Thermostat recommendation?

[dkmcgrath]

I’ve searched the forums unsuccessfully, so forgive me if this has been addressed elsewhere. What thermostat is recommended for replacing the old school analog suburban in the 20X?

I’m concerned about power draw, but I’m also frustrated with the lack of precision on the current thermostat.

Has anyone done this mod?

[ExploreUT]

Haven’t done yet, but am looking to replace my Dometic with a Micro Air Touchscreen with WiFi and app connectivity. Much better UI and UX

https://www.micro-air.com/products_e...ouchscreen.cfm

Not sure if the power requirements exceed what you are looking to stay within however. I’m looking for a better UI and app-based controlability.

[AirParkOnly]

Still researching this myself.

This one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079Q5MKHQ

Seems popular with the Basecamp 20 Facebook group. It uses batteries so power-draw is a non-issue.

Following to get more suggestions.

[dkmcgrath]

Unfortunately, in the 20 is a suburban thermostat, which is t listed in compatibility with the micro-air.

I’ve looked at that Honeywell, have considered just buying it to try it and see. I guess my biggest concern is whether the system is wired like a household unit or is somehow special to a TT.

Given that my BC20X is only a few months mine, I'm not keen to start rewiring on what is essentially a convenience.

[A W Warn]

I would pull the Suburban mechanical thermostat off of the wall and look at the wiring. The furnace control wires have been two wires, either blue or blue with a white stripe, on several Airstreams I have owned. Touching those two wires together turns on the furnace (this is typical for an old school rv mechanical thermostat)

I change the two wire mechanical thermostat on my Safari to a cheap single stage non-programable digital thermostat. It made the trailer much more comfortable with a variance of 1 degree +/-. It is a typical residential thermostat. I used the two wires that control furnace only. The air condition tabs on the thermostat has no wires to connect. The fan switch on the thermostat will not control the furnace fan since the furnace is not set up this way. The thermosat will need to be battery powered, since the furnace control wires do not carry current to provide power to the display. My thermostat is rated 24v, but works fine with the 12v system.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by dkmcgrath

Unfortunately, in the 20 is a suburban thermostat, which is t listed in compatibility with the micro-air.

I’ve looked at that Honeywell, have considered just buying it to try it and see. I guess my biggest concern is whether the system is wired like a household unit or is somehow special to a TT.

Given that my BC20X is only a few months mine, I'm not keen to start rewiring on what is essentially a convenience.

Are the air conditioner control knobs on the surface of the air conditioner or on a remotely mounted thermostat, seperate from the furnace's thermostat?
I'm wondering why you think the Suburban thermostat would have any affect on a micro-air?

[AirParkOnly]

Originally Posted by dkmcgrath

I’ve looked at that Honeywell, have considered just buying it to try it and see.

Mine will be here Friday. It wasn't very expensive. I am going to give it a try and see. Others have used it and liked it, so I am pretty optimistic.

I can update the forum with my results on Sunday or early next week.

[djbreslin]

The Honeywell thermostat mentioned above is indeed a popular choice. I elected to go with an alternative popular choice (purchased, not yet received).

Honeywell TH1100DV1000 Nonprogrammable Heat Only Thermostat, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H6ARNXO...EB46VDZRBG9RT4

This one is heat only, so no extra switches or buttons that will go unused. I liked the “cleanliness” of that.

But my understanding is that either one will work, as they can both be hooked up to the two wire system of the Basecamp.

In fact, if you look at the images of the one I bought, someone shows using it to replace our exact Suburban thermostat. So that’s a real confidence boost.

They are both battery powered. They do not power themselves off the trailer’s electrical system. Pros and cons to that. I think swapping out some AA or AAA batteries once or twice a year is no big deal.

What I really wanted was a Bluetooth version of a thermostat like these. This would allow me to see the temp it was reading and control it from my phone from short distances away. I have electrical and propane information going to my phone now, so I was jazzed by the idea of continuing that trend. Sadly, Bluetooth enabled thermostats are rare. You can find them, especially if you search RV thermostats specifically, but they are very expensive and backordered.

I also looked at the much more common WiFi enabled thermostats, but I plan to boondock and having to attach the thermostats to a WiFi network just to interface with it seemed burdensome. Plus they are expensive and I wasn’t confident they would install to the 2 wire trailer system.

[dkmcgrath]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

Are the air conditioner control knobs on the surface of the air conditioner or on a remotely mounted thermostat, seperate from the furnace's thermostat?
I'm wondering why you think the Suburban thermostat would have any affect on a micro-air?

Micro-air is the brand of the thermostat. They have a list of stats they are a drop in replacement for. Mostly dometic and Coleman-Mach. This has nothing to do with my AC, just the furnace.

[AirParkOnly]

Originally Posted by djbreslin

Honeywell TH1100DV1000 Nonprogrammable Heat Only Thermostat, White

I like this one better for the same reasons you do. Will return the other one.

Today is pick-up day, so I am excited.