norm25 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Anyone have one? How do they work? How much juice do they require from the battery? In general what do you think.Looking at buying one from fish house supply and trying to talk myself into it.Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravP Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 My Dads got one in his wheelhouse. Seems decent but whenever the heat shuts off the fan keeps going and its not because of the setting on the thermostat. We have to unhook and hookup the battery everytime you need to turn the heat on.... Anybody got any ideas.Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxcar46 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 go with the suburban furnace. you can buy those through fish house supply also. I have the 16,000 in my shack and haven't had any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewey1980 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I have it in my wheel house,its great drys the floor in a hour,and heat is equal through out the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovermn Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 My Dads got one in his wheelhouse. Seems decent but whenever the heat shuts off the fan keeps going and its not because of the setting on the thermostat. We have to unhook and hookup the battery everytime you need to turn the heat on.... Anybody got any ideas.Thanks Like your furnace at home, the fan will run for a set period of time after the burner shuts down to blow what's left of the heat into the room. Mine will run for about 30-45 seconds after the burners shut down. As far as the unit its self, I've had mine for 5 trouble free years. It's just now starting to develope a small bearing squeek occationally, but that's after many many hours of opporation. As far as power usage, it pulls 3.4 amps. I believe that the suburbans are pulling more than that, if battery life is a concern of yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassislife Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The suburbans only have a 2.8 amp draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbqhead Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Being a RV tech, i like the suburban a little better. I havefound the suburban to be a little more reliable.randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Buck Buster Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 A neighbor of mine has a 34,000 btu version. It sounds like a jet engine when the burners start. The heat is great, and heats the house evenly throughout. I don't know if the small cabinet that he put it in has anything to do with the excess noise or not. Maybe if he would have insulated the walls of the cabinet, it would get rid of some of the noise.All in all, he is very happy with the performance of it, and likes the amount of ducts you can use with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravP Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The fan never shuts off, just keeps running Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dairyman Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 some thermostats have a "continual" fan setting on them ---make sure your setting is on the "auto" position other wise the fan will run when it shuts down after reaching temperature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravP Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The thermostat has those settings and it is in the auto position Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkapat Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I am not sold on forced air furnaces. No power=no heat. Empire makes a direct vent with a t-stat that requires no power. If you would like more even heat get the blower kit and run it when desired. I like to leave the heat on in my house. I don't see any way to do that with a forced air except for lots of batteries. If you do get one make sure you have a generator with all the time. If not get the empire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingFishy* Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I have the suburban in my house and it is great, it keeps an 8x20+ V front evenly heated. It does however require a battery which lasts about 4 hours, plenty of time if my generator runs out of fuel in the wee hours of the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxcar46 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Like I said I have the Suburban NT 16000 in my shack (6 1/2 X 12) and run it on 2 - 6 volt batteries hooked together to make 12 volt. I can run Friday through late Sunday without a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovermn Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I just got back from a trip that took me to Mille Lacs, Vermillion, Burntside and back to Mille Lacs. Wed-Mon. With the Atwood 16K force air going, along with the 4 speaker stereo, lights and LCD/DVD player, I was self sustained using 2 large deep cycles wired in parallel. I got back with 11.75 v read at the batteries. They probably would have lasted another day, maybe 1.5My point is, having a forced air doesn't mean you're limited to short times on the ice, or buying an expensive generator. Because my fish house is the winter cabin Fri-Sun, I bought a vented furnace for added safety. Just my $0.02Back to the point. I think that any unit you buy will work well in the fish house, as long as the BTU's are matched to the size of the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daylate$short Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Check [YouNeedAuthorization] for new atwood furnaces. Save some $ for a couple of high quality batteries. The key is amp hours. running 2 12 v in parallel as hovermn said is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norm25 Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 Do you mean the E on the Bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norm25 Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 As far as the atwood over the suburban is it really worth the extra $115? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye43 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Just want to put a tip we have tried in a couple of houses now. If take a wall thermostat that you would use to turn the heater on and off and place it in the area of the top bunks and hook a couple of computer fans to it you can set the temp. to how you want it. This has made the hot spots in the top bunks very comforable. We did this to a house that had upper bunks on both ends of the house using 1 thermostat and had very good results. Its just something we did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapperACE Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I had a Suburban FAF in my house I just sold, and loved the thing. In addition to the comfort level, it seemed like the holes NEVER froze over... even on the coldest of nights. And as far as the battery consumption goes, I was amazed how long that thing would run on a battery charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmc2b Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Does anyone run their generator/charger on their battery while hooked up to the furnace? My suburban warns against it because of the difference in voltage. Wondering if anyone had their circuit board go from it. I like my suburban otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovermn Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The best way to run everything off of a generator is through the batteries. Run a converter between the generator and batteries, and that'll take away any spike that may happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-King Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 forced air furnaces are junk in my opinion unless you are going to constantly use a generator or plan on lugging batteries around all of the time. In the middle of the night if your battery dies and you have no generator you might as well pack up and go home. Buy an empire direct vent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman1212 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 dont buy a forced air, drains your battery and if the fan stops then your [badWordUsage]!! get a empire direct vent!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTERSOCK Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 forced air furnaces are junk in my opinion unless you are going to constantly use a generator or plan on lugging batteries around all of the time. In the middle of the night if your battery dies and you have no generator you might as well pack up and go home. Buy an empire direct vent I agree with this. The empires are a little more expensive but there is no need to have a battery and it has a wall thermo. I recommend if you have 2x2 walls to buy the extra fresh air extension tho because the draft might cause the pilot to go out otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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