Bilge Heater.

[VBistro]

Very Clever!  I'm going to look into this a bit closer.  Thanks!

 

[rich.dev]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:18 AM, NCeagle said:

One (6") hole was required for the bilge fan and it's under the front dinette (which is detailed by the post SeaDawg shared above). 

The battery compartment ventilation took four (4") holes.

@NCeagle, I really like your 2 mods, just a few questions.....
1) Why did you go with AC fans and not DC?
2) If you had to do it all over again would you use the same 2 smart fans?
3) Are you still happy with the design/results, would you change anything?
Thanks! 

[NCeagle]

16 hours ago, rich.dev said:

@NCeagle, I really like your 2 mods, just a few questions.....
1) Why did you go with AC fans and not DC?
2) If you had to do it all over again would you use the same 2 smart fans?
3) Are you still happy with the design/results, would you change anything?
Thanks! 

@rich.dev, I went with the AC fans because I couldn't find anything comparable (smart/quiet) that were DC.  These fans actually have EC motors, so even though they run on 120V AC, the motors are actually brushless DC so very efficient.  I'm very happy with both the designs and results for both of my smart fans, so no, I wouldn't change anything unless they came out with DC only fans - even then, I'd wait for mine to break before replacing them.  They run non-stop and haven't had any issues for 2.5 years now.

[rich.dev]

Great thanks for the prompt response!😉

[Ollie-Haus]

I know this is an old thread, but I'd like to broaden the topic by asking if owners in cold climate conditions can comment on the heat produced by the inverter charger located under the streetside bed? We have the 3000 watt Xantrex in our 2023 Oliver, and I've noticed as @John E Davies mentioned earlier in the thread that the inverter produces significant heat in that compartment. I have a tracking WIFI temperature sensor in that space next to the outside shower box, and I'm wanting to see if the inverter has a significant effect on that space in cold temps.

My thoughts being along the line of that being shared space with the outside shower connection, of course the inverter would only be producing significant heat while either charging the batteries or inverting battery power for 115v usage. If dry camping under battery/solar conditions, at night when the most inverter production is occurring, substantial heat would be produced during those critical hours. Just curious if anybody else has observed any effective benefit from this arrangement?

[Rivernerd]

10 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:

Just curious if anybody else has observed any effective benefit from this arrangement?

When towing our (then) new Elite II home to Idaho last November, we experienced freezing temps every night.  As low as 9 degrees F one night.  Like you, I placed a digital temperature monitor in that street side compartment near the outside faucet.  I also placed digital monitors under the front dinette seat and in the closet (which did not yet have the air vents I installed after we returned home).

The monitor in the compartment with the 3000 watt Xantrex inverter consistently reported the coldest temperatures of the three.  The inverter operated only occasionally, such as when we first connected to shore power, having drawn down our Lithium Pro 390 Ah batteries somewhat during the travel day by running the fridge on DC.  Even the night after we boondocked at a Harvest Host facility (so our batteries had two days of DC draw down without shore power recharge, just solar), I did not note a significant difference in the temperature reported in that aft street side compartment while the inverter was recharging the batteries from shore power.

My conclusion from this data, collected over 5 cold nights, is that the amount of heat generated by the Xantrex Freedom Pro 3000 watt inverter is not sufficient to noticeably warm that aft street side compartment in freezing outside temps.

For what its worth, with our Truma Varioheat furnace keeping cabin temps at about 70 degrees F overnight, none of the digital monitors reported temps lower than 35 degrees F, which was the one in that aft street side compartment the night ambient temps dropped down to 9 degrees F.  So, the un-winterized plumbing in that yet-unmodified Elite II was not at risk at those temps.