Coach Heating

[Just Steve]

Hey guys, newbie here i just purchased a 2017 Newmar Dutch Star 3736 , we just arrived in Georgia and im embarrassed to ask what is the best way (step by step ) to keep the coach heated, we also have heated floors…my wife is wrapped up like an Eskimo this am…once again thank you for any help you can give me.

[Camp CA]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new rv!!

Augment your rv heater(s) with ceramic or oil bath electric space heaters.

[David 70]

Are on electric hookups or boondocking?

[SafariBen]

You don't have the owners manual? that would be the first place to look.



Without more specific knowledge, generally you'll have at least one thermostat, turn that to heat, and turn the temp up to 75 and wait a few minutes to see if you get any heat, if not you might have to find the furnace and see if there's an on off switch there. Assuming everything is working, it should light up and heat. There can be any number of other issues that take some searching to find the solution to, but that's a start.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Do you know how to turn on the furnace? It may be propane (there would be one in each heat/cool zone of the DutchStar) or maybe an Oasis diesel/electric heater. Propane furnace would be turned on via the same wall thermostat that operates the a/c, but switched to Furnace mode. If you have Oasis for hot water & heat, there will be a separate control panel for the Oasis but it too has a thermostat.


Your floor heat is probably electric and has a On/Off switch and knob to turn the heat up/down. Where it might be in the interior i can't even guess.


If you don't have the coach manuals, go to the Newmar website and sign up for access to Newgle, Newmar's online database.
I found a 2015 Dutchstar owner manual online at https://www.manualslib.com/manual/35...Star-2015.html

[Domo]

Brrrr! It's only 48° in Fort Myers, Florida today - I know how your DW feels!

I'm betting a call to any local Newmar dealership might get you an answer if you can't find the instructions in your manual.

Meanwhile; huddle and cuddle are a direct prescription from Dr. Domo!

[Cat320]

Start by turning the floor heats on to 80 degrees...and leave them on.

[NordicVetMBA]

Originally Posted by Just Steve

Hey guys, newbie here i just purchased a 2017 Newmar Dutch Star 3736 , we just arrived in Georgia and im embarrassed to ask what is the best way (step by step ) to keep the coach heated, we also have heated floors…my wife is wrapped up like an Eskimo this am…once again thank you for any help you can give me.

One of my furnaces had some kind of "panic" mode once - from trying to start it with the propane turned off. Apparently the Advent (?) furnaces will try to fire several times, and if it fails, they stop trying. There was a reset button just inside the exterior access panel that I had to push - about 6 screws out of the fiberglass (paint-matched in my case, so they had to go back in the same/right holes), open the hatch, reset the furnace.

I'm sure your coach manufacturer will help via their 800 number.

[NordicVetMBA]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Do you know how to turn on the furnace? It may be propane (there would be one in each heat/cool zone of the DutchStar) or maybe an Oasis diesel/electric heater. Propane furnace would be turned on via the same wall thermostat that operates the a/c, but switched to Furnace mode. If you have Oasis for hot water & heat, there will be a separate control panel for the Oasis but it too has a thermostat.


Your floor heat is probably electric and has a On/Off switch and knob to turn the heat up/down. Where it might be in the interior i can't even guess.


If you don't have the coach manuals, go to the Newmar website and sign up for access to Newgle, Newmar's online database.
I found a 2015 Dutchstar owner manual online at https://www.manualslib.com/manual/35...Star-2015.html

Could be a heat pump too - for those you switch the A/C thermostat to "heat pump".

More info is definitely needed.. you may have a build-sheet stuck somewhere in the coach - could be inside a cabinet door or it's in the master closet at the back of the coach in my case (stuck to the wall) - the build spec/options list would probably have what kind of heater you have.

If you have an electric range instead of propane- and you have propane heat - you would need to open the valve on the tank in the storage bay (just stating the obvious).

[Just Steve]

Hey guys i appreciate the help on this, i have it working now i found the furnace and turned it on. I think it was too cold for the HP to operate, we got down to 18degrees also i have the floor heater on how good is that!!!

[jacwjames]

For piece of mind I installed a remote temp monitor in my wet bay to confirm my system heat is working. In cold weather you need to be concerned with the basement heat wherever water pipes and tanks are.



