Mini Split Air Conditioner / Heat pump
Has anybody boondocking adopted this techno to there RV to have cold air in summer and heat in winter 24/7 while using solar?
Forum Discussion
Heat pumps are way more efficient at power consumption per BTU of heat output than electric resistance based heaters.
HOWEVER, heat pumps still have a compressor - just like an air conditioner (usually a heat pump is an air conditioner "run in reverse" when you have the unit set to it's heating mode) - so when drycamping you still need the instantaneous high current spike capability to start it in heat pump mode as when starting it in air conditioning mode. What this means is - is you still need a fairly healthy power system when drycamping in order to heat or cool with a heat pump unit in an RV.
Personally, I see no reason to have a heat pump system in an RV except for electrical hookup campground use in which you are charged for your electricity consumption and in which cold temperatures aren't below around 35 degrees. In this situation heat pump heating would be less expensive than electrical resistance heater heating and maybe less expensive than propane furnace heating. I guess for more "flexibility" in choosing from a wide variety of camping situations that might present themselves - having an RV with a heat pump system along with a propane furnace instead of an air conditioning system with only a propane furnace - could be the smarter way to go.
HOWEVER, heat pumps still have a compressor - just like an air conditioner (usually a heat pump is an air conditioner "run in reverse" when you have the unit set to it's heating mode) - so when drycamping you still need the instantaneous high current spike capability to start it in heat pump mode as when starting it in air conditioning mode. What this means is - is you still need a fairly healthy power system when drycamping in order to heat or cool with a heat pump unit in an RV.
Personally, I see no reason to have a heat pump system in an RV except for electrical hookup campground use in which you are charged for your electricity consumption and in which cold temperatures aren't below around 35 degrees. In this situation heat pump heating would be less expensive than electrical resistance heater heating and maybe less expensive than propane furnace heating. I guess for more "flexibility" in choosing from a wide variety of camping situations that might present themselves - having an RV with a heat pump system along with a propane furnace instead of an air conditioning system with only a propane furnace - could be the smarter way to go.
