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reday · 12-06-2007, 12:44 PM

Has anyone rigged up a thermostat to the roof mount AC/heat strip units that will give you a true temperature setting?

*ship capt · 12-06-2007, 05:42 PM

As a relative newby I can relate an experience that happened to us while camped in Northern Arkansas. It was our first cold weather outing and we had our heat pump on that night. The temp dipped into the 30's and the furnace kicked on for the first time. The "burn-off" fumes set the smoke detector off! We got our first Fire Drill at 5:00 am on a Sunday morning. I wasn't sure what was going on but soon figured it out. Had an early breakfast and saw a beautiful sunrise. Also, hit the trout water before the mist was gone. All's well. The thermostat will definitely switch the heat pump to the furnace.

TBRich · 12-06-2007, 05:55 PM

Welcome to the forums, *ship capt...and ain't those night-time fire drills a hoot? Not only do they freak people out, but they really freak out the pups!

Thanks for sharing...and the fact that you made the most of it with an early breakfast, sunrise and an early start to fishin'...

TB

ROBERTSUNRUS · 12-06-2007, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reday

Has anyone rigged up a thermostat to the roof mount AC/heat strip units that will give you a true temperature setting?

Hi, no, but I did replace the manual thermostat for the furnace with a digital one. The heat strip works just fine as is. Sometimes I wonder why people don't want to use the furnace, airconditioner, heat strip, propane, or anything else their trailer came with; Why not order an empty trailer?

reday · 12-07-2007, 09:21 AM

I found a post where a thermostat had been added... looks like a good start to solving my problem...

Thanks Nick.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f427...ace-14953.html

Fyrzowt · 12-07-2007, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazylev

is there a way for an original poster (me) to edit the title of a thread for clarification?

I'm thinking this thread should be called "Using the heat pump/strip instead of furnace."

instead of

"Using the heat pump instead of furnace."

Jonathan

PM one of the mods, they can make it happen.
Dave

**jcanavera** · 12-07-2007, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazylev

is there a way for an original poster (me) to edit the title of a thread for clarification?

I'm thinking this thread should be called "Using the heat pump/strip instead of furnace."

instead of

"Using the heat pump instead of furnace."

Jonathan

Done

Jack

jzelle · 12-10-2007, 10:45 AM

Tried the heatpump once on ours-too noisy for my liking, I'll pay for the propane and use the furnace instead.

hshovic · 06-25-2009, 06:43 PM

The wife complained about cold beds in the shoulder season, so I put an auto electric blanket below the sheets. That worked until I tripped over the wire... Also, we forgot to turn it off. So I bought a manual 60 min timer for 120 V, wired in another 12 V outlet by the lower head of the bed. Plugged in the blanket permanently. Now she just turns on the timer an hour before bed and is comfy toasty.

dmac · 07-14-2009, 09:00 PM

I am two weeks into full-timing while working far from home. I am at an RV park that has separate electric meters for each site, and charges the monthly campers for electricity. My question is: which is cheaper to use when the nightly lows are in the 50's - the heat pump or the furnace?

tpi · 07-14-2009, 09:22 PM

Propane is roughly 90,000 btu per gallon. Heat pumps produce very roughly 10,000 btu per kilowatt hour.

No telling what the efficiencies of your heat pump and furnace.

If one doesn't look like a clear winner it may not hurt to experiment and see which is cheaper to run.

dmac · 07-14-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpi

Propane is roughly 90,000 btu per gallon. Heat pumps produce very roughly 10,000 btu per kilowatt hour.

No telling what the efficiencies of your heat pump and furnace.

If one doesn't look like a clear winner it may not hurt to experiment and see which is cheaper to run.

Assuming the furnace is 80% efficient, and propane costs $4/gal, the cost per 10 kbtu of heat is $4/gal * 1 gal/90 kbtu *1 kbtu input/.80 kbtu output= $.056 for 10 kbtu

The Duo-Therm heat pump puts out 15,000 btu on 16 amps (assuming the efficiency of the heat pump mode is similar to the efficeincy of air conditioner mode). At 120 V that is 120 * 16 = 1920 watts. 15000 btu/1920 watts = 7.8 btu/watt. Producing 10K btu requires 10,000/7.8 = 1282 watts. At $.10/kwh the cost per 10K btu is 1282 watts * 1 kwh/1000 watts * $.10/kwh = $.13 for 10 kbtu

If my pricing and math are right, it looks like the heat pump costs twice as much to run as the furnace.

tpi · 07-14-2009, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmac

Assuming the furnace is 80% efficient, and propane costs $4/gal, the cost per 10 kbtu of heat is $4/gal * 1 gal/90 kbtu *1 kbtu input/.80 kbtu output= $.056 for 10 kbtu

I'm sleepy right now but I think you have the decimal over an extra place on the propane. (actually .56 instead of .056). But maybe after a night's sleep I'll think otherwise.

richinny · 07-15-2009, 07:15 AM

does the cost of the power for the furnace blower fan factor into this?

Wingeezer · 07-15-2009, 07:25 AM

I have tried the heat pump in or trailer a few times just to see how well it worked. Having said that, my choice is just to use one of the $20 ceramic "cube" heaters when I need a little heat to save wear and tear on the trailer's AC unit. We just move the small heater from one end of the trailer to the other depending on need.

Brian.

Nuvite-F · 07-15-2009, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

I have tried the heat pump in or trailer a few times just to see how well it worked. Having said that, my choice is just to use one of the $20 ceramic "cube" heaters when I need a little heat to save wear and tear on the trailer's AC unit. We just move the small heater from one end of the trailer to the other depending on need.

Brian.

I agree with you. It really doesn't take many BTUs to heat a small trailer when the outside temps are in the 30s and 40s, and a simple electric heater is quiet. We like to sleep with the windows open in weather down into the 50s and it's annoying to listen to the neighbors LP furnace cycling on and off like a big blowtorch.

dmac · 07-15-2009, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpi

I'm sleepy right now but I think you have the decimal over an extra place on the propane. (actually .56 instead of .056). But maybe after a night's sleep I'll think otherwise.

I think you are right... I divided by 90 when I should have divided by 9 to get cost per 10,000 btu. New version is:

Assuming the furnace is 80% efficient, and propane costs $4/gal, the cost per 10 kbtu of heat is $4/gal * 1 gal/9 10Kbtu *1 kbtu input/.80 kbtu output= $.56 for 10 kbtu

The heat pump is still at $.13 for 10 kbtu, so running the furnace costs 4X the heat pump!

The cost of electricity to run the furnace fan should be small, probably less than the errors in my estimates for the calculation, so I'm not including it.

*ship capt · 07-16-2009, 09:08 PM

Our heat pump is great for our 23' coach. We plug in a small fan to circulate the air a little better. We like the hum. The furnace is wonderful, even, quiet heat (having the bathroom warm is great too) but we do most of our touring down south. If it gets too cold at night, out furnace automatically cuts on. Also, with our thermostat back by the bed, we can get too warm up front with the furnace going most days. I have also run out of propane totally on a long stay without a decent fill-up plan (true confessions) and had to make a trip to the local quick mart to pick up a 20# tank to rig for the night. It's OK, I use it for my grill.

BoeingJet · 10-28-2016, 07:58 PM

After 15 yrs. of camping, we finally came to the conclusion that we use a ceramic heater as our mainstay, since I am a light sleeper. We use the heat pump in the mornings and early evenings in cold weather, less than 32 deg. We use the lP furnace only below 32 deg. As it really uses a lot of LP and fogs up the windows. Use as much of the RV Parks electricity as you can, because you are paying for it, anyways.