Forum Discussion

1ed's avatar
1ed
Explorer
Aug 19, 2021

Upgrading Thermostat to Digital

I currently have a Coleman Mach Model AR7815 and would like to upgrade to a digital but not sure which one so I thought I would ask from those who have done it and get your thoughts.
Please indicate the make and model you have. Thanks Ed
  • micro air makes a great programable RV thermostat. Not inexpensive, but really designed for RV applications. designed to run on 12VDC, can be configured for single or dual ac unit, gas furnace AND electric heating element in AC, switchable fan speeds, fan only option, and heat pumps. easy to read display. and it plug and play for most configurations.

    micro air easy touch rv thermostat.
  • It will depend on whether you have +12v available at the thermostat. I don't believe the AR7815 needs it. A digital thermostat does.

    If you don't have +12v available, your best choice is a battery-powered thermostat. There are dozens of residential ones to choose from.

    I replaced mine with the Coleman Mach RV Comfort.PHP, but I also wanted the separate gas/electric heat settings, since I also installed the electric heat kit in my AC unit. They have a model without that feature.

    If you're not comfortable sorting out all of the wires, I would call any HVAC repair company and have them do it. They install similar units daily. There is nothing special about RV thermostat circuitry (other than using 12v instead of 24v).

    Whatever you install, it will be far more stable and comfortable than the one you have.
  • Another vote for the Micro Air smart thermostat. WiFI and bluetooth capable
  • I just bought the Airxcel Bluetooth thermostat from Airxcel where I found the best price. Recently installed it. My old thermostat did not have a plug connection so I had to cut it off and test the wires to be sure they were properly hooked up.

    And the install. I later filled the old screw holes in the paneling.

    Works great both at the device and with the app.
  • deltabravo wrote:
    ktmrfs wrote:
    micro air makes a great programmable RV thermostat.


    Product review on that wasn't very good. Person said it seems like a "work in progress"

    Here's the Coleman BLuetooth T-stat upgrade I did a few years ago.


    I'd give my micro air a 10 out of 10 rating. it was almost plug and play, programmed up quickly and has worked flawlessly for about 2 years now. For the Coleman Mach III I had i had to unhook the existing wires from the coleman thermostat and connect them to the micro air adapter and then just plug that into the micro air. Easy peasy.

    Best part for us is up to 4 programmable time/temp settings. so yu can have automatic temp changeover during the day and night.

    Holds the temp to within 2 degrees very consistently.
  • Mine did not come with an adapter! Just the plug and the instructions said to cut off the plug to wire. It came with several wire nuts though. I actually used smaller nuts.
    Good to know performance has been great.
  • EMD360 wrote:
    I just bought the Airxcel Bluetooth thermostat from Airxcel where I found the best price. Recently installed it. My old thermostat did not have a plug connection so I had to cut it off and test the wires to be sure they were properly hooked up.

    And the install. I later filled the old screw holes in the paneling.

    Works great both at the device and with the app.


    Is it programable? and if so, how many programs/day will it allow? And is heat temps programable different from AC?
  • I went old school and have the same Honeywell programmable that I use in my house. My DW only has to know how to use one thermostat this way, and it has four settings per day.