Air Return for LP Furnace

[KirbyRVA]

I am curious where the LP furnace on my 2019 Solitude 384GK gets its return air. On other 384GK's I've seen, there is a return air grill under the desk near the stairwell to the bedroom. My rig has no such grill. I am wondering if that was just forgotten/not installed at the factory.

[TucsonJim]

howson
Country Campers
Cate&Rob

Can one of you please check your heat/air plan drawing to see if the return path is identified for the 384GK? The designator for the cold air return path should be identified in the legend.

Thanks,

JIm

[GDRV-Megan]

KirbyRVA check in the linen closet, in between the toilet and coat closet.

[KirbyRVA]

KirbyRVA check in the linen closet, in between the toilet and coat closet.

Sorry but I am confused with that statement. Are you familiar with the floorplan for the 2109 384GK? The coat closet is nowhere near the toilet. The 'linen' closet is above the toilet in the bathroom. While we are not at the trailer now (we live in Virginia and the Solitude is parked in Myrtle Beach, SC), we can recall no return grill inside the linen closet. The linen closet is packed full of linen and other bath related items. If there had been a grill inside that closet, I would have been asking why anyone would put a return inside of a closet that was expected to be filled with linen? The 'coat closet' is in the stairwell and I also don't recall any return grill in there. I will look more closely when we get back to the unit in late January.

I must say, these units should be built based on a set of plans and I would think the manufacturer could look at those plans and tell me exactly where the return was supposed to be located.

[TucsonJim]

Kirby - I've done a little investigation on this. The photo on the GDRV website indeed shows the cold air return on the wall under the desk. But I also have the drawings for the heat and air plan which shows the cold air return near the pantry door. So maybe there was a change based on when they were built. Please look for a PM from me.

Jim

[GDRV-Megan]

KirbyRVA sorry, you don’t have your VIN I’m your profile, so I wasn’t positive on the offline date. I do believe there were changes to the floor plan, depending on the offline date. If Jim isn’t able to help you, send me a message with your VIN and we will get this figured out.

[KirbyRVA]

Kirby - I've done a little investigation on this. The photo on the GDRV website indeed shows the cold air return on the wall under the desk. But I also have the drawings for the heat and air plan which shows the cold air return near the pantry door. So maybe there was a change based on when they were built. Please look for a PM from me.

Jim

I got your PM's and I suspect the pantry is the intended location of a cold air return. However, there is no grill in there which makes me wonder if GD builders just forgot to cut a hole and install one. As I noted in my response to your PM, my heat air flow seems lazy, especially in the bedroom. I've been in the utility area and inspected all the ductwork and see no disconnections or kinks so thought it might be due to a restricted cold air return.

[TucsonJim]

I got your PM's and I suspect the pantry is the intended location of a cold air return. However, there is no grill in there which makes me wonder if GD builders just forgot to cut a hole and install one. As I noted in my response to your PM, my heat air flow seems lazy, especially in the bedroom. I've been in the utility area and inspected all the ductwork and see no disconnections or kinks so thought it might be due to a restricted cold air return.

I have a much different unit than you do, but there is no grill on my return. It's basically just an opening under a cabinet. It works well for me. But your thoughts on a missing return certainly make sense when you have reduced air flow. It will be interesting when you get back to your RV and can do a detailed search.

Jim

[KirbyRVA]

KirbyRVA sorry, you don’t have your VIN I’m your profile, so I wasn’t positive on the offline date. I do believe there were changes to the floor plan, depending on the offline date. If Jim isn’t able to help you, send me a message with your VIN and we will get this figured out.

vin 573SS4228K1112397

[OffToHavasu]

As a test, open one of your pass through doors. That may allow enough air in the basement area to see if there is a noticeable air flow difference out of your vents.

[GDRV-Megan]

vin 573SS4228K1112397

Thank you. Is this not where your return is? See attached.

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[KirbyRVA]

Thank you. Is this not where your return is? See attached.

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No return there. No openings, no grills. There is a round heat duct diffuser behind the toilet under the linen closet. It blows warm air.

[GDRV-Megan]

I have one more suggestion. Look under your step (that leads into the bathroom). The first step should be open, it should have a void into the utility area/space under the upper deck. This is where the cold air return should be located.

[KirbyRVA]

I have one more suggestion. Look under your step (that leads into the bathroom). The first step should be open, it should have a void into the utility area/space under the upper deck. This is where the cold air return should be located.

OK. The furnace also seems to pull return air from the bottom of the pantry since the furnace is behind the pantry in the basement area.

I hope your engineers/designers realize that even though the basement storage behind the steps has a small heat outlet, it does not warm that area like the living space. As a result, when the furnace runs, it pulls colder air (15 -20 degrees colder than living area temp depending on outside temp) into the living space. The wall thermostat is mounted above the steps so this colder air makes the furnace run longer. Also, in summer, hot air comes into the living space with a similar result.....the thermostat reads that warmer air coming from under the steps and the AC units run constantly. I closed the opening under the steps this past summer and it made a dramatic improvement in cooling.

A better solution would be to create a larger opening in the bottom of the pantry which should give the furnace plenty of return air. I am curious why your designers did not realize pulling air from a poorly heated/cooled space (from under the steps) would make the living space harder to heat and cool. In any forced air HVAC system, return air should be taken from the living space and not from areas that are poorly heated/cooled. Ask your engineers if they would put a return duct between their living room and an unheated/un-cooled garage in their home??

[GDRV-Megan]

OK. The furnace also seems to pull return air from the bottom of the pantry since the furnace is behind the pantry in the basement area.

I hope your engineers/designers realize that even though the basement storage behind the steps has a small heat outlet, it does not warm that area like the living space. As a result, when the furnace runs, it pulls colder air (15 -20 degrees colder than living area temp depending on outside temp) into the living space. The wall thermostat is mounted above the steps so this colder air makes the furnace run longer. Also, in summer, hot air comes into the living space with a similar result.....the thermostat reads that warmer air coming from under the steps and the AC units run constantly. I closed the opening under the steps this past summer and it made a dramatic improvement in cooling.

A better solution would be to create a larger opening in the bottom of the pantry which should give the furnace plenty of return air. I am curious why your designers did not realize pulling air from a poorly heated/cooled space (from under the steps) would make the living space harder to heat and cool. In any forced air HVAC system, return air should be taken from the living space and not from areas that are poorly heated/cooled. Ask your engineers if they would put a return duct between their living room and an unheated/un-cooled garage in their home??

Thanks for the suggestions! I have sent this over to one of our production/customer service reps and here was what he sent me:

"I understand his concern with the cooling system as it is drawing air from the ceiling so you will get air back through the return to the furnace, but to compare the system to a home system is not a far comparison as in a home the heating and cooling are using the some fan and they also have the advantage of using a ducted return right back to the furnace and are able to pull air from each room that they are returning heat to and this allows the system to heat more efficiently by pulling and returning to the same space with the ducted returns. In our set up the turn on the furnaces are not ducted so we have to allow air to return to the furnace by creating openings at the bottom of the steps, cabinets and pantry areas. The basement area where the furnace is located does heat up rather quickly as the furnace get rather hot and also the radiant heat from the flex ducting is also a reason we need these opening to allow the furnace to not over heat. The pantry is right there and if we were to use this as the only area to return air we have to consider that if the pantry door is closed there would be less air that would get to the furnace."