We looked at the brand new Challenger, LH I think. Has a fold up king Bed. When put in slideout you have to find switch inside cabinet next to bed, this is hard to reach and should have been a remote control. Don't know what damage it will do to bed to keep bending it in half. Also no electric outlet by sofa area. It is up in very back of far left upper cabinets. Stupid place to put it! Don't like not having a gas 3 burner stove top! It is now 2 burners and electric. But it did have a lot more floor space when opened up. Anyone have any input on this new one. Not have flip light switches would take some getting use to.

Very informative post Bunny! Thanks for sharing your insights about the new Challengers. We really like our KT, too (except for that night shade switch location.)

Basememt heat
 

I tried a little experimeent on our 2016 37kt.

I placed temp sensors in some places.

Outside temps in the low 30's
One in my front bay on top of the divider.
One below my front grey
One on the floor of my wet
One on top of my fresh water tank.

I keep a shop light in my wet bay so it stayed in the 50's all night. All the other sensors were in the low 40's.

I cranked up the furnace an extra 10 deg and let it run for 30 miniutes before I turned it off. The temp in the basement did not change at all. Not a single degree.

I'll try to move the sensors around and retest, but my conclusion is I do not have heated tanks. I was told when I bought the rv it did. I will be checking the paperwork soon to see if it confirms.

Now I am thinking about drilling a few small holes from the floor vents into the basement.

On our 37 LX, there are 2 ducts from the furnace that go down into the floor. I think they are heating the cavity between the floor and basement, but I don't see any ducts in the basement either. This space also acts as the duct work for the 2 rear floor ducts located next to the bed and in the rear bathroom floor. I guess enough heat bleeds through the cavity into the basement to prevent freezing , but there are no actual "ducts" in the bays. Run your furnace on a cold day and after about 20 minutes, walk around the coach barefooted. You can feel the heat in the floor leading aft.

Does anyone know how many amps the 4 port USB charging station is? I have a 2016 37KT. There is one located in the bedroom and another one in the lower small cabinet next to the living room TV.

I’m not positive, but I believe they’re 1 amp. We have a 2014.5 37KT and I had to fix the wiring for the USB ports in the entertainment cabinet after one came loose...

Hey Tunes, I have a '15 kt, where in the bedroom did you find that usb port?

Our 15 KT has usb charger right next to 110 plug at right end of dresser.

Must be mid prod. change, have 1 in front, not in bedroom.

On my 2016 it is located on the right side of the dresser, on the outside side wall of the right closet. Its a 4 port USB

Thanks for the feedback. I believe you are correct that some heat does somehow bleed into the basement. On our coldest night with temps down to 28 degrees, two digital thermometers I placed in the wet bay, one at both ends of the tanks, registered 38 and 40 with the thermostat inside set to 55 overnight. I'm comfortable that is sufficient for the few hours of freezing temps we get here in FL, but I'm not so sure it would be enough in colder climates where the temps can get well below freezing and for longer periods of time. Will cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

Overall I still really love our Challenger. We are always looking forward to our next trip. :)

That is why many of us carry a work light or small electric heater to put in the wet bay in cold weather.

Isn't it funny how a coach manufacturer can take the fact that the furnace ducting is apparently so poorly designed and assembled, creating multiple locations where heat can "escape" the ducting into the basement and turn it into a "Sales Advantage" by advertising a "Heated Basement?!?":facepalm:

You are correct. Unfortunately, "cheaper is better" is their motto. Looks like they are relying on the warm duct chase to keep the basement warm. I also agree that it probably wouldn't cut it in a northern climate..

It would be pretty easy, I think, to put a register or 2 in the basement ceiling, which is the bottom of the duct leading aft.
Then again, it would also be pretty easy to put in two screws instead of one in about 100 places in the RV where they cheap*ssed in order to save a buck. [emoji35] [emoji35]