

The engine is not normally being heated while camping, however if you have the Oasis "Engine Preheat" option installed you can switch it on an hour or so before you want to depart and it will warm up the engine. Length of time required to warm up the engine in advance of leaving will depend on how cold the ambient temperature is. A very handy feature when you do not have access to shore power to run the block heater and don't want to do a cold start for your generator or leave it running half the night to power the block heater. Coaches being ordered for the northern States and Canada could all benefit by having this feature factory installed IMHO.

KenMarNewMar · 02-15-2016, 08:25 AM

Thanks, as always, for the tip. This will be our first spring trip. The oasis system is "off" on the green box unit itself. The domestic water lines are full of pink stuff. After the engine temp is up, do I just select aqua on the thermostat and raise the temp?