Help with furnace please

[oz20x6]

Hello. We have an atwood AC-1511 system. The thermostat does not go below 60 degrees. We will be encountering 25-40 degree F weather and we don't want to burn through our propane but also don't want our coach to go below ~45 degrees. Is there a way to set it below 60? Also, in the manual it says: "the unit will heat in the heat pump mode in ambient temperatures above approx 45 degrees f. The furnace with automatically engage at ambient temperatures below approx 45 degrees." What is a heat pump, and what do we need to do to ensure the automatic 45 degrees furnace turn on? Thanks guys i really appreciate your help!

Also, we are new full-timers, been in our RV about 3 months now! 🙂

[Old-Biscuit]

Your furnace runs on 12V DC and propane.
Fan motor is a DC hog so if no AC power available you will need a means of recharging/maintaining battery most likely long before you would run out of propane.

The heat pump will only work when you have AC power....

Space heaters (electric) will only work if you have AC power

Stand alone propane heaters can be dangerous if not properly vented

So use your RV heater set t-stat to that 60*F and turn it on when you go to bed and off when you get up to conserve propane use by heater.
Course w/o AC power fridge and water heater will also consume propane

Just how much propane does your rig have?

1 gallon of propane has 96,000 btu
Multiple that with number of gallons your propane tank holds.....then divide that number by total btu for the total number of hours of propane use.

Example..
96,000 (1 gallon of propane) divided by 20,000 btu furnace (amount furnace would burn in 1 hr) ==== 4.8 total hours per gallon used
Water heater is roughly 10,000 btu/hr
Fridge is roughly 2000 btu/hr

20,000 + 10,000 + 2000 = 32,000 so roughly 3 TOTAL hours of propane use per gallon

11 gallon propane tank..........33 TOTAL Hours of propane use
(BUT none of the appliances burn for full hour so that 11 gallons could last 3 days with just 11 hours of propane use per day)

***Just example....don't know how many gallons of propane your tank holds****

[Ivylog]

My heat pumps will still put out pretty good heat all the way down to 32 outside and even then they are more efficient than restive heat. They do not stop working at 45, but your system may want to switch to your propane furnace at that temp. Several 1500W portable electric heaters can be used to warm things up if the heat pump cannot. If it gets below freezing outside then you need to use your furnace that hopefully heats the basement areas with water lines and tanks in them to keep them from freezing. Remove your water hose and use your 12V water pump/water tank when it's going to get below freezing too.

Welcome to RV.net, sorry about Usersmanual... you are not the first for his comments plus he thinks everyone should know as much as he does about everything.

[stew47]

time2roll wrote:
Heat pump will produce twice the BTU per kWh compared to resistance heat.
That seems efficient to me.

they lose their efficiency as it gets colder. the one in my house will run all day and not heat house if below 40 so its set to change over to natural gas at 40

[time2roll]

Heat pump will produce twice the BTU per kWh compared to resistance heat.
That seems efficient to me.

[Jim]

If you're serious, I'd recommend buying a catalytic propane heater and forgetting the heat pump altogether. Reason is that the heat pumps are setup to use 120Vac, use the AC compressor for heating by routing the hot exhaust air into the home not the cold air, aren't very efficient, etc.

Catalytic propane heaters are very efficient, use zero to very little electric (only use electric if it has a fan), and can be plumbed into the existing propane system. Disadvantage is that they pump out moisture so you need to keep a window cracked, and are relatively expensive.

Might try to find places to stay that have mobile propane refilling services. Also, there are many, many remote areas that have nearby propane companies that lease out large propane tanks by the month and can plumb them into RVs.

Here's some: Propane heaters...

[oz20x6]

usersmanual wrote:

oz20x6 wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
At ambient temps below 45, the heat pump is very inefficient and will not keep the RV warm at all. That's why the furnace kicks on if outside temps are below 45--it's backup for the heat pump.

If you want to avoid burning propane, get some small electric space heaters to help the heat pump along.

The heat pump is not going to blow very warm air, although it will be warmer than outside air. That's the nature of a heat pump. Quite honestly you might be more comfortable with space heaters alone and leave the heat pump OFF.

I should also mention we will be boondocking in national parks. Does the heat pump only work on AC power? Also, how do we ensure the furnace kicks on automatically? Also, we don't mind dressing warmly 🙂

well does your roof AC only run on AC power? think about what we told you what a heat pump is.

No need to be condescending and rude... And we want to save propane because we don't want to run out midweek and need to go fill up or something. I work from the RV and it's a pain the move on weekdays because of the time investment.

[usersmanual]

oz20x6 wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
At ambient temps below 45, the heat pump is very inefficient and will not keep the RV warm at all. That's why the furnace kicks on if outside temps are below 45--it's backup for the heat pump.

If you want to avoid burning propane, get some small electric space heaters to help the heat pump along.

The heat pump is not going to blow very warm air, although it will be warmer than outside air. That's the nature of a heat pump. Quite honestly you might be more comfortable with space heaters alone and leave the heat pump OFF.

I should also mention we will be boondocking in national parks. Does the heat pump only work on AC power? Also, how do we ensure the furnace kicks on automatically? Also, we don't mind dressing warmly 🙂

well does your roof AC only run on AC power? think about what we told you what a heat pump is.

[time2roll]

You are full time and want to live in an RV with the interior at 45 degrees?
Just to save propane?

Heat pump is the air conditioner running in reverse. There must be instructions on how to get it into heat mode.

[oz20x6]

coolmom42 wrote:
At ambient temps below 45, the heat pump is very inefficient and will not keep the RV warm at all. That's why the furnace kicks on if outside temps are below 45--it's backup for the heat pump.

If you want to avoid burning propane, get some small electric space heaters to help the heat pump along.

The heat pump is not going to blow very warm air, although it will be warmer than outside air. That's the nature of a heat pump. Quite honestly you might be more comfortable with space heaters alone and leave the heat pump OFF.

I should also mention we will be boondocking in national parks. Does the heat pump only work on AC power? Also, how do we ensure the furnace kicks on automatically? Also, we don't mind dressing warmly 🙂

[coolmom42]

At ambient temps below 45, the heat pump is very inefficient and will not keep the RV warm at all. That's why the furnace kicks on if outside temps are below 45--it's backup for the heat pump.

If you want to avoid burning propane, get some small electric space heaters to help the heat pump along.

The heat pump is not going to blow very warm air, although it will be warmer than outside air. That's the nature of a heat pump. Quite honestly you might be more comfortable with space heaters alone and leave the heat pump OFF.

[usersmanual]

oz20x6 wrote:
Hello. We have an atwood AC-1511 system. The thermostat does not go below 60 degrees. We will be encountering 25-40 degree F weather and we don't want to burn through our propane but also don't want our coach to go below ~45 degrees. Is there a way to set it below 60? Also, in the manual it says: "the unit will heat in the heat pump mode in ambient temperatures above approx 45 degrees f. The furnace with automatically engage at ambient temperatures below approx 45 degrees." What is a heat pump, and what do we need to do to ensure the automatic 45 degrees furnace turn on? Thanks guys i really appreciate your help!

Also, we are new full-timers, been in our RV about 3 months now! 🙂

well if your full timing why in the world would u live in a unit that's below 60 degrees??
the heat pump is your Roof AC when used as a heat pump it reverses the system to pump warm air into the motor home verses out as in summer