Replacing a Thermostat

Chuck_S wrote:
Most house thermostats are powered by the furnace. RV furnace has no provision for that. The only good reason to not get a digital thermostat is if you enjoy the wild heat swings you get with a mechanical version. Too hot followed by too cold! :)

The LUX heat-only digital I had in my popup was very stable as is the heat/AC Hunter in the Roo. The Hunter is $20 at Home Depot, not a big expense.

-- Chuck

HMMMMMM, a lot cheaper than I would have thought.

Chuck_S wrote:
Most house thermostats are powered by the furnace. RV furnace has no provision for that. The only good reason to not get a digital thermostat is if you enjoy the wild heat swings you get with a mechanical version. Too hot followed by too cold! :)

The LUX heat-only digital I had in my popup was very stable as is the heat/AC Hunter in the Roo. The Hunter is $20 at Home Depot, not a big expense.

-- Chuck

I just replaced the thermostat in my folding trailer with a Hunter electronic one from Amazon. Only cost $20 and its the same as the one I have in my house. It uses two AA batteries so it does not require any power from the furnace. This Hunter thermostat is programmable but for the trailer I set all the temperatures the same. If you want a different program you have the choice to do so. The thermostat also has an off swich that is nice when you are not using the furnace. Since it is basically a house thermostat is also has an AC setting but I don't use that portion. The instructions tell you how to wire it for heat only.

Now that it is working well in my folding trailer I am going to put one in my Starcraft 15RB Hybrid. The big advantage is you can set how many degrees between when the furnace comes on and off (differential temperature or span).

Any electronic thermostat that has its own battery source should be able to replace the mechanical OEM thermostat in the trailer.

In theory. ;) Never worked for me with the cheap RV mechanicals.

-- Chuck

Stability of temperatures can be somewhat adjusted by the attenuator on better mechanical thermostats.

Most house thermostats are powered by the furnace. RV furnace has no provision for that. The only good reason to not get a digital thermostat is if you enjoy the wild heat swings you get with a mechanical version. Too hot followed by too cold! :)

The LUX heat-only digital I had in my popup was very stable as is the heat/AC Hunter in the Roo. The Hunter is $20 at Home Depot, not a big expense.

-- Chuck

What brand furnace is it? Maybe the oem has a good stat even if a bit more than the $20 at Home Depot.

No, baseboard thermostats will NOT work. They are designed for 120 or 240 volts. It must be one designed for electric, gas or oil furnaces.
There is no big reason to get a solid state thermostat. Sure it is nice to have some functions on an AC/heat control but you have only furnace. I have a Lux from Ace hardware that works alot better then the original.

I wonder if a tstat designed for baseboard heat would work. It is non programmable heat only which is what I need. I can't find hunter brand where I live. Does it need to have batteries? The posts I have read say to buy Hunter that takes batteries but I am not sure why.

Any heat only stat will work and are far less expensive than a heat cool or set back stat.

Thanks for the info. I will have my husband test it first.