Do I need a underbelly?

[mp183]

I'm going to re-do the balance of my vacation home.
Part of the renovation will include moving all my pipes
into the interior. I need to do this since I don't like the noisy
furnace. Sounds like a jet plane. My neighbor has a new one
and it's also pretty noisy so it's not just because my is old.
I will remove the existing furnace and heat
the place with two Monitor type kero heaters as well
as one small propane heater for the smaller bedroom.
I have a permanent insulated foundation around the perimiter
of the trailer. This does a good job in keeping the critters out.
My understanding about the underbelly is that it is needed to
keep the critters out and to circulate some warm air
around so the pipes do not freeze.
If I have all the pipes inside can I remove the underbelly
and just add standard insulation to really insulate the bottom
properly? I've heard of people using rigid insulation since
this provides less nesting areas for the critters.
How hard is that to do?
Thanks in advance for your input.

[Yanita]

Hi,

You said this is your vacation home, so does that mean you are not there in the winter?

If that is the case just winterize the water lines opposed to rerouting everything into the home. One of our moderators, Greg, lives in NY as well. He heats his home with those monitor heaters. From what I gather, if your home is properly insulated and the belly material intact and skirting snug you can use these heaters. To circulate the heat to your pipes you turn the furnace fan on, it will draw the warm air thru the ducts and circulate throughout your home as well as to the pipes underneath.

Directly under your subfloor, between the joist are your water lines and duct work, the insulation, then the underbelly material. That material holds your insulation into place.

Sure you can add more insulation, but I don't know alot about the R values of the styrofoam stuff, someone will be along to give their opinions.

Yanita

[Greg]

MP, As Yanita said I'm in NY also, I heat PRIMARLY with a mod 21. I'm near Auburn so we don't get the extream cold that you do. I do run the furnace in sub zero weather to keep the pipes from freezing, I also would not want to depend only on one heat source.I would at least insulate the subfloor, the more heat you can keep in, the better. Greg

[mp183]

I don't live in it all year but I would like to go there on some
days during the winter.
I would have two Monitor type heaters plus a propane.
One heater would be in the living room and kitchen area.
One would be in he bigger bedroom. I would have a smaller
propane heater in the second bedroom.
One of the kero heaters can heat the whole place in a pinch.
The reason for moving the pipes inside is that I don't want
the furnace. It's too noisy and if I get rid of it I will gain some
space and be able to get a bigger bathroom and enlarge
the smaller bedroom if I eliminate the laundry area.
There is another room that if new construction off the side of
the trailer and that will be converted to a guest bedroom/kids
hangout room.
I still need to figure out how to make the draining of the pipes
a painless procedure in -10 degree weather.
I guess I'll figure that out when everything is gutted.
I have to post pics of the place one of these day.
It's a really a neat place.
It has a sun room that is something like 12x14.
It has a porch on two sides of the sun room.
There is an insulated room off to the side that will be converted
into a guest bedroom that is something like 12x14.
There is shed next to that that is about 8x8.
It has a 24x24 heated garage that is 2 years old.
It's sheet rocked, painted, has a low ceiling, insulated doors and
six thermal windows. It also has a 12 foot extension at the
back and side. Can store 4 cars under all that if needed.
Garage is one of the seven wonders of the North Country.
I think my wife is a little suspicious of me.
She thinks that I got the place for the garage.
Best thing is that it has tons on legal ATV roads.
My 12 year old son had a blast when we rode our dirtbikes
all over the place.
He also had a blast riding the lawn tractor.
I wonder how long it will take before he figures out that
mowing the lawn is work?

[mrfixit64857]

I, with the advice of some more experienced in the furnace field, made a couple modifications to my furnace that greatly reduced the noise and increased efficiency.
The first part was to install a fresh-air vent for the burner. it draws air from outside, rather than sucking my nice warm air up the chimney. We used insulated duct box panels to build the draft, and the sound of the furnace was reduced some, but I know it needed more.
The next issue I addressed was the blower itself. It draws thru the front of the furnace so it was extremely noisy. I instead ducted the intake (again with insulated ducting ) to a NEW intake/filter assembly in the kitchen floor where there was kind of a "dead Space" andyway. This also helped air circulate better, and the length of ducting REALLY cut the fan noise. Now about all I hear is the pre-fan and the blower motor wind up.

[mp183]

Thanks for the good idea.
I might not use it but I'll pass it on to my neighbor.
For me it's probably best to use the other heaters
since I might be only using certain parts of the house
at a time. If I lived there all year I would have probably
used your idea and kept the furnace.