Thor Ace 30.1 Furnace

[Hittntherooad]

While insulating my front cap I was looking around the RV to see if anything else needed to be done. I see this screened area under the cabinet in the bedroom. I assume this is the air intake for the furnace. Not having to need heat so far I turned on the furnace to see if it worked. It came on, no problem. I took out the drawer over the furnace and removed the panel covering the bottom of the drawe so I could see the furnace. Pretty tight in there. Trying to figure out exactly where the return air is pulled in. I see several ducts running to different areas. I also saw my city water connection hose and 30 amp power wire laying on top of the furnace. Wondering if it got hot enough to cause a problem I let it run for a few minutes. It got really hot. I re routed both the water and power wire to not touch the furnace anywhere. I suggest other owners do the same. It was very easy.
I am concerned that the return air is not isolated and the unit is located in a compartment that isn't sealed from the outside that could allow outside air to be pulled into the unit.
This pic shows the wire and hose laying on top of the unit.
Also the compartment isn't insulated and cold air and hot air can come into the rv from this area.
Anyone else see this as a problem?

[Hittntherooad]

Screened area which is the water heater location which has the same cutout in the floor.

[Hittntherooad]

I think I'm going to get some of the 1 inch blue styrofoam from lowes and make a couple boxes to cover these 2 areas to insulate them from the air inside. Poor design if you ask me. I mean this is open to the bottom of the 2 drawers of the cabinet.

[Hittntherooad]

This is the area under the drawer beside it where the water heater is located. Same thing, open to the inside of the rv.

[Hittntherooad]

After further investigating foam boxes will not work. The return air is located on the end of the fan motor. No way to isolate the air coming into the furnace because the location is basically under the coach. The furnace and water heater are located in a pretty airtight compartment. Not a problem if the furnace is located on the floor level of the coach inside the conditioned air. I will say I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet it is located in the bedroom. I did find a couple areas that I can fix reasonably easy to help it work more efficiently. Thor actually put a duct in the area where all the water connections are. It blows outside of the coach so any air going out will have to replaced by bringing air back in somewhere not that these systems are airtight anyway. The attached pic is the compartment where the water pump and sewer hook ups are located. It shows the duct and another hole drilled through the floor for some plumbing and also where I routed the wire for my second AC unit I installed in the bedroom. It is located right behind the outside shower. I plan to seal these two areas making the system a little more airtight as they lead right into the area where the return is. I will also probably make some type of plug to cap the duct unless it gets so cold the pipes might freeze.

[Hittntherooad]

The more I look around this thing, the more I can see improvements that need to be done. All of these could easily be done at the factory. Note the size of the hole they put for the one little plumbing pipe.

[Hwy101]

Thanks for sharing! I'm going to check the furnace area on my as well...now you got me thinking about the water line and electrical wiring laying on top of the furnace! I did operate the furnace a couple of times this past winter...it is pretty quite.

Thanks!
Steve