Fish house furnaces

[1lessdog]

I will have the outside of my house done in a few days. Still looking at what furnace I should put in. Its either a Empire or Suburban. Can you give me the pros and cons of both heaters. I always ran the ventless and am sick of the smell and humidy.

[blue_healer_guy]

I wouldnt rule out the model at men  ar ds.  Im very happy with it and about 250 less.

[rossco1418]

The pro for the suburban is that it blows air. It can help dry out the fish house floor and will distribute the heat more evenly throughout the house. The downside is that it requires a battery to run. The empire doesn't rely on a battery which is a plus, but you will need some extra fans to move the air to get more even heat. I have a forced air furnace and like it. I always bring the generator with to charge the batteries.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I really like the Suburban forced air furnaces.  They are amazingly efficient.  I ran mine from last Thursday morning through Sunday morning, and used $8.44 worth of propane.  

[1lessdog]

I was thinking the Suburban 15,000 one in front and one in back. My house is 22 ft long. Or is that over kill. If one should fail I still have a backup.

[LindellProStaf]

I got a Homecomfort at L&M and it works great.  Easy to install too.  

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

1 hour ago, 1lessdog said:

I was thinking the Suburban 15,000 one in front and one in back. My house is 22 ft long. Or is that over kill. If one should fail I still have a backup.

I have a 25,000 BTU in mine.  After using my cooktop to help heat the house up, it keeps up no problem.  Total house length is 23'.  If I were going to do two furnaces, I think I'd opt to do one forced air, and one direct vent. 

[opsirc]

what do most used?  a battery hooked to a charger or a converter to power them?

[1lessdog]

I have the prefabbed walls the walls are 3inch thick and have a R value of 15. The roof is the same as the walls and insulated floor. Its 18 with 4 ft V. I will have both battery and generator.

[Iambjm]

Not to hijack your post,  but I have an empire direct vent that I bought from unclaimed freight in 2010. It is a 2004 model and I am having nothing but trouble with it. Two years ago I took it to an RV dealer because the pilot light would not stay lit. He replaced piezo igniter, the thermocouple and got it to light. I got home and it wouldn't stay lit again, back to the dealer and he replaced my regulator. I used it a lot last winter without too many problems, went to Mille Lacs last weekend, pilot wouldn't stay lit again. At one point got the furnace working and then it went out. Took my tank into town and had it filled, got the furnace lit again. Next morning I got up and it wouldn't stay lit again. Bought 2 new tanks this week, filled them and voila still wouldn't stay lit. Now I can't  even get the pilot light to light at all. I have already stuck $260 into this thing, I don't know where to take it to have it looked at. Call me frustrated, and being a 69 year old widow I think some of these places take advantage of me. I am in the Grand Rapids MN area. 

[blue_healer_guy]

After my 2nd empire in 5yrs thats when i switched to the model I stated earlier in 1lessdog's original question.

[YettiStyle]

42 minutes ago, rl_sd said:

I would suggest getting the NT20-SEQ from Suburban. Your house isn't that much larger than mine. Last weekend it was about 10 degrees at night and my furnace only ran one per hour for about 3 minutes. The only reason to move into the 30k BTU is if you want something more ducted without the front grill showing.

You don't have to step up to the 30k BTU to have the ducting or no front grill.  I installed the NT20-SQ which is the same unit as the "SEQ" but there is no front grill and 2 separate duct holes to run ductwork.  Personally I didn't like the look of the grill and would rather have ductwork.  Plus, with the front grill you are basically stuck with how deep the cabinet/couch you are mounting the furnace in can be (~23").  I paid $485 shipping included for my furnace. 

Here is a rundown of the labeling for the Suburban furnaces. 

• NT-SE models are direct discharge furnaces with attractive grilles for zone heating of smaller RVs, trailers, truck campers and even pop-ups. A side duct on SE models is optional.
• NT-S models can be ducted to provide even heat distribution throughout the coach.
• Q = Quiet, Operational difference is quieter and lower amp draw.

[Hawg]

Lamjm, I would almost bet the farm it's the pilot orifice. Minnesota is one of only a couple states that has little or no regulations on propane. We have dirty propane and it clogs them! If your pilot is strong then I'm probably wrong but if it looks weak it's a problem I've had numerous times. I can change a pilot orifice faster than I can change a tank now. It's an easy fix and may just need to be cleaned out. I finally bought a drill (Very small don't try it yourself till you know what your doing, mine is .02) about the size of a human hair that does it. I went up to .022 and it's actually a pretty good difference. My furnace is an Orbis, if yours is just let me know and I can walk you thru it. It just comes down to if you have a strong pilot or not. Super simple and cheap. 

