Furnace size

[Greg and Kathy]

The 5TA has a 12,000 BTU furnace. That is much smaller than other trailers. Does it do the trick or is it undersize

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Greg and Kathy

The 5TA has a 12,000 BTU furnace. That is much smaller than other trailers. Does it do the trick or is it undersize

The 12,000 BTU is input so the furnace used is actually only 9,120 BTU output. The stock furnace used is the low amp model DFSAD12. Haven't heard complaints about it being undersized, but some 5.0 owners have installed small fans to assist warm air up into the loft area. The floor of the loft sounds like it can get warm or cold in very extreme temperatures but I think that is just the nature of the beast. Hopefully actual owners of 5.0's jump in.

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f4...tml#post273116

If you felt it necessary to replace the furnace the good news is they have higher capacity Dometic DFSD models that are the same exact casing size as used in all (newer) Escapes. Assuming the propane branch line size is adequate the penalties would be a higher noise level, more propane use and more battery use if off grid.

[steve dunham]

We have the 16,000 BTU furnace in our Casita . It warms the trailer up really fast , which is an advantage when your traveling all day in cold weather and want to bring the trailer temps up from below zero to a comfortable range . On the other hand once the trailer is up to temp it tends to short cycle and use more propane , a couple of the disadvantages when you oversize a furnace .
In my estimation Escape has sized the furnace properly . The furnace may have a longer run time than the 16,000 BTU furnace but the temps will be more even and comfortable
Now if your camping at 20 below zero then that’s a totally different situation

[emers382]

We haven't as yet used the furnace much in our 5.0TA but we like to sleep cool and are glad that our 2016 (used) came with single pane windows only in the loft, others are double. Our house thermostat is set at 17C (62.6F) at night. We're sure the dog has been quite comfortable where she sleeps in the dinette. Sorry can't help anymore that that.

[Defenestrator]

I have a 19', so not exactly the same, and all the cold-weather options (extra insulation, spray foam, dual-pane windows). The furnace is definitely more than adequate for it. The exposed dump piping by the valve is by far the bigger concern if it's well below freezing for long periods, followed probably by the shower and other miscellaneous piping. At 2F outside it has no problem keeping the inside at 70F, and would probably be OK down to -10F when dry camping (although ice will start forming on the door and window frames at that point.. )

[davidmurphy02]

Love the furnace in our new 5.0TA. Heats the trailer well and is so much quieter than the furnace in our old trailer.

[akmacs]

We have only camped down to fall frost temps but no problems with the furnace quickly bringing the trailer up to toasty warm and its very quiet. Quieter then the portable electric heater we use when on shore power.

We bought the heat strip for the a/c unit and it works pretty well too but it is loud and obviously shore power only.

[Chotch]

Have used at temps to just above freezing and it worked fine. This is with leaving the fan hatch open a bit for ventilation. Slept in trailer at single digits using a small ceramic cube heater just to see how that would work. Trailer was 55 degrees in the am, slept like a baby 😊 Found that to get temp equalized in the loft I crack a window next to bed or the escape hatch,weather permitting.