Coleman AC. Should we upgrade to heat pump

[susblum]

Our 2017 Jayco has a Coleman AC. We miss the Dometic heat pump that was in our Forest River. Thinking of pulling out the AC. Any feedback on upgrading to a heatoump
Is one brand better than another? What about a heat strip. We are sucking down too much propane.

[lenr]

If using two space heaters be sure that you have them plugged into two different circuits. And, 50 amp service would be a good idea.

[Ivylog]

susblum wrote:
We are snow birds so that might be worth it to us to switch

Unless you were billed separately for the electric go buy a couple space heaters. When the AC cannot be fixed cheaply replace it with a heat pump.

[jfskeet]

We have twin a/c heat pumps in our 35 ft motor home. They are terrific, we do a lot of camping spring and fall and never need heater.Would never have another rv with out them.

[msturtz]

chuckftboy wrote:
Heat pumps are a great way to heat the coach when temperatures are not below 38. we live in Florida and spend a lot of time in the South East so for us they are perfect. Most heat pumps put out around 14,000 BTU's at the same power consumption an electric heater uses to produce 5,000 BTU's. Put another way, a roof a/c with a heat strip produces 1/3 the BTU's produced by a heat pump.
A heat pump has a COP of 3 and a heat strip has a COP of 1 meaning the pump is 3 times more efficent at the same power consumption. Generally people north of the Mason Dixon line ae not big advocates of heat pumps.

I'm in Washington State and am a big fan. Sure during the dead of winter it won't work but the rest of the heating season it's great.

[msturtz]

dougrainer wrote:

msturtz wrote:
A heat pump is economical to operate and distributes even dry heat. I had them on a prior rig and really liked it. It does not use nearly as much energy as a radiant heater or strip heat.

A Heat Pump will pull 1680 watts. I do not know of a Radiant heater for standard Household use that pulls more than 1500 watts. They use about the same energy, but the HP will distribute the Heat much better and thruout the RV unlike a Radiant heater. Doug

To be clear I should have said it is they are more efficient in that you get 15000 BTU with about 1650 Watts. A 1500 watt Hester produces 5118 BTU.

[susblum]

We are snow birds so that might be worth it to us to switch

[chuckftboy]

Heat pumps are a great way to heat the coach when temperatures are not below 38. we live in Florida and spend a lot of time in the South East so for us they are perfect. Most heat pumps put out around 14,000 BTU's at the same power consumption an electric heater uses to produce 5,000 BTU's. Put another way, a roof a/c with a heat strip produces 1/3 the BTU's produced by a heat pump.
A heat pump has a COP of 3 and a heat strip has a COP of 1 meaning the pump is 3 times more efficent at the same power consumption. Generally people north of the Mason Dixon line ae not big advocates of heat pumps.

[Ivylog]

Heat pumps average 4X more efficient than restive heat... even below 40 they are still 2X. I use mine below freezing before switching to my AquaHot. Strip heat is nothing but restive heat.

Op, unless you use your camper often when it's cold and you pay for elect I would not remove that new a AC. Buy a couple space heaters.

[Lantley]

Pirate wrote:
Heat pump (roof top) has a small window of best use. I found below 40 forget it. I did spend the money to upgrade to heat pump and regret it. I would have been better off using two small portable heaters and then propane when they can't keep up. Save your money.

My thought exactly. Maybe in moderate climates the heat pump is more effective. However in places where it is actually cold (below 40f).
I have found heat pumps to be inadequate.

[Pirate1]

Heat pump (roof top) has a small window of best use. I found below 40 forget it. I did spend the money to upgrade to heat pump and regret it. I would have been better off using two small portable heaters and then propane when they can't keep up. Save your money.

[crasster]

Heat is very relative to wattage. A good quality space heater will go a lot further than a low qual because of the distribution, fan, and overall engineering. REMEMBER though that more expensive does NOT mean better. One of my best space heaters is from the 1980's and still going today.

[Mile_High]

Another option may be the electric heat coil in the furnace.

Cheap Heat. I don't know anyone that has this, but the advantage would be that it would operate continuously down to temperatures that the heat pump would not (<40 degrees), and it would circulate as well as your existing furnace to a point - they do have to slow the fan down to match the heat output.

[dougrainer]

susblum wrote:
Our 2017 Jayco has a Coleman AC. We miss the Dometic heat pump that was in our Forest River. Thinking of pulling out the AC. Any feedback on upgrading to a heatoump
Is one brand better than another? What about a heat strip. We are sucking down too much propane.

1. Heat Strips are NOT meant to heat an RV, Just take the chill off.
2. Since you already have the RV wired for a RVP(Coleman) just get a RVP HP. You only have 2 choices. Dometic and RVP. Both are comparable.
3. You will have to change the wall Tstat if you go to a Heat Pump.
4. HOW long is your Trailer? If over 25 feet and you have 50 amp service, install the original AC in the Bedroom and install the HP in the living room. Doug

[dougrainer]

msturtz wrote:
A heat pump is economical to operate and distributes even dry heat. I had them on a prior rig and really liked it. It does not use nearly as much energy as a radiant heater or strip heat.

A Heat Pump will pull 1680 watts. I do not know of a Radiant heater for standard Household use that pulls more than 1500 watts. They use about the same energy, but the HP will distribute the Heat much better and thruout the RV unlike a Radiant heater. Doug