1995 road trek 190 heater fan

[FRee]

So I was wondering if there was any means of replacing the internal fan with a more power efficient one. The one that is currently in it draws a ton of power and uses up a lot of my 200 ah lithium bank.

We have solar, but in winter if it’s overcast, It can only go a couple days before I get a low power disconnect from my bms.

[SteveJ]

Pretty much nothing available, assuming a Suburban furnace which is what I assume you're asking about.

The furnace draw, IIRC, is under 4 amps. This should not kill 200 AHs of fully charged lithium batteries unless you are using a lot of power elsewhere. 12 volt fridge? Incandescent lighting? Starlink? CPAP?

Do you have a shunt based battery monitor? pretty much required with a lithium setup and highly desired for lead acid batteries.

Some folks use a catalytic heater, with proper precautions. I'm not a fan.

[mkguitar]

as a first step I'd check that the airflow through the furnace is unobstructed and that the furnace is working efficiently- that would reduce it's duty cycle and power draw. those wasps like to build nests inside those exterior vents, dragging mud and leaf litter in with them

[FRee]

Originally Posted by SteveJ

Pretty much nothing available, assuming a Suburban furnace which is what I assume you're asking about.

The furnace draw, IIRC, is under 4 amps. This should not kill 200 AHs of fully charged lithium batteries unless you are using a lot of power elsewhere. 12 volt fridge? Incandescent lighting? Starlink? CPAP?

Do you have a shunt based battery monitor? pretty much required with a lithium setup and highly desired for lead acid batteries.

Some folks use a catalytic heater, with proper precautions. I'm not a fan.

This is very detailed information. Thank you so much for taking the time, both of you! The fridge stays on propane (it draws the battery down in one night), all lights are switched to LED bulbs, nope, and nope.

Originally Posted by mkguitar

as a first step I'd check that the airflow through the furnace is unobstructed and that the furnace is working efficiently- that would reduce it's duty cycle and power draw. those wasps like to build nests inside those exterior vents, dragging mud and leaf litter in with them

This is a great thought, I will check this immediately and let yall know.

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by FRee

The fridge stays on propane (it draws the battery down in one night), all lights are switched to LED bulbs, nope, and nope.

something is really not right. Pretty much to impossible to trouble shoot without a battery monitor. For $45 you can eliminate a lot of head scratching and frustration. Without data pretty much everything is just guessing. The monitor will give you data.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck.

[booster]

Before getting too deeply on the total power use causes, I think the OP needs to determine his duty cycle heating. At 100% duty cycle you could use nearly 200ah in two days just in the furnace. It would have to be severely underfired to do that, though, as the 16000btu is overkill for our little vans.



IIRC the Suburban in our 07 will only use about 10ah of power per day at 40*F

[hbn7hj]

Find a better way to charge your batteries. A generator will charge 200AH of lithium in little time.