CheapHeat furnace conversion
I was wondering if anyone has converted their factory installed LP furnace to the CheapHeat system. Seems like a very practical system when connected to shore power. No worrying about running out of g...
Forum Discussion
Each leg is not 120v on its own. A wire can only carry a voltage when referenced to another wire. In this case, across the two power conductors of a 50A service connection is 240VAC. Granted that if you measure between either of the two power conductors to the neutral line it would measure 120v. BUT as the CH system and most 240V appliances does not use the neutral wire, there is no 120v circuit. The CH system uses 21.6A out of an available 50A on the service. The CH is a 3 wire 240VAC connection. 2 power conductors and a ground. No neutral.
My generator is an OEM installed Onan 5.5kw unit that powers all 120v users in my coach. There is no 240V output on this gen set. While there are 2 power legs, they are in phase and connected together inside the gen set. Voltage across the 2 power conductors is 0.
Cost of propane vs electric varies depending on rates in various parts of the country. If you used a heat pump on the electric it would be cheaper than propane in all known utility area in the lower 48. Natural gas as them both beat. Some folks have successfully converted RV propane furnaces to work correctly on natural gas. If you are using that much energy to heat, might be worth a look as well as better insulation. Our 3000 sq ft cabin in Durango never uses 100KWH per day. That is a lot of energy for an RV.
I have never liked the name of the CH system. Electric resistance heat is seldom the cheapest source of heat energy. Someone is paying for it. Convenient Safe Heat might be a better name.
My generator is an OEM installed Onan 5.5kw unit that powers all 120v users in my coach. There is no 240V output on this gen set. While there are 2 power legs, they are in phase and connected together inside the gen set. Voltage across the 2 power conductors is 0.
Cost of propane vs electric varies depending on rates in various parts of the country. If you used a heat pump on the electric it would be cheaper than propane in all known utility area in the lower 48. Natural gas as them both beat. Some folks have successfully converted RV propane furnaces to work correctly on natural gas. If you are using that much energy to heat, might be worth a look as well as better insulation. Our 3000 sq ft cabin in Durango never uses 100KWH per day. That is a lot of energy for an RV.
I have never liked the name of the CH system. Electric resistance heat is seldom the cheapest source of heat energy. Someone is paying for it. Convenient Safe Heat might be a better name.
