Electric Fireplace or AC/Heat pump

2gypsies wrote:
A propane catalytic heater out-heats them all.

And it's the most expensive way. Heat pumps are the most efficient and mine do well down to freezing. Much below freezing and it's time to put some heat to the water systems... run the furnace/AquaHot. Like the AC's I run the one at the other end of the MH... LR at night and BR during the day.
The best answer will vary depending on how cold, how many hours, over how many days and if electric is included or if you are paying for the electric.

A propane catalytic heater out-heats them all. It gives a constant warm heat. We've used one for 16 years of full-timing up to 9,000' elevation.

Hi,

For serious heating savings the heat pump shines at temperatures above 40 F. Much below that, and there is little savings.

I won't go to a heat pump until the air conditioner fails. When that happens I'll upgrade to a heat pump model.

I use electric heated carpets for a large part of the space heating needs.

We have both. The heat pump is as loud as an A/c, the fireplace is not.

The heat pump is pretty useless when the outside temp is 30 degrees or more lower than what we want the inside temp. We tried it once when outside temp was about 40 and inside temp was 68. The air it blew was colder than 68.However, it did work well when outside temp was in the 50s. It was just loud.

We leave the fireplace on all the time. It cuts down on our propane use and isn't loud. It also adds 'ambiance.' The heat pump is loud and doesn't add any ambiance. I'm just glad when it goes off.

The fireplace doesn't have a surge voltage to start. It typically runs @9 amps. We are currently plugged into 15 amps so we have no worries. We don't feel safe running the heat pump without the generator on.

If I had to choose one or the other, I would choose the fireplace based on noise factor alone. I really dislike the volume that the A/Cs run at. The furnace is only marginally better. The fireplace is virtually noiseless. Neither one working alone will keep a rig warm when it is cold and dark outside.

Our fireplace and a 1500 watt portable heater keep us plenty warm except when the temps drop below freezing. We turn the furnace on then to help us and the underbelly stay warm.

Two grand, 600 or 30 dollars. The choice is yours. Personally I go for the 30 dollar option. Same 1500 watt electric heater as the 600 dollar option. Had heat pump in last house. One of the costliest mistakes I've made in my life.

I would just get a good 1500 watt elec herater. Heat pumps do not work well below 45 degrees. And fireplace will take up storage space and needs to be wired in correctly. We use a Quartz heater that has fire place front with built in thermostat we have not turned on our propane furnace yet this year. Never did that with our MH that had a fireplace.

RV electric fireplaces are about 5000btu and heat ONLY in the location area of the Fireplace. A Roof top RV HP will be either 13,500 or 15,000 BTU of heat and will distribute that heat more evenly thru out especially if ducted. The fireplace will pull about 12 amps versus about 13 to 15 amps of the roof HP. So, it is better to have the dollars spent on a HP. Doug