Quote: "When I ordered my 07 38RL3 I did not have the option to order two heat pumps, only one with second a/c unit".
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Doubletree probably hasn't changed in this regard. By option, you can upgrade from the std 13.5k a/c to a 15k a/c, with heat pump. You can also option for a 2nd 15k a/c with heat pump.
That is what we did. We have 2 15k's, with heat pumps, and we are still glad to have both. While we don't plan to be in really cold weather, sometimes, you never know what might happen. The heat pumps work great, but the lower the temps, the less efficient they become.
With the furnace, you heat one "zone", the entire living area of the Suite.
With two a/c's with heat pumps, you have two conditioned air zones. Zone 1 is the living room/kitchen area, and zone 2 is the bedroom/bath area. Of course, the a/c outlet ducts are common for both areas, but most of the output goes to the selected zone.
This set-up works great! You can set the a/c's or the heat pumps to run individually, or together, at the same temps, or at different temps for whatever is preferred in the two zones. This is really nice for individual temperature preferences. For instance, D/W doesn't like heat in the B/R while sleeping. So, if outside temps are going to be on the colder side, we can set the living area heat pump to provide what general heat is desired, with just enough heat coming to the B/R through the common ducting, to keep me happy.
For us, most of the time, whether on heat or cool, we have each zone set at a different temperature. This capability has worked so good for us during the past two years of fulltiming, that if we ordered again, we would get the same a/c heat pump configurations - 2 of each.
