A/C with Heat Pump, worth it?

[Bellpr]

We continue to shop for a new 5er. We see many manufacturers offer a A/C unit with a heat pump option.

1. Do you have that option?
2. Do you think it was worth it?
3. I assume it has limitations just like home heat pumps?

[Cummins12V98]

pianotuna wrote:
Cummins cheap heat doesn't fail over to propane if the power goes off.

Cheap heat does have a 30 amp setting but it does only a little more than a 1500 watt heater.

Yes I did know the electric/propane was not auto change over.

Good news on the 30A does it automatically adjust to 30A shore power?

No system is perfect but so far the CheapHeat is a winner!

[RustyJC]

pianotuna wrote:
Cummins cheap heat doesn't fail over to propane if the power goes off.

And what does propane fail over to if you run out of propane? Perhaps an automatic changeover is critical to you (it would be easy enough to do with a relay), but it's no big deal to us. If the power goes out and I start getting cold, I'll crawl out of bed, turn on the light (12VDC powered, of course) and flip the switch over to propane.

Rusty

[pianotuna]

Cummins cheap heat doesn't fail over to propane if the power goes off.

Cheap heat does have a 30 amp setting but it does only a little more than a 1500 watt heater.

[Cummins12V98]

CheapHeat is added by the dealer, not the factory. So it is a "retro fit".

The propane furnace is still totally functional with a toggle switch that says electric/propane.

The only downside for me so far is the system only works on 50A someone please correct me if I am wrong.

[pianotuna]

Those equivalency numbers are pretty strange. They must be using "new math". As them how many amps or actual watts of output there are. They removed that information from their web site. I do not know if they are reposted it or not.

At 10 F I would need the DH50 and I'm in a 29 foot Class C with beefed up insulation.

I would insist that the installation used a fail over relay so that the propane furnace could be used as a back up.

I use a twin window fan to replace the cold air return for the furnace and I can heat electrically down to -37 C (-34 f). I get my cake and eat it too, because I can leave the propane furnace set a few degrees lower than the various electric heating units I use. As a bonus I can use propane and my electric heat at the same time. Last year that meant I got up to acceptable heat levels in less than one hour.

I would never retro fit a "cheap heat" system but if an RV came with one it would not be a deal breaker--so long as they would modify it to allow propane use on a fail over situation.

[outwestbound]

deleted

[ramyankee]

A big NO to the heat pump if you are in cooler weather. In our area of Northern California it is totally worthless. As said before, under probably 40*, good luck...

[Cummins12V98]

dapperdan wrote:
WE "sprung" for the heat pumps on our Suites, so far we like it. We've been here in Door County since Saturday and haven't had to run the the furnace yet. Between the heat pumps and the fireplace heater we're toasty.

I can't say they are or are NOT worth it as we haven't used ours all that much but so far so good. We were told by DRV that below 40 degrees these things become pretty much useless but for us we don't do a lot of really cold camping so the heat pumps made sense to us.

Dan

Our grand plans were to never spend another cold winter but things do change! After wintering in the NW a couple winters ago and temps down to single digits using 3 -4 space heaters we decided the CheapHeat was for us.

[Cummins12V98]

RustyJC wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
No, the cheap heat is not as efficient as a heat pump.

8ntw8tn wrote:
I'd probably go with the Cheap Heat option. I think it would be just as, or more, efficient that the heat pump

Not as efficient in terms of watts converted to BTUs, but more efficient in terms of constant heat output as ambient temperatures fall and heat pump heat outputs drop.

Rusty

One of the biggies as you said earlier is with the CheapHeat the basement is heated.

We really like the CheapHeat and Fireplace also.

[Dustytuu]

Yes it is worth it!

[Bumpyroad]

Eyeland wrote:
In my RV I put heat strips in both of my units and it worked very well.. Had Heat pump in my house in Louisiana. Below 40f it was worthless.

actually my houses were more comfortable below 40 f. stupid HP shut down and electric coils heated up. air not 85 degrees, got up to 105 IIRC using "real" heat.
bumpy

[Eyeland]

In my RV I put heat strips in both of my units and it worked very well.. Had Heat pump in my house in Louisiana. Below 40f it was worthless.

[Coach-man]

We usually use portable ceramic heaters to keep us warm. In the morning we then run the reverse cycle AC to take the chill off. As stated that works until the temps fall below 36 to 38. We then have to use the furnace. The problem we have with the furnace is no matter how clean you keep it when you first fire it up, it smells! DW can not stand that smell, so we try not to use it. Being from FLA usually not a problem, however we do like to go north in the fall and early winter.

[RustyJC]

Well, I guess that's a non-issue for me since I don't plan on being in -30F temperatures. To your point, though, is it any different than not having the CheapHeat and running out of propane, freezing up a regulator, or?? There's no back-up for that situation either insofar as furnace operation is concerned.

I don't use the CheapHeat when our 5th wheel is in storage. Our CheapHeat system is wired for 50A, and our covered storage bay has only 30A service. On the few nights on the Texas Gulf Coast that it might drop below freezing, I use electric heaters backed up by the propane furnace.

The system works fine for us. If it doesn't for your application, that's OK as well.

Rusty

[pianotuna]

Hi Rusty,

If you are NOT in the RV and it is cold (and I mean in the -30 range) and the power goes off the cheap heat system does not fail over to the propane furnace. That is a deal breaker for me. They could solve that with a relay but they choose to not do so.

In addition you can not use both the propane furnace and electric heat at the same time via cheap heat.

I do heat 100% electrically but my propane furnace is ready to jump in should the power cord be knocked out, or the campground power fail. I have 3 shore power cords, the OEM 30 amp, a 20 amp, and a 15 amp. Peak load is 7000 watts.

Last March when I returned to the frozen north I got my RV out of storage, turned on all my electric heat, and ran the propane furnace. It was all warmed up within an hour.

RustyJC wrote:

pianotuna wrote:


There are ways to heat 100% electrically without the cheap heat system while preventing plumbing freeze up while NOT disabling the propane furnace.

I don't understand what you're saying. The CheapHeat system in our 5th wheel doesn't disable the propane furnace. Ours has a rocker switch in the control cabinet with the thermostat that allows the user to select either "Electric" or "Propane" mode for the furnace. I've operated the furnace in both modes.

Rusty