Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 12-15-2007, 09:48 PM   #1
Wife of Big Doofus
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Wes Taycksus Y'all
Posts: 31
Heatpump to furnace

If I leave the switch on Heatpump (45 degrees) & the outside temp falls below freezing, will the furnace automatically turn on? Or do I need to leave the furnace running? I will be leaving my unit for several days & it warms up in the day, but could get down in the 20's at night. I don't want to risk running out of propane while I'm gone.
__________________

Wife of Big Doofus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2007, 10:16 PM   #2
rdunk
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 482
We have two heat pumps, so we don't run the furnace very much. When the heat pump(s) are set to run, they will run, per the thermostat setting, until the outside temp reaches freezing (prox). At that point, the heat pumps shut off, and the furnace comes on automatically. I assume the reverse will happen, as the outside temperature begins to rise.

When this happened for us the first time, the noise of the furnace was startling, as we didn't know what was happening in the middle of the night. After looking in the data provided by Doubletree, we found this "furnace action" fully explained, so that made everything "ok".
__________________

__________________
Robert

Robert and Carlene

2005 RE3, S/N 2107 (sold Jan. 2010)
rdunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2007, 09:19 AM   #3
jack_diane_freedom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Lindsay Ont, and Gulf Coast Florida
Posts: 138
Ours works in exactly the same way. Set it and forget it. During the night the furnace comes on when below freezing and then in the morning when it warms up a bit the heat pump takes over again. Love it.
jack_diane_freedom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-17-2007, 05:15 PM   #4
Wife of Big Doofus
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Wes Taycksus Y'all
Posts: 31
Thanks. It did exactly as you said. We had our heat pump set on 60 degrees and it stayed about 59 in the bedroom all night. The low outside was 19!

One more question - is it correct that while the heat pump or gas furnace is in operation, both are circulating warm air into the under compartment where all of the water lines are?
Wife of Big Doofus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-17-2007, 08:33 PM   #5
rdunk
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 482
Quote: "One more question - is it correct that while the heat pump or gas furnace is in operation, both are circulating warm air into the under compartment where all of the water lines are?"
.................................................. ........................

Nope! The heat pumps operate in the same way as in the A/C mode, as far as air circulation is concerned. There is no conditioned air into the storage or lower equipment areas from the heat pumps. Air and return air vents are in the ceilings

On our 2005 RE, the furnace return air dumps down into the lower areas. So, when the temps are at freezing, or below, the furnace does need to be running to help keep water lines, etc. from freezing (hopefully).
__________________
Robert

Robert and Carlene

2005 RE3, S/N 2107 (sold Jan. 2010)
rdunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2007, 07:58 AM   #6
sigo'suite
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 423
Quote:
Originally Posted by rdunk
Quote:On our 2005 RE, the furnace return air dumps down into the lower areas. So, when the temps are at freezing, or below, the furnace does need to be running to help keep water lines, etc. from freezing (hopefully).
Or an auxiliary heat source in the basement.

We keep a little electric heater set on the 500W setting and it kept the temp in the basement at 80 when temps dipped to 28 degrees. That was with heater on one side of basement and temp. monitor on other side of basement.

In this manner we can keep an electric heater in the living area and keep it comfortable without burning propane, as stated in another post on a similar thread.
__________________
Ron & Connie
Texas Nomads
""Love your country - - Fear your government!!""
sigo'suite is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2007, 09:24 AM   #7
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
There is another consideration regarding the AC and heat pump that is a potential fire hazard. I'll be posting more on it as soon as the replacement capacitor and motor starter come in. This is the 4th failure of this type we've had and according to the techs I've talked to, rather common to both Dometic and Coleman who use the same components. There is an after market system that is far more robust than the OEM components. I'll post pix, description as well as part ID on the upgrade.
__________________

__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:03 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
×