dougrainer wrote:
Wayne Dohnal wrote:
RVcomfort gave you an over-simplified version of what really happens. The thermostat does not know if the furnace is running or not. When there is a 5-degree separation between the set temp and room temp, the thermostat "assumes" you want or need help from the furnace. If the heat pump by itself doesn't bring the room up to the set point over a time period, the thermostat "assumes" it's ineffective and that's when it gets locked out. There's an example of how it works in this document http://www.rvcomfort.com/rvp/pdf_documents/1976497.pdf.
I have like you sometimes wanted to use only the heat pump to raise the temp more than 5 degrees and found the furnace kicking on to be a nuisance. I've considered the toggle switch you mentioned, haven't done it yet. I often set the thermostat to 4 degrees above the room temp and walk it up as the room temp rises. Just another example IMO of poor design, optimized for those who don't care to understand how things work at the expense of those who do. If "electric heat" isn't working I'm perfectly capable of noticing that and switching to "gas heat".
RVP decided that IF there is a greater temp called for than 5 degrees, you would have to run the HP a very long time to heat up the RV. So, they have the Furnace come ON if you set greater than the 5 degrees. IT DOES NOT LOCK OUT THE HP IN THIS SCENARIO. The HP is on standby and if the set temp gets to that 5 degrees with the furnace, the HP comes on and heats the rest of that 5 degrees. Normally, unless you have an extreme blue norther hit you and the outside temp drops dramatically, when the inside needs more heat, the tstat calls for Heat and the HP will come on and heat that next cycle. And continue doing so. Doug
They said something about the cycle trying 3 times and then it would lock out heat pump for 2 hours.