New Thermostat Question
I have this furnace in my TC. There are only two connections to the thermostat, and they are labeled “Thermo” and “+Thermo” I’m installing a new thermostat, and it’s connected like ...
Forum Discussion
Since starting this topic, it occurred to me that the “Minimum Cycle Period Setting” on this thermostat could actually do me a lot of good when I’m trying to keep the waste tanks from freezing, and not run through my LP too fast. It would introduce a bit of automation into a cold weather routine that I’m doing manually now by fiddling with the thermostats on the LP furnace and the electric heater so the furnace runs occasionally.
In really cold weather, I can always find or supply myself enough 120v AC to keep the inside of the camper comfortable, but as the temps fall into the teens, it becomes more and more important that the furnace run periodically to keep the waste tanks from freezing. Like I said, I can do it all manually, and have been for years.
But, if the thermostat would allow a once-every-hour single heating cycle to the set point temperature, that would help me in several ways.
Today I did some testing of the Orbit t-stat I installed, and found some issues. First, it overshot the set temp by 5-6 degrees before turning the furnace off, and then it turned it back on before the temp fell to the set temp. That’s not any better than the old analog stat used to do. The specs for the t-stat say it’s supposed to keep the temp within 1 degree of the set temp. The RiteTemp stat did a better job maintaining the set temp.
The fatal flaw for me though, is that the “Minimum Cycle Time” adjustment didn’t work. I set it to 60 minutes, but the t-stat continued to call for another heat cycle after 12 minutes (the default for a gas furnace). I called Orbit technical support, and they told me the stat isn’t compatible with RV systems. It’s a battery powered t-stat, like the RiteTemp I’m wanting to replace, so I don’t understand what’s incompatible with it.
I’ve seen the programmable version of this unit on lists of “Best Thermostats for RV’s” before. I wasn’t going to argue with them about it though, so I’m looking for another digital, non-programmable unit. I’d like to find another one that has an adjustable cycle time if possible.
If anyone has a recommendation, I’d love to hear it. Ive got some important things to do for the next few days, so I may not be able to look back at this right away. I’ll get back to it though.
Thanks.
:):)
In really cold weather, I can always find or supply myself enough 120v AC to keep the inside of the camper comfortable, but as the temps fall into the teens, it becomes more and more important that the furnace run periodically to keep the waste tanks from freezing. Like I said, I can do it all manually, and have been for years.
But, if the thermostat would allow a once-every-hour single heating cycle to the set point temperature, that would help me in several ways.
Today I did some testing of the Orbit t-stat I installed, and found some issues. First, it overshot the set temp by 5-6 degrees before turning the furnace off, and then it turned it back on before the temp fell to the set temp. That’s not any better than the old analog stat used to do. The specs for the t-stat say it’s supposed to keep the temp within 1 degree of the set temp. The RiteTemp stat did a better job maintaining the set temp.
The fatal flaw for me though, is that the “Minimum Cycle Time” adjustment didn’t work. I set it to 60 minutes, but the t-stat continued to call for another heat cycle after 12 minutes (the default for a gas furnace). I called Orbit technical support, and they told me the stat isn’t compatible with RV systems. It’s a battery powered t-stat, like the RiteTemp I’m wanting to replace, so I don’t understand what’s incompatible with it.
I’ve seen the programmable version of this unit on lists of “Best Thermostats for RV’s” before. I wasn’t going to argue with them about it though, so I’m looking for another digital, non-programmable unit. I’d like to find another one that has an adjustable cycle time if possible.
If anyone has a recommendation, I’d love to hear it. Ive got some important things to do for the next few days, so I may not be able to look back at this right away. I’ll get back to it though.
Thanks.
:):)