[Iambjm]

I am not sure if it is thermocouple, one thing I am sure of is there is something wrong with the regulator. the dial reads empty with full tanks, can't even smell propane when I try to light it, the stove burners wouldn't even light. After looking at the manual and the area that contains the thermocouple I decided that I am not capable of doing any fixes so I am taking it to a RV dealer to get it looked at. When it comes to gas or electric I am a little scared to mess around with it. I did all my own finishing to this except those two areas.

[hawkeye43]

On 2/5/2016 at 6:28 PM, blue_healer_guy said:

After my 2nd empire in 5yrs thats when i switched to the model I stated earlier in 1lessdog's original question.

What did you do with the empires you took out, do you still have them?

[Hawg]

Lambjm, why do you have a dial on a regulator? Is it an auto change. If it's one of those $10 things that's supposed to tell you gas level take it out. One more thing eliminated from the possible problems. Easy to take off the gas line at the stove first though and crack the gas, if it comes out you've eliminated the tank and regulator. If you have gas I'm still going with clogged orifice. It's very very common problem. 

Edited February 6, 2016 by Hawg

[mnhunter2]

Have had both types of furnaces in my fishouses and they both work fine but I really like the quite empire, doesn't need power and a small fan is really quite compared to a forced air furnace.

[eyehunter78]

When I first started getting wheel house's I always went with a vent less heater. They are efficent and heat quickly, but the tend to make everything in your house sweat. So after a few houses started to use the direct vent heaters(Empire) and have had no trouble at all. I have used these heaters in my last 6-7 houses and have all been trouble free. I also put a non vented heater in every house as a back up. And to help warm the house up quickly when first starting the heat for the weekend. One thing I have heard about the forced air furnace's is that they need a certain amount of pressure from the propane to run correctly. When it gets below zero they tend to start acting up and when it get -20 tend to not work. Now this is just what I have read as of lately of guys this year having trouble a few weeks back when it was extremely cold up north. Guys are using tank heaters now to keep the propane warmer to help with the problem. Seems like a lot of talk to get your heater to work. Just my 2 cents. hope this helps.
 Tight lines and happy fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ontherocks]

I have a 8X18.5 + 4 semi V. I put in a 15K empire in the back and a 18K forced air suburban in the front with a  ceiling fan. I run  both heaters to get the house warmed up and the floor dry. I can set the forced air 3 degrees lower than the direct vent and if the door isn't opening the 15k empire will heat the house even when below zero. The forced air is nice, but it is loud when trying to watch TV or even sleeping. I have also noticed running the forced air too much causes melt under the house and the banking even with 2-3" spray foam in the floor.

The empires heaters have always been very reliable.  This is my first forced air and only 3 seasons into it, so I can not judge the reliability. The menards or home comfort heaters are good, but no wall thermostat, just a preference thing. With any direct vent make sure you get the  proper vent length. If it is only a 2" wall you will want build out the heater or vent by 3" or more. This prevents the exhaust from blowing back in the intake and wind from blowing out the pilot.

As far as forced air and pressure in the LP line. When it gets below -20 degrees you can have problems with any LP heater or even cook stove. The LP does not flow well when it is that cold. Full tanks 30lb and larger help. I haven't tried the tank blankets yet.

 

[Iambjm]

Not too good of a picture, but this is what I meant when I said the dial was showing empty when the tanks were full. Warmed up the regulator and the furnace has lit two days in a row

[1lessdog]

Im putting a closet in my house and thought about just putting the takes in there. Keeps tem warm and out of the elements. I will have a smoke alarm and co detector in the house. Now is this a bad idea. I always check or leaks when hooking up tanks.

[Hawg]

lambjm,yup, that's a bad picture but it's obviously a dual tank system if that' s a lever to turn it on top. You do have a strong pilot when it works though right? This is the ONLY dual regulator that has worked for me and a few others on here over the years. They are $58 at M e n a r d s. Be sure you protect them, or any regulator,  from road slush and blowing snow. That will freeze them up and clog them up faster than anything. If it's not the regulator I still think pilot orifice.

 

[Smoker]

Just remember you have a vent on the regulator also.

[Hawg]

That's why I told her to protect it. 

[Iambjm]

I have the plastic tank covers but I have to modify it to accommodate the hose that goes from the tanks into the wheelhouse