Does the furnace run ONLY on gas ? And same with the WH ?

[luberhill]

Ok class A Winnebago Vista 26HE, does the furnace only run the heat on propane ? And same with the WaterHeater ?
But the fridge can be set to auto and run electric if plugged in or on generator but propane when not ??
Thx for the help

[Cocky_Camper]

If the WH is propane only, our previous owners bought an after market kit for our to add an electric element. You just have to plug it straight into any 15 amp outlet. It work great, and get s just as hot as the gas heat. The only downfall is that it takes longer to heat and re-heat.

[AllegroD]

When we had an absorption fridge, we defaulted to Auto unless we had low power at a CG. Then we set it to LP.

[tropical36]

DrewE wrote:
I leave my fridge on auto all the time. Cooling power is basically the same for either gas or AC power, so if AC power is available I'd prefer not to use propane that eventually needs to be refilled. If your electricity (AC power) is coming from an inverter, you may very well want to use gas as the fridge uses a fair amount of electric energy over time, around 300W for maybe fifteen or twenty hours per day. Frequently an inverter would be installed so as to not power an absorption fridge, but there can be a lot of variation there.

AUTO mode does means use electric if available and gas if there is no electric power.

I run our RV fridge on inverter pass through power, but am careful not to have the inverter on if set on AUTO and unattended for awhile. That way it will switch to gas, with a power loss, rather than deplete the batteries over time. When underway and the genset isn't needed for ac, I run it on the inverter. There's a small elect fridge in the basement as well, but only with drinks and not much of a concern, with however we're doing it.

[4x4van]

Wow, the variety of answers here is mind-boggling. Even though they are all essentially the same answer, they all take different routes to get there! Easy answers for "most" RVs are as follows:

Fridge uses either propane or 120VAC, but always needs 12vdc for the control board.

Water Heater uses propane (some can also use 120VAC), but also needs 12vdc for control board.

Furnace uses propane for burner, and 12vdc for blower and control board/thermostat.

Air Conditioner uses 120VAC, but also needs 12vdc for control board/thermostat.

Stove/oven uses propane only.

Microwave uses 120VAC only.

Water pump uses 12vdc only.

Lighting uses 12vdc only.

[DrewE]

I leave my fridge on auto all the time. Cooling power is basically the same for either gas or AC power, so if AC power is available I'd prefer not to use propane that eventually needs to be refilled. If your electricity (AC power) is coming from an inverter, you may very well want to use gas as the fridge uses a fair amount of electric energy over time, around 300W for maybe fifteen or twenty hours per day. Frequently an inverter would be installed so as to not power an absorption fridge, but there can be a lot of variation there.

AUTO mode does means use electric if available and gas if there is no electric power.

[MrWizard]

mine is always on 'gas', thats where i leave it
unless i run out of LP
then i switch to electric

i consider electric mode as a backup option

[luberhill]

do most just put the fridge on AUTO ?? And let it switch from gas to electric by itself ? This has AUTO and GAS...no electric

[magicbus]

jplante4 wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
As others have said> NOTE THIS POST APPLIES TO ALL MOTOR HOMES. NOt just the model specified.

Unless you have AquaHot...

Or the Truma Combi.

Dave

[jplante4]

wa8yxm wrote:
As others have said> NOTE THIS POST APPLIES TO ALL MOTOR HOMES. NOt just the model specified.

Unless you have AquaHot (probably not in a 26 footer tho)

[Mile_High]

magicbus wrote:
The Winnebago Class B units have a combination gas burner and electric element furnace that you can use when on 30A instead of burning gas. I don't think they offer that in larger models.

Dave

I think I saw that at the rally. A euro style furnance that could be electric or gas.

[mowermech]

When all else fails, read the instructions (Owners/Operators Manual).
If you don't have the instructions, they are probably available from the manufacturer's website.
Good luck.

[dougrainer]

magicbus wrote:
The Winnebago Class B units have a combination gas burner and electric element furnace that you can use when on 30A instead of burning gas. I don't think they offer that in larger models.

Dave

Correct, B van units use a Truma system that will furnace in both 120 and LP if needed, Due to the Size of the Truma, and its BTU rating, you will only see it in B vans and not the B Plus vans. Doug

[wa8yxm]

As others have said> NOTE THIS POST APPLIES TO ALL MOTOR HOMES. NOt just the model specified.

Furnace uses 12 volt for control and blowers.. Propane for heat.> Now you can add a 'Cheap heat' system if you wish (Do not think it is worth it) this is an electric heater.. Instead I added a pair of heavy duth (15/20 amp) Duplex outlets (one to a circuit breaker. 12ga wire) for electric space heaters. Do not recommend plugging them into existing 15 amp RV outlets That's too much load for that type of outlet (15 amp house outlet ok but not the "Uini Box jobs in RVs).

Water heater.. Some run on Propane only (From factory) some on your choice. some ccan run on BOTH (Atwood) at the same time for faster recovery. On Atwood you normally have two switches mine are marked Elec and Gas. sometimes it's an icon of a flame and a lightening bolt with a FAULT light between them.

On Surburan there is a switch.. I think outside in the WH compartment but since I don't have one I'm nto sure.. And this only applies if electric IS an option.

Don't have electric? HOTT ROD from any decernt RV store will add it.

Fridges come in basically 3 flavors for this post

Residential (120 vac only)
RV 1: 120 volt with 12 volt controls and gas with 12 volt controls
RV 2 (rare) same as above with with a 12 volt for heat as well as control option.

Does this help?

[magicbus]

The Winnebago Class B units have a combination gas burner and electric element furnace that you can use when on 30A instead of burning gas. I don't think they offer that in larger models.

Dave