What extras should I insist on in a new Class C

FWIW, the air from our new heat pump is well above 90 degrees. However one has to pay for that ... as the model we have was well above average heat pump pricing.

BTW, for the first time ever, we are right now having a gas fireplace installed ... from a newly installed propane tank (150 feet from the stick house). There's no natural gas, water mains, or sewers out here in the boonies.

My current heat pump just hit 10 years with few issues. the previous 28 years I must have had 3 or 4 different units. In another house I have two units, one upstairs and one down and I must have gone thru at least 4 or 5 units in 16 years.
but if I had natural gas available, I would immediately switch to that for heat. I mean when 85 degree "warm" air hits you from a heat pump, it is more of a draft than heat.
bumpy

Hmmmm ... our first Carrier heat pump in the house went 32 years.

Our current very high efficiency Trane heat pump is only 5 years old now, but has so far been superlative and has reduced our electric bill around 30-40% from the previous Carrier heat pump. I did a lot of research before deciding on our current model. It has a variable speed fan and variable speed Scroll compressor - all computer controlled. Of course this level of heat pump technology is probably not yet available in motorhome units.

Our motorhome's ducted A/C and ducted propane furnace with a digital controller have been great. However our propane tank capacity is somewhat larger than that usually found in small Class C motorhomes, so extended use of the propane furnace does not present much of a refilling nuisance. Since the motorhome is small for the furnace size it cycles well and hence doesn't tax the battery bank heavily, either.

Having gone through a number of fancy heat pump units, replaced innumerable parts of them, sometimes more than once -- I long ago realized that a gas fired furnace with standard electric a/c is the most convenient and trouble-free system in a house. I never saw much of an electric bill saving with a heat pump.

I've no reason to think that an RV would be any different. Give me a ducted propane furnace (with an electric cube for some situations), and a standard electric a/c unit, and I'm a happy camper. Those wishing to spend lots more cash are free to choose otherwise.

my comments were concerning the statement of a heat strip in the AC, not to the heat pump. we are basically in total agreement, except for the fact that I dislike heat pumps having had about a dozen of them in houses including the infamous HP83111 by Lenox.
bumpy

Bumpy,

As I said and tried to explain above:

1) A heat pump is NOT an electric strip in an air conditioner.

2) The heat coming from a heat pump is far less expensive (about 1/3 of the cost) than the heat coming from heat strips or regular electric heaters such as glowing wire electric heaters, ceramic cube heaters, electric oil or steam based radiator-type heaters, etc.. So if you're getting charged for electricity at a campground based on your usage per month, your bill will be much less if using a heat pump to heat versus using any other type of electric based heating.

:)

We spend the winter in central Florida. Our furnace uses up the propane too fast to keep the tank full. A cube heater is always it the way and does not heat all that well. So I installed a toe kick heater with a remote programable thermostat. It's in the wall space under the refrigerator. It's rather quite, and works and heats like a regulator forced air furnace.
We are on a meter and pay for our electricity to the electric unity.

Dusty

pnichols wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
One thing I'm curious about... are heat pumps that better than a conventional A/C unit with a heat strip?

Yes.

If you have a choice when buying a new RV whether to have, say, a 15K BTU air conditioner or a 15K BTU air conditioner/heat pump unit - and can afford the extra money for the combo unit ... get the combo unit.

The 1500 watt heat strip option available in RV air conditioners delivers around 5000 BTU's of heat ... as compared to a 15K combo unit - which puts out around 15K BTU's of cooling or 15K BTUs of heating.

Looking at the situation from another perspective: If drycamping in chilly weather and the propane furnace should fail, one's built-in generator could provide you with around 15,000 BTU's of heat with an RV heat pump set to it's heating mode ... whereas the generator may not run three 1500 watt electric heaters at the same time so as to provide 15,000 BTU's of heat.

This is because an electric heater "creates new heat" from scratch by conversion of electrical power, while a heat pump merely uses electrical power to "move (pump) existing heat" from the outside air into the inside air.

A heat pump produces around three times more heat over using the same electrical energy in a conventional electric heater. That is ... IF THE HEAT PUMP CAN BE USED AT ALL ... as (RV) heat pumps can't transfer much heat from the outside to the inside of the coach if the outside air temperatures are much below 38-40 degrees. We have used heat pumps to heat (and cool) our home for decades, however our current state of the art home heat pump is efficient enough to still be able heat the home with 30 degree outside air temperatures. Unfortunately, I don't believe that this kind of efficiency is available in RV heat pump models.

My comments above are all in regards to air-to-air heat pumps. There are other types of heat pumps that can keep interiors comfortable with outside air temperatures way lower than 30 degrees.

actually I was quoting mlts22 and that was not my comment. my comment was a $20 ceramic cube heater will do a better job than the heat strip in the AC. do you really want to wear out your AC fan for this ineffectual heat source? and I have been in campgrounds where they charge extra for electric heat. sort of obvious when your AC is humming at 10 degrees outside.
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:
One thing I'm curious about... are heat pumps that better than a conventional A/C unit with a heat strip?

Yes.

If you have a choice when buying a new RV whether to have, say, a 15K BTU air conditioner or a 15K BTU air conditioner/heat pump unit - and can afford the extra money for the combo unit ... get the combo unit.

The 1500 watt heat strip option available in RV air conditioners delivers around 5000 BTU's of heat ... as compared to a 15K combo unit - which puts out around 15K BTU's of cooling or 15K BTUs of heating.

Looking at the situation from another perspective: If drycamping in chilly weather and the propane furnace should fail, one's built-in generator could provide you with around 15,000 BTU's of heat with an RV heat pump set to it's heating mode ... whereas the generator may not run three 1500 watt electric heaters at the same time so as to provide 15,000 BTU's of heat.

This is because an electric heater "creates new heat" from scratch by conversion of electrical power, while a heat pump merely uses electrical power to "move (pump) existing heat" from the outside air into the inside air.

A heat pump produces around three times more heat over using the same electrical energy in a conventional electric heater. That is ... IF THE HEAT PUMP CAN BE USED AT ALL ... as (RV) heat pumps can't transfer much heat from the outside to the inside of the coach if the outside air temperatures are much below 38-40 degrees. We have used heat pumps to heat (and cool) our home for decades, however our current state of the art home heat pump is efficient enough to still be able heat the home with 30 degree outside air temperatures. Unfortunately, I don't believe that this kind of efficiency is available in RV heat pump models.

My comments above are all in regards to air-to-air heat pumps. There are other types of heat pumps that can keep interiors comfortable with outside air temperatures way lower than 30 degrees.

Billinwoodland wrote:
Didn't see anyone mention side view cameras. For those that have them, do you use them?
Bill

I was considering adding side view cameras in addition to the rear view camera that came standard when I was shopping for a new coach. I lucked out when we found our 24' Nexus Class C used as it came with heated, remote controlled mirrors which I have found to be a more practical choice.

Not having remote control mirrors would be a huge mistake as they are a serious Pita to adjust and maintain in the proper alignment. The heated feature keeps them from ever fogging in inclement weather and is nice to have as well.

:C