Looking for information on my Suburban Manufacturing furnace

17 years ago

I bought a 20-year-old condo a couple of years ago in the Bay Area, CA. It has a small in-ceiling furnace in the master bedroom closet. It was made by Suburban Manufacturing Company and is model DFC-30. It is natural gas fueled as most in this area are.

When the initial home inspection was being done and the inspector came across the furnace, he commented about how he has never seen this type of furnace before. That didn't bother me much until I had a furnace company come out to inspect and 'tune-up' the furnace since I didn't know what condition it was in and was 20 years old. I wanted it checked out before I started using it.

The person from the furnace company was shocked by seeing this type of furnace. He also said he has never seen this type of furnace. He took a look at and ran it and said it seems to be in proper working order. But wasn't able to do anything else with it since he has never seen one and wasn't sure how it works. And no, I wasn't charged for that service call since he wasn't able to perform the work completely.

So, that began to concern me. Two people, who otherwise seem to be fairly knowledgable about furnaces and homes have never seen the type of furnace I have and have no information about it. I was thinking to myself who I would call to fix or replace it if it were to go out since it seems to be a rare item.

I did since locate the manufacturer online and found a local distributor should I ever need parts or a replacement. They do still make similar models. I have been using it occasionally for two years (it doesn't get very cold here in NorCal) and it seems to heat my 1100 sq ft condo fairly efficiently.

I'm just wondering how common these type of furnaces are. Also, how difficult are they to work on or replace if needed? Also, are there other manufacturers that make a similar item or is this something exclusive to Suburban Manufacturing? I can't seem to find much online.

Thanks!!!

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Comments (8)

mr_havac
17 years ago
I doubt if its any big mystery, a gas furnace is a gas furnace. Looks like they still make products for the rec vehicle industry. Take all the info you can find off the units tag, mainly model and seriel number, voltage, etc. and contact the company. Maybe they'll sell you a manual on that unit. Then you can have it on hand if you ever need it worked on. Explain it all to the rep.
evans6297_gmail_com
13 years ago
I hope the OP can help. I bought a home with a non-operational Suburban DFC-30 gas furnace. I'm located in the Bay Area and am looking for parts. It would be a great help if you shared your local distributor.
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"Judging by what you said about past homes you built and how you are handling this,this may fall on deaf ears. If so some lurker might profit from the advise. It is best to channel complaints (in writing) through the builder,GC or whom ever the house was bought from. When the homeowner deals directly with subs concerning punch out,they effectivly let builder off the hook. If more serious problems later arise from improper solutions,who is to blame? The homeowner of course,he signed off on it and the sub doesn't have assets,insurance or bond to cover their mistakes." I appreciate your advice but no, that's not my MO. In this case the HVAC company (decent size and well regarded around here) is saying that the system is working correctly. When he tells the builder that ... the builder will tell me that the system is working fine and that there is no need for additional investigation. And truthfully, that might be the case. Unless I have evidence to the contrary. If I have evidence to the contrary the builder will make the sub fix it. I have also found that by learning about these things for myself I can be a smarter consumer and in a lot of ways a better customer. I pay up for things that I care about. And when I have a problem with something I try to express the problem with as much clarity as possible so that the sub knows where to start.
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Jack Z
6 years ago
Hi evans6297_gmail_com, by any chance, do you have any manuals of DCF-30M furnace? I too have the same, and am looking to fix my broken furnace.
Mrs. A
2 years ago
Hi! All, We are in the same boat. My son's condo in Bay Area has a Suburban DCF30M that is now 35 years old, defunct and we can't get any help from Suburban, we have contacted them several times. These units were designed for RV use. The current unit is installed between the ceiling joists of my son's condo. (Floor joists of the unit above.) The current unit is 13" deep, 13 1/2" wide and 32" long. Does anyone have any information about a natural gas unit that would replace this and fit in the same space? A mini split is not an option as his condo complex doesn't allow anything outside of the condo. I have a DCF-30G & DCF-30GC manual if that would be of help to anyone. Hope to hear from you.
PRO
Austin Air Companie
2 years ago
It's a furnace for an RV, so due to architectural blasphemy (no room, most likely) someone had to get creative and use something intended for something else to make it work.

Suburban Furnace for RV's
Naveena Padmaraju
2 years ago
we are leaving in bya area and i am also in same situation. can i get copy DCF-30GC manual?
gelenas
3 months ago
Hello, I have Suburbam DCF-30M broken. Please let me know about any information how to repair or replace it. Thank you.
sktn77a
3 months ago
last modified: 3 months ago
Clearly, some HVAC company in the bay area had the bright idea of bidding on a condo complex project by using RV equipment in a residential setting (cost, space?). Might have been a good idea, might not(?) Time to "make your fingers do the walking" and see if you can find out which company that was.

https://suburbanrv.com/

Looking for information on my Suburban Manufacturing furnace

Comments (8)

mr_havac

evans6297_gmail_com

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