Heat Strip In A/C
Anyone have heat strips in their A/C? Those of you that do, how much heat do you get from them?
Forum Discussion
Mr.Mark wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but heat pumps (which we have) will work down to 40 degrees like several posters have stated above.
Now, if you have electric strips, they should give you heat all the time as that is 'electric heat'.
Our home in Southern California (desert) has heat pumps for heat (rarely used).... but, we also have a selection for 'supplemental heat' on the thermostat, which is the electric strip that will 'drink' the electric juice!
MM.
This is correct. RV Heat pumps have a thermostat that will shut them off at around 40F outside air temp, to protect the compressor and keep the outside coil from freezing.
A home heat pump has a defrost cycle, and it will switch to the cooling mode and shut off the outside fan motor for about 5 minutes every 45 minutes. This way they can run very effectively down to about 5F on a new R-410 system or 12F on a older R-22 system.
The reason they have back up electric heaters on homes is to provide some heat if the compressor fails, or for those rare times when it is below 15F and you need additional heat that the heat pump can not provide.
As for the original post, I would not spend $90 for a electric strip heater for two reasons.
The fan is noisy compared to a compact portable heater.
The portable heater is able to blow just into the bathroom while I am showering, or just into the bedroom while I am sleeping, and this saves energy. Sure many times you are at a RV park with 'free' electric, but the owner is paying and will have to adjust their rates at some point to pay off the electric bill.
So I have 3 portable heaters. I can run 1-3 of them on low heat, or two on high heat with my 30 amp service. I was able to use my 3 electric heaters while living in Portland OR one winter with temps as low as 25F overnight, and did not need to use the furnace other than warming the RV from 45 to say 65 when I got home.
Portable heaters are less expensive, and will not be directing heat to the very coldest part of the RV - the A/C ductwork next to the very cold roof while trying to warm the room!.
Good luck,
Fred.
