being the good southerner that i am, i don't believe in torturing myself by going to horse shows in cold weather (which to me is anything below 40 degrees.) therefore, i had planned on only getting the AC/heat strip in the new trailer, but i do notice that many, if not most, ads mention having a furnance. other than for resale, i am thinking the heat strip should be good enough for what we will be using it for. am i missing something?
Posted 2008-03-16 2:21 PM (#79662 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 303 Location: Grapeland, Texas
The heat strips in mine don't warm it up much and I don't like the hot air blowing into the nose anyway and the floor is always cold. I do have a furnace and altho I don't use it much it sure is nice on a really cold morning. Set the thermostat kind of low so I don't use up all my propane. I mainly use a small electric heater I got at Wal-Mart with a thermostat on it so it's not running all the time. I also use an electric blanket when it's really cold. That makes for some good cozy sleeping!
Posted 2008-03-16 2:24 PM (#79663 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 474 Location: White Mills, Ky.
We only have the A/C with heat strip and it does fine for our use. Like you, we don't go in the really cold weather. For the early spring and late fall trips, the heat strip is enough to knock the chill off and we use an electric blanket on the bed.
Posted 2008-03-16 2:39 PM (#79664 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Expert
Posts: 2453 Location: Northern Utah
I guess that is the difference between living in the South and living in the West. I would rather have the furnace and not have the A/C.
The heat strips require you to have a power hookup. Which means you are parked in a full service camp ground or you are willing to run a gnerator all night. While a propane furnace runs off your batteries and propane fuel.
I also view my trailer as kind of a emergency resource. If the power is off in the house, I could spend a night in the trailer for shelter, regardless of the season.
Maybe because I'm a guy and think it may be more comfortable than the doghouse.
Posted 2008-03-16 2:42 PM (#79665 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
If you plan to regularly camp where there is no electricity, a furnace would be advised. It runs off the battery and propane, which is less expensive to use and maintain, than a generator and its gas supply, a heat strip and circulating fan.
Most of the show grounds we frequent have electrical hook ups, so we rarely use the furnace.
We have the heat strips in our a/c units and instead of using them, we have found the small ceramic heaters to be much more useful. They are inexpensive and have adjustable temperature thermostats. They are quieter than the fans used in the a/c units, and are small and easily stored. One of these heaters can easily keep the interior temperatures of our medium sized LQ comfortable, when outside temps fall to 20 degrees.
From a strictly mechanical outlook, the cost to replace a circulating fan on a built in a/c unit far surpasses the cost of the ceramic heater. We purchased two in a package last fall for $29. Just the service call to look at your a/c unit will exceed $75, with parts and actual labour costs being an additional expense. The fan on your a/c will last many years depending on the amount of usage, but will wear out, as has those of a few of our friends. We use ours as often as necessary for cooling, but have switched to the ceramic unit for heating.
Posted 2008-03-16 5:30 PM (#79679 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Expert
Posts: 2615
From some of your previous posts,I take it you are getting ready to order a nice LQ trailer.A furnace,to me,is just a basic necessity of a LQ package.Others might not agree,and for your needs you might find that the heat strips are adequate,however,I find that the trailer is colder than if I'm running a furnace.We camp at times of the year that it is cold at night,or early in the AM,and when you are getting out of the shower,the furnace is sure nice.It will "run you out of there" so to speak,where the heat strips are like an old heat pump in your house on a 20 degree day.You know you've got SOMETHING on,but,it sure ain't much.
For top resale value,have a furnace in it.The people that might want to buy it from you may have entirely different needs.
Posted 2008-03-16 7:13 PM (#79684 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Regular
Posts: 62 Location: Western Wisconsin
Coming from a northerner; get a furnace. I can't tell you how many used trailers we nixed off our list because they did not have a furnace. Even if you don't use it yourself; for resale it would be a good thing to have.
Posted 2008-03-16 8:42 PM (#79693 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Expert
Posts: 1205 Location: Arkansas
Yes on the furnace, if for no other reason that (more times than I care to mention) the campground had to have the power off for some reason or other, (sometimes overloaded by all those ceramic heaters!!) and the furnace can keep you just fine. Our heat strip in the AC will keep things very warm here in the south esp., but the warmed air does head right for your face. With hookups, I too,use a small ceramic heater. I also carry a portable propane catalytic heater in really cold weather or at hunting camp, to quickly knock the chill off and save battery power. Resale, yes also, on the furnace. I guess it is just expected to be there in a full LQ...
Posted 2008-03-16 8:47 PM (#79694 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Veteran
Posts: 274 Location: MO in woods
Yes furance oh,heat strips are useless (JMHO).We use furance in really spring and fall alot.We also have small heater(if at eletric sites)also Honda generator(furance does stuck down battery life-depending how long away from home/run time).As was posted earlier is great place to stay warm if power out in home-heat/ac-bat/generator.
Posted 2008-03-18 7:29 PM (#79842 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Veteran
Posts: 115
Devil's advocate here. If you're only doing horse shows (where there will always be full power hookups) and you're not planning to show in really cold weather a heat strip in your AC is all you'll need. In four years of showing with a LQ I've never needed my furnace. I normally use either the heat strip in the AC or a small ceramic heater purchased from Lowes. Either of these options keeps the trailer warm and toasty. No need to buy extra propane - when I'm at a show pulling extra electricity isn't costing me anything - but buying propane is!
Posted 2008-03-19 2:27 PM (#79911 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Member
Posts: 32 Location: Eagle Creek,Oregon
Here in the Northwest, there's no question, you need the propane furnace. You'd probably never use the air , and I agree on the heatstrips, they are pretty useless. We keep ours on 50 most of the time so we don't draw down the batterys too much from the fan. Just enough to take the edge off the cold.
Posted 2008-03-19 2:37 PM (#79912 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Elite Veteran
Posts: 736 Location: Western WA
Gonna chime in on the need a furnace vote too. My trailer goes to shows where I always have an electrical hookup, so I wouldn't have thought the furnace vs heatstrip debate would be a big deal. You would think if you have power you don't have to worry about having to run the furnace off batteries. Well....been to a couple of show grounds that are notorious for blowing circuits in the RV camping area, and if you are relying on shore power for the heat strip and the circuit blows in the middle of the night and there is no one around to reset it, you can get pretty cold. Had that very discussion with a neighbor in an RV area at a March show last year. Blew a circuit at night so I ran my furnace rather than my ceramic heater (my furnace blower is really loud and I kind of have the same line of thought that I am paying for as much electric as I want to use but propane is out of pocket). My neighbor only had an electric heater and was pretty darn chilly in the morning. So even if you think you will have electric hookups wherever you go, they aren't always 100% reliable. And there is always a chance you won't get a hookup. One of the biggest shows I went to last year only had 30 RV hookups, I put in a reservation several months before and got spot #29 of 30. Lots of people had to dry camp and use generators. It was warm enough not to need heat, but if it was cold, sure would have been a PITA to have to fire up the generator to keep the trailer warm.
Posted 2008-03-20 7:46 AM (#79956 - in reply to #79658) Subject: RE: furnace necessary?
Location: Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...
I agree with headhunter. Got to have the furnace. Can't count on the electric without the generator. And, I will use the furnace before the heat strips. It is much quieter and takes the chill off faster.
Besides that, I don't know how far north you plan to go, but I have been in Fort Worth in late Feb and early March when I have had to use the furnace.
furnace necessary?