I actually installed extra heating pads under my fresh, gray, black water tanks.

[Dutch Star Don]

Your coach will stay warm with JUST the heated floors. You have a HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW switch. The difference between the three is just a time function. On HIGH they cycle on and off more often.

We recently camped in cool weather with the days in the mid 60's and the nights in the mid 40's. We've been using our heated floors for over six years and have them figured out. In the weather noted above, we turned off the floors in the morning and back on at about 5pm when the sun went down. The MAIN cabin I turned on HIGH. The bedroom and the bath were turned to LOW as we like to sleep in a cool room.

We've camped in 25-degree weather and left the MAIN cabin on HIGH all day. The heated floors are kind of like air conditioning. If you don't get a good start early, they don't cool as well, in this case, heat as well.

We live in California, but we have camped numerous times in weather in 20's and 30's, like Monument Valley in February. All we needed were the heated floors. We also have a fireplace and occasionally turn it on until the floors heat up.

We almost passed on ordering heated floors, but our dealer talked us into it. They are probably one of the best features on the coach. You get floor to ceiling even heating with no noise.

Experiment with the heated floors and you'll see how well they work.

***Lastly, if you use the furnace, OASIS hydronic heating, the fan switch on the dash has to be turned on when the Zone 1 furnace is on if you want the heater fan at the front of the coach to work.

[NordicVetMBA]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Your coach will stay warm with JUST the heated floors. You have a HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW switch. The difference between the three is just a time function. On HIGH they cycle on and off more often.

We recently camped in cool weather with the days in the mid 60's and the nights in the mid 40's. We've been using our heated floors for over six years and have them figured out. In the weather noted above, we turned off the floors in the morning and back on at about 5pm when the sun went down. The MAIN cabin I turned on HIGH. The bedroom and the bath were turned to LOW as we like to sleep in a cool room.

We've camped in 25-degree weather and left the MAIN cabin on HIGH all day. The heated floors are kind of like air conditioning. If you don't get a good start early, they don't cool as well, in this case, heat as well.

We live in California, but we have camped numerous times in weather in 20's and 30's, like Monument Valley in February. All we needed were the heated floors. We also have a fireplace and occasionally turn it on until the floors heat up.

We almost passed on ordering heated floors, but our dealer talked us into it. They are probably one of the best features on the coach. You get floor to ceiling even heating with no noise.

Experiment with the heated floors and you'll see how well they work.

***Lastly, if you use the furnace, OASIS hydronic heating, the fan switch on the dash has to be turned on when the Zone 1 furnace is on if you want the heater fan at the front of the coach to work.

I grew up near the Minnesota/Canada border and my wife is from Los Angeles, the first time I brought her home with me for family Christmas, she was wearing flip-flops and I kind of frowned at it, but couldn't give up the opportunity either. We flew to Minneapolis and used the jet bridges & whatever without a problem, but we don't have jet bridges in my home town... When she stepped out of the door onto the ladder of the Caribou Regional Jet, I thought she was going to have a heart attack. Of course, the flip-flops froze solid in seconds, it was -33F, and a strong wind, so the 'feels like' was -60. It was one of those nights when we used to play games as kids - throw a bucket of water and the water turns to ice before it hits the ground. Then my brother asked me why she wore a raincoat... (Because it rains in LA in the winter). Of course, we went shopping the next day.

But seriously, the furnace will work just fine in 20F or whatever. We live in Tahoe, and that is pretty much fall weather here. we use the coach all the time to escape for a few months here and there.

I suspect - if it's a water-based furnace system - that a water line froze, or something more basic - the coaches ship with crappy thermostats, never rule that out.

It's not really too cold for any kind of vehicles until the vulcanized rubber solidifies on the tires and they become sort of square with the "flat spot" where they were parked not "bending" as it goes around and you are kind of doing a thump-thump-thump down the road. That's cold, happens around -50 F. I would avoid moving slides when below around 5 or 10 degrees because that foam/rubber seal stuff they use might crack and of course everything gets pretty stiff when it is cold, but engines, furnaces, all that stuff are fine (unless you have a problem).